Friday Night Lights is the story of a small town in Texas (Dillon) where really, the only thing they have going for them is football. But (just like every other article ever written about FNL will say) this show is about SO MUCH MORE than football. It's about family and being a teenager and being poor and making bad decisions and learning from them and a little bit about Tami Taylor's magnificent hair.
First things first, Coach Taylor:
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| Clearly, he married Tami so their kids could have unquestionably great hair. |
Coach Taylor is the head football coach of the Dillon Panthers and all-around good man. I am a little puzzled that being a football coach is apparently a full-time position with no teaching duties in the economically-strapped Dillon (Dillon School District: You Need To Sort Out Your Priorities* could be an alternate title for the show) but that's a pretty minor nitpick. Coach Taylor is essentially the surrogate father/conscience that his team desperately needs, doling out tough love and empathy in equal doses. He's not perfect, though, and often relies on Tami to point out that there's more to life than football (he forgets, sometimes. But it's okay, because he's great.)
*With apologies to Ron Weasley/JK Rowling.
Next up: Julie Taylor.
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| I maybe over-identify with her, just like I do with all nerd girls on TV. I would also like to discuss that bang situation with her. I expect better from Tami Taylor's offspring. |
Julie is Coach Taylor's daughter, just starting her freshman year of high school when the series opens. She's smart and a little resentful of her town's adoration of all things football, but she'll still go to all the games and knows the game backwards and forwards. Occasionally Julie is a bit of a brat in ways that scream "the writers needed conflict so Julie is going to suck for 3-4 episodes" but overall I really liked that Julie was at heart a good, nerdy kid who just doesn't quite fit in her conservative, football-worshipping small town.
Tim Riggins, everyone's favorite moron.
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| Anyone who doesn't like Tim Riggins is lying. |
Oh, Riggins. Riggins is, hands down, one of the best things about this show. Yes, he's handsome, but he's also a very particular type of fuck-up-- the kind that KNOWS he's a fuck-up and just doesn't quite have the tools to dig himself out of the hole he's already in. He lives with his dumbass brother, the archetypical "football star who never made it out of Dillon" and Riggins has to juggle his inability to make good choices with the pressure to not screw up (but he usually screws up). He's also got a bit of a drinking problem and has a tendency to sleep around. But through it all, you have to love him. He knows just how much he's screwed up, and he wants to do better but just...can't. It's heartbreaking, really. However, one thing that FNL is brilliant at doing is showing the difficult decisions poor people have to make, and then not judging those decisions. The Riggins boys make an awful lot of crappy choices, but you understand that to them, those are the ONLY choices they think they can make, because there's no one else to bail them out. It's very non-judgmental and, quite frankly, fairly revolutionary.
Tyra, who also has a Hair Situation Of Which I Do Not Approve:
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| It looks much better when she has a sleek bob. Trust me on this. |
Tyra is, in many ways, the mirror image of Riggins. She's a screw-up with a penchant for bad boys, and it takes Tami Taylor pushing her to break out of her comfort zone. So while Riggins spends the series struggling with what he *can't* become (someone who gets out of Dillon and is more than just a screw up) Tyra spends the series struggling with what she *could* become-- someone successful, someone who doesn't have a baby at 19 because that's what girls like her do. I LOVE Tyra, and watching her realize she can break out of the role she always assumed she'd have is just magnificent.
Saracen and Landry, BFFs 4 LYFE.
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| I had to do these two together, because they are the most true to life. I feel like I went to high school with them, even though they don't remind me of anyone in particular. Also, when the actor who plays Saracen got married, the actor who plays Landry was in the wedding party and excuse me while I go die of adorableness. |
Matt Saracen and Landry (his last name isn't important, he's just LAAAANDRY) are two of the most realistic portrayals of teenagers I've ever seen on TV. Saracen is a sweet, good-natured kid with a modicum of talent at both football and art. He's been dealt some pretty shitty hands in life-- his mom ran off, his dad's deployed, and he lives with his grandma who is slowly declining mentally-- and watching him try and navigate all of that, PLUS the added pressure of suddenly becoming the Dillon quarterback when star player Jason Street is injured is really compelling television. Landry, on the other hand, is mostly comic relief in the early seasons. Landry is Saracen's best friend, a huge nerd, and (in my favorite running subplot) has a really terrible Christian Metal band named Crucifictorious. Crucifictorious is that all-too-accurate high school band that's got semi-decent individual players but overall sounds like a mishmash of noise with really overwrought lyrics. Really, how can you top Crucifictorious?
Lastly, our Goddess and Savior, the incomparable Tami Taylor.
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| Okay, maybe I'm overdoing it a bit. But really, Tami is the greatest. |
Tami Taylor is Coach's wife, but really, she's SO MUCH MORE than that. She's a competent professional (although here FNL doesn't seem to grasp how the school system works, as there is definitely not a "guidance counselor to principal" pipeline) and she's definitely where Julie gets her "liberal" streak. Tami refuses to back down when she's challenged on things, but she always handles these obstacles with grace. She's funny, compassionate, and refuses to let Coach bulldoze over her when she disagrees with him. Plus, you always get the sense that when she and Coach disagree, they're still on the same team. Portraying a married couple as genuinely fond of one another SHOULDN'T be a big deal, but it is. All Hail Tami Taylor.
Obviously, I'm just scratching the surface here. There's Jason Street, the star quarterback who is grievously injured in the first episode. There's Lila Garrity, his perfect girlfriend and her dad, Buddy, who is the most infuriatingly accurate conservative businessman I've ever seen on TV. There's the later seasons that deal more directly with class, race, and socioeconomic issues, and the wonderful Michael B. Jordan as Vince. Really, this show is exactly as good as everyone says it is.
Verdict: Perfectly Awesome.
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