Friday Night Lights: Season One

"Clear eyes, full heart, cant lose"

Title: Friday Night Lights
Year of Release: 2006
Creator: Peter Berg
Genre: Drama/Sport
Rating: 8.5/10

Friday Night Lights is set in Dillon, Texas. In this town football is almost all that matters. Everyone seems to go to watch the matches and everyone is passionate. This show focuses on a group of high school students, most involved with the high school team. It deals with the pressures of high school, football and life.

In the spur of the moment I decided I'd check this show out, because from an advertisement I saw on tv it looked like a pretty decent show. Now the first episode isn't the best episode of the season, maybe it's just because this show is so very American it didn't quite appeal to me. The way the episode was going I didn't really plan on continuing watching it, the final.. ten or so minutes were fantastic. When the actual game begun, it was extremely exciting, and was only the beginning as something terrible happens at that game when one of the players is terribly injured. Not only does it greatly affect the himself, his family and the team. It changes the whole town, and because of that one tackle a lot of things changed, some for the better, some for the worse. But inevitably, would make for some damn good television.

The one thing I think about this show is that there are some simple cliche's or predictablities and whatnot, but it works so damn well, always. Some of the characters begin very simply and don't really show any importance, some, just seem pointless and annoying. But in time they did progress, a lot. This season covers a lot of ground in it's twenty-two episodes. Each of the characters in the show, the reoccurring ones, each of them at some point in time have their own little story, and drama to deal with, which I think really helps the characters grow and show the actor or actress's talent.

My biggest problem is that this is set with a bunch of fifteen to seventeen year olds in high school. To me, some of them just don't look their supposed age, but that's easy to get past, but some of things that happens, and what they have to deal with just seems a bit too extreme. Maybe New Zealand and American culture are more different than I thought? I don't know if American's are as serious about football as presented in this show, well, maybe that's too generalised seeing as this is set in a town, but a big one it seems at least. It's certainly a much different case when it comes to Rugby in High School. No games are televised and hell it's unlikely anyone will even video a single game. But like I said I guess American culture is more different than I thought. No one watches local television here, maybe they do in the States (or at least for football)? But back onto my point, I understand the pressure some of the players are put under, but the way they cope with it, in particular, a subplot with Smash, that just felt to me, unlikely and a bit extreme, but I guess one could argue that's the point?

Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen) and Kyle Chandler (Coach Taylor) are definitely the best in the show. From the very beginning it's obvious they had their character down. Gilford does a great job playing the nervous yet brave Matt Saracen, from only the first episode you really get a good feel for the character, not only understanding him, but care about him. Hell, he is a good reason why I continue watching this show, his character has definitely gone a long way and I can't wait to see where else he goes. Now onto Chandler's performance of Coach Taylor. Now his character is probably the most important character because if he was acted weakly the whole show would fall apart. He is what keeps the show standing as his character is right in the center of everything, he connects each character together and the like. It's great because, time and time again you see these same Coach like characters come into play in films like We Are Marshall or even Remember the Titans. The type of coach that is smart at the sport he coaches, but a wise guy, one who can help. Now, that same type of coach is here, but this time it's... different. I honestly can't think of much of a way to explain it other than the performance is not so robotic and typical, it's more fluid and real. Seriously, Chandler just has it down, he knows what he is doing, it's as if he was born to play this character, or is this character. Because there are some moments when something dramatic happens, one in particular when he get's served (lawsuit, not challenged to a dance off or something) he is told who is the one who filed the lawsuit and the expression on his face is the thing that really hits ya, really makes you understand how suprised he is, but also puts you right there.

There are some entertaining shows like Prison Break, 24, or Heroes which are good in short bursts but a lot of them are like trilogies. The first is always the best, but then slowly they just have the same stuff, but at more extreme measures, and then they over complicate and change the shows formula, that is why those shows don't last an entirely great run, because of a lack of emotional drive, they just have action. Friday Night Lights is one of those shows that has that emotional drive. I haven't seen the second or third season, haven't even begun to, for all I know this might do the very same thing I stated before (become more extreme and more complicated) but, unless the writers aren't as talented as I thought it should be fine. Constantly through this show you really feel for the characters. Even characters like Tyra. Tyra isn't my favourite character, she is the shows "bitch". No she isn't pushed around and whatnot, she is just a pain in the ass. Adrianne Palicki does a decent job as Tyra, but it's relatively general when uninvolved in a subplot. But as I was saying, even a character like Tyra gets your attention and has you care about her to some extent.

Now onto two "technical" aspects - Music and Cinematography. The music is fantastic with this show and really really helps just get better and better. It helps set the mood perfectly and feel the extremity of drama that is presented. I'm terrible at remember the instruments used, but it mainly consists of guitars. No, thank god it's not full of loud guitar solo's or popular songs of the current time. The music is soft and smooth, with simple strums at certain key moments. Seriously, the music is perfect. That is one of the very first things I noticed about this show, and it really stood out. Now, the cinematography, the camera is obviously actually held by a cameraman and not just operated by one. Now you may go the entire season/seasons without noticing it but the camera shakes, not a little, but not a lot, and also zooms in when necessary to see peoples expressions. This reminds me of another show called The Shield, but with this, it's far more effective. When I mentioned it zooms to show you characters emotions, or reactions, etc, it's not like you see in a martial arts movie and they've got that cheesy look on their face because unlike that, it actually works here. The shaky camera (not Blair Witch/Cloverfield shaky) is quite effective too. It just gives the show an atmosphere and feeling to it, I guess it just makes it feel more real. This show has some real beauty in some of the shots, it makes great use of lighting, mostly because it doesn't really use much. It doesn't brighten up the shots. It always seems to be natural lighting, but obviously it's not always that way. But I tell ya, when the football players begin their Friday night games it always looks great.

This is a really good show that does a good job showing how much pressure can be put on people involved with football, especially in a small town obsessed with the sport. There isn't much that brings this season down. The acting is pretty solid, though weaker in the first few episodes, it improves, regardless is still pretty good. It does have a bit of a weird feeling that the characters high school students, but it's easy to get past that. And another problem I found with the season is the random tug in the flow of the show, around episode eleven, I think. It seems there may have been a break when it was actually televised because it seemed to rely a bit on simple or small things being forgotten, which when combined can become a problem. It's briefly a bit rocky, but that's seriously about one or two episodes, easy to get past. Those are the things that I think brought this down from perfection. Regardless, a hugely great show, worth checking out.

Note: Just found out the music you mostly hear during the show is a band called Explosions in the Sky, a great instrumental band which mainly consists of electric guitars and drums (also the occasional bass).