The final game of "Friday Night Lights" began much the same way as its first game. A prayer. The question posed by a young pee wee player in the pilot episode, "do you think God loves football?" was definitively answered in the affirmative. "Friday Night Lights" stands as a bastion of hope in the seemingly endless desert of nihilism found in the majority of today's television dramas. Its portrayal of integrity, passion, pride and manhood is unmatched. Coach Eric Taylor stands as one of the best examples of manliness ever depicted in television. It shows the ugly side of the Texas obsession with high school football, but also shows its beauty. It shows that it has the power to change and possibly even save lives. It turns boys to men.
Part of what made this show so special to so many people is the characters. There have never been a set of characters I cared so much about. They were so well developed and acted that they felt like real people. I felt for them and saw pieces of myself and the people I know in their personalities.
Fullback Tim Riggins struggles with alcoholism throughout the show, and provides a beautiful story of redemption that seems almost too deep for a family television drama. He is an example of the character nuances in "Friday Night Lights." He's rough around the edges and seems like a downright terrible person in the beginning, but as the show goes on, we learn that he's a truly great person who wrestles with personality flaws and familial issues.
"Friday Night Lights"didn't rely on campy forced emotional moments but instead uses situations one might find in the ups and downs of life. The character of Jason Street is a prime example of this. We see him face very tough life obstacles, and they don’t always have pretty Hollywood resolutions. It is also one of the only realistic depictions of Christianity on the screen. It showed people of faith dealing with real problems and refrained from the uber-formal, non-christian’s-idea-of-church aesthetic we get in most films and shows.
"Friday Night Lights" also managed to infuse real life lessons into its narrative, without taking on an after school special affectation. And wow does it show the romantic nature of the game of football. There's never been a show like "Friday Night Lights" and that's what made it so special. It will surely go down as one of the greatest television dramas ever made, and for good reason. If you're in need for a new Netflix binge session, look no further. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.
