Review: Friday Night Lights
The NBC series, "Friday Night Lights," may have as much a chance of winning over enough new fans in its second season to survive as the Bills have of beating Dallas on Monday Night Football. So enjoy it while it lasts.
"Lights," set in Dillon, a small Texas town where high school football is king, has returned to NBC.
The first three episodes amp up the stakes way beyond football with the dramatic equivalent of a Hail Mary pass designed to get viewers' attention.
All hell has broken loose since Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) left Dillon to become a college assistant in Austin in the season finale eight months ago.
His wife, Tami (Connie Britton), quickly is giving birth, raising their newborn child and dealing with a newly rebellious 16-year-old daughter Julie (Aimee Teeguarden) alone when Eric isn't able to grab a few moments to visit. Britton, who deserved an Emmy last season, certainly earns a nomination early this season playing an overwhelmed mother and wife.
The new, no-nonsense high school coach, played by Chris Mulkey, seems determined to undo everything Coach Taylor did while winning last season's state championship with the motto "clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose."
Additionally, there is a teenage breakup, a religious conversion, an unlikely romance, team bickering, the exploration of a miracle recovery and the Hail Mary -- a homicide.
It is all very realistically and movingly done, but never quite achieves the emotional highs of last season, when "Lights" won the full hearts of TV critics and had moments that made grown men cry.
Like Dillon High, NBC has a new coach, too, that may threaten the network romance with it. Kevin Reilly, the NBC entertainment president who championed the low-rated "Lights," is history. He has been replaced by Ben Silverman, the producer behind "The Office," "Ugly Betty" and "The Biggest Loser." The unknown in the equation is how long Silverman will stick with "Lights" if it is a ratings loser again on a low-viewing TV night.
Jason Katims and Jeffrey Reiner, the producers of "Lights," have more immediate things to worry about. Like how to get Coach Taylor out of college football in Austin and back in Dillon permanently before his wife -- and his former team -- completely fall apart without him.
Once again, the Taylor marriage is a model one. However, daughter Julie (Aimee Teeguarden) is the model of a resentful teen struggling with her place in Dillon and the world. Julie may be the most realistic portrait of a teenager on any TV show.
All the kids in Dillon face problems and obstacles that range from minor to major. With her parents' marriage and her romance having fallen apart, beautiful cheerleader Lyla (Minka Kelly) is looking for answers in a very serious place few TV shows go. Bad boy Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) is re-examining his life and friendships after dealing with a coach who makes Bobby Knight look like a choir boy. Quarterback Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) has problems on and off the field that would overwhelm an adult. Matt's decent friend, Landry (Jesse Plemons), is still hoping to get to first base with Tyra (Adrianne Palicki), the hard-luck beauty he has been protecting while she takes a break from bad boys. And paralyzed former quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter) is trying to decide whether assisting the new coach should triumph over friendship with his former teammates.
Additionally, in a story line that could resonate due to the Kevin Everett story, Street, who is quadriplegic, is investigating the possibilities of experimental treatment that would enable him to walk.
The football games have been downplayed, with only one being shown briefly in the first three episodes. That undoubtedly is intended to get the message across that "Friday Night Lights" isn't a football show, but one about realistic relationships.
"We think this is a show that is for everybody, that should reach a female audience as well," said Katims.
The game plan is to bring Coach Taylor back to Dillon after an arc of stories. The first three episodes, which reveal how cut-throat college football can be and how difficult things are for the exhausted Tami back home, set his return in motion.
"To me the show is about this marriage," said Katims. "And the show is about relationships, and the show is about parents trying to figure how to raise their kids, and their teenagers figuring out sexuality and issues about race and class and all those things. You don't usually get to explore all these kind of things as a writer or director or an actor in as an intimate and detailed of a way as we're getting to do."
A compellingly told, detailed look at small town Texas life, "Friday Night Lights" deserves to be a keeper.
"Friday Night Lights"
Review: 3 1/2 stars (Out of 4)
