'Friday Night Lights' - 'Thanksgiving': Pride of the Lions
The season climaxes with the Lions-Panthers game.
Coach preps for the big game on "Friday Night Lights."
For the final time, I reviewed all the episodes for this season of "Friday Night Lights" on my old blog as they aired on DirecTV. Because I can't bring content from the old blog over here, each week I'm going to link to those reviews so you can see what I and the DirecTV audience thought of them back in the fall, then discuss them here.
This week: the season finale "Thanksgiving," in which the Lions and Panthers finally play their game, the Riggins brothers face justice and Coach and Mrs. Coach gather their loved ones around the table for some turkey. So go read the review and tell me what you thought.
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August 6, 2010 at 9:47PM EST Reply to CommentMan - what a great finale. I'm glad you mentioned Plemons. His work in this episode was just flawless
katie71483
August 6, 2010 at 9:51PM EST Reply to CommentI wish more people were watching this wonderful show.
Alan, I so agree with your review and comments. It's amazing how much heart and effort went into this show and it is evident in every frame.
I couldn't stand Tim Riggins in the pilot episode of season 1. I thought he was an obnoxious jerk. Somewhere along the way, he became my favorite character of the school-age group. It got so dusty in my apartment as Tim Riggins walked towards the jail that I don't even know what to say.
This is going to sound odd, but I think going back to being a guidance counselor is perfect for Tami. She was so good at that in the earlier seasons.
Tina
August 6, 2010 at 10:16PM EST Reply to CommentA lovely finale. I don't care how unrealistic it was for the Lions to win the game, it was a terrific resolution. How nice to see Coach enjoying himself so much. And for Landry to be the game's hero.
If I hadn't already teared up at the end of the game, hearing the intro to Steve Earle's "Goodbye" would have definitely done it. Between The Wire and FNL, Earle has shown up in some great shows.
Alan, thanks so much for all your reviews and for linking to them on the new site.
Angela
August 6, 2010 at 11:09PM EST Reply to CommentI read all the comments on the other blog, so in case others do too I will try not to repeat them too much.
I don't have a problem suspending disbelief if the story is worthwhile, and doesn't insult my intelligence. That said, FNL has *never* let me down. I even liked season 2! I only have great things to say about this show.
I don't know a lot about football, I never watch real games, and the only problem with this one was that it didn't last long enough. I could have watched for hours.
The writers and cast all did incredible work even with the multiple problems they had to deal with from the start. Plot holes, messed up time-lines, and story-lines dropped in mid-air withstanding, it's still the best family drama out there of all time. I wonder what Katims could do with a show without all the extra baggage to begin with? I would *love* to see him do another TV show.
I have to say it too, Jesse Plemons was fantastic. I will never forget that face as long as I live. And Taylor Kitsch, geesh, I've gone from labeling him a teen-age heart throb way back when, to being his biggest fan.
I wish I could find every speech given by Coach Taylor over these years to read when I need to feel inspired or uplifted.
I'm glad that when Tammy said she was sorry for not apologizing to everyone at that meeting to Eric, he said "you don't need to say your sorry." If he has said anything different it would have felt wrong. They just don't miss a beat when it matters.
That's all. It's all good as so many past commenters said in the old blog.
Thank you Alan, for putting into words all the things I felt about this show but am unable to express through writing.
alamble Jason Katims is already working on another TV show - he's the Executive Producer and showrunner for Parenthood.
August 6, 2010 at 11:19PM ESTJanieJones I was late to the FNL train but once I caught up, I was often filled with so many emotions.
August 7, 2010 at 4:18PM ESTI echo many of Angela's sentiments (I do not know football too well, the way I viewed Kitsch in the beginning, Coach T's speeches, etc).
Alan, I appreciate all of your thorough, critical analysis. It helps me along with other comment's to see even deeper within FNL. It's a great show.
Thank you!
Angela @alamble, Argh! If I had known Parenthood was produced by Jason Katims I wouldn't have missed one episode. No wonder that show grew on me pretty quick.
August 7, 2010 at 6:52PM ESTThe only thing I didn't like was how they tied each episode up with a pretty bow. The fake reality in that drove me crazy. But if I remember correctly they had a couple later episodes that weren't so neatly resolved.
Now to go look for episodes I missed. Thank you for letting me know. :)
Angela Alamble,
August 7, 2010 at 9:43PM ESTAll episodes of Parenthood are playing on Hulu until August 15th. What timing!
Wes Covington
August 7, 2010 at 2:26AM EST Reply to CommentUnless Texas uses a different rule, I'm pretty sure any player wearing a number like 79 (Tinker's number) is ineligible to catch a pass. However, if East Dillon had lined up for a punt, he would have been eligible. Regardless, the officials would have wanted to know before the game about such a play.
But that's the nitpicker in me.
The person with a heart and soul loved it!
Marcus Not true. It doesn't matter what number you wear. Tinker could report in to the official before the play itself as a "tackle eligible" which is essentially like a third Tight End and he'd be fine. It depends only on the number of people on the line of scrimmage. See instances like defensive player Mike Vrabel of the Patriots catching multiple TDs, including one in the Superbowl) or back in the day when the Giants would do it with Jumbo Elliot.
August 7, 2010 at 5:00PM ESTMarcus Oops, my mistake. Jumbo only caught one TD as a member of the Jets.
August 7, 2010 at 5:02PM ESTBuild A Better Fan
August 7, 2010 at 2:54AM EST Reply to CommentYou were right, Alan: they needed more time to tell these stories. The season was both too rushed and not tight enough: events and character changes often felt abrupt. They tried to fit a lot of story into 13 episodes; I would have liked to see them slow things down, flesh out the core plot, and thereby develop the new characters and their relationships with the old.
As it was, the antagonists were unusually one-dimensional (Vince's thug associates, Luke's mom, J.D.), which made the conflicts less weighty.
Even the football felt sloppy and rushed. It wasn't at all apparent how the Lions could beat the Panthers, except for the Lions' mysterious defense. As with the rest of the season, the overwhelming focus on the offense hollowed out the game.
If we're severing ties with Tim, we're losing the connection that several characters had with the rest of the cast, particularly Becky and her mom, who will have to establish all new relationships next season. The time spent on Billy and Mindy and even Lyla all seems to converge to a dead end, as far as the rest of the characters are concerned.
Similarly, I don't know that the time we spent with Matt's art or Julie (music festival and Habitat for Humanity?) paid off, because as of the finale it's not clear they'll add anything to the next season.
Either those characters and stories should have been more tightly integrated with the core storyline (the Lions and their close relationships), or they should have had much less screen time.
Finally, having reached this point in the season, I wish the Lions had lost the Panthers game -- narrowly, after a great struggle, and maybe injuring J.D. for the post-season (perhaps when he gets a little cocky), thus crushing the Panthers' chances of advancing within the playoffs.
That would have kept the Panthers hungry for revenge, given us the satisfaction of seeing J.D. get a little comeuppance, and made a victory next season all the sweeter... all without stretching our suspension of disbelief the way this victory did.
With all that said, the season still had FNL's trademark excellent moments marked by great acting, including a particularly memorable episode in "The Son." FNL's worst episodes and seasons still outclass the vast majority of the competition.
KathyB
August 7, 2010 at 9:10AM EST Reply to CommentI knew Tim would take the fall so Billy could be a father, but how long do we believe Billy can stay out of trouble. The Riggins boys are not the sharpest pencils in the box. Broke my heart anyway and perfect sendoff for Tim.
Love having all the Taylors at the same school, finally. Tami was never believable as a principal anyway. We have not heard the last of Luke's mother.
Of course Coach was going for two point conversions after failed kick to catch up and try to go ahead on points. Loved Landry's clutch kick at the end, and Matt's whole goodbye tour. Chicago time a good cure for both of the brokenhearted friends.
It was too short a season, always is. FNL has always been a series caught in a vise. Just gets so compressed that they have to make every scene special. It succeeds almost always. Huge undertaking this year. Mostly successful in showing the non-Panther environment of Dillon. Thanks, Alan for your work.
mj
August 7, 2010 at 12:33PM ESTI think your observation that "Tami was never believable as a principal" is insightful because I think that Connie Britton delibrately played Tami Taylor in that awkward way. It was Tami's first job as a principal of a high school and only in other dramas on tv would you expect a first-time principal who was promoted from a Guidance Counsellor to be believable and convincing as a principal.
On a different issue, that of the Best Lead Actor Emmy, I can only comment on Hamm Vs Chandler but in my opinion Chandler's Season 4 FNL performances vector-dominate Hamm's Season 3 Mad Men performances. For me, Hamm has splashes of brilliance, along the lines of the way he played the shocking treatment of his secretary in last Sunday's Mad Men Season 4 Episode 2. Chandler, on the other hand, brings it every single scene he is in. This episode was no exception.
By the way, for those who haven't seen it, the Ausiello interview with Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton (http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/08/05/friday-night-lights-connie-britton-kyle-chandler/) is quite entertaining. At one point, Chandler says "It’s one thing having champagne while you have a job. It’s far different having a bottle of whiskey while you don’t have a job. That’s where the country songs come from."
DonBoy
August 7, 2010 at 10:03AM EST Reply to CommentI think Taylor made a Landry-management error, though, even though the writers made it come out ok. Based on the scores we saw, the Lions has 6, then must have scored a TD (12) and gone for 2 (14), then scored the late TD we saw (20) and then we saw the 2. This means, when he asks Landry to kick the long FG for the win, Landry has been stewing about his miss since it happened, and of course he thinks Coach has no faith in him. Better, I think, to send him back out for one of the extra points -- maybe it's important to get back to parity with the Panthers, to get back to 14, but the second 2-pointer only makes sense if you're going to send Landry out again for 3 later, from probably longer than the extra point.
Jason
August 7, 2010 at 12:35PM EST Reply to CommentLoved the finale, but I have to think that Luke's mother and the other parents who wanted Tami fired would be less than happy about her new job. They wanted her fired for giving advice to a student (not even her own student), then the board gives her a job again as counselor? Makes no sense to me.
DougMac Reply to comment...
August 7, 2010 at 1:06PM ESTDougMac Good point. I wish the finale was mor elike season 3 though. I know they did that thinking it may be a series finale, but I liked that the big game was the penultimate episode and then we had a rest of the year finale.
August 7, 2010 at 1:08PM EST
August 9, 2010 at 2:43PM ESTAnd I hope that Luke was bluffing about that scholarship to St. Pat's. Because there is no way that, after their son knocking-up a girl who then had an abortion, they wouldn't jump at that scholarship to a Catholic school. Not that that couldn't happen there too but they'd take deal in a heartbeat.
Echos Myron
August 7, 2010 at 12:58PM EST Reply to CommentThis show blows. Bee Thousand and Alien Lanea are two masterpieces of the 90s. Alan, since you like the New Pornographers, you should check out Guided by Voices, starting with these two albums.
JD Marinovich
August 7, 2010 at 3:09PM EST Reply to CommentI know this is a dumb thing to be caught up on, but I can't wrap my head around the idea that Wade Aikman wouldn't be fired.
Coach gets fired after going state title, loss in the playoffs, state runner-up. Aikman not only loses to Coach in a stunning upset but also fails to make the playoffs.
Obviously he has the good ol' boy gang on his side, but it just seems too unrealistic considering the precedent for him to keep his job. The other thing I should point out, in defense of Aikman, is that I think West Dillon lost one (maybe two games) because of Luke's ineligibility. Still, it seems like missing the playoffs the way the Panthers did would be an entirely unforgivable crime in Dillon.
Any way Joe slides into the position?
Also, the FNL writers will have to do a better job to create interest in the West Dillon program for next year if they want the same payoff. I assume it will be West Dillon slaughters East Dillon in the rivalry game but both teams somehow make the playoffs. East and West square off in the finals and East wins. Everyone is happy. Fin.
If that is the way the show decides to go, I certainly hope the writers do a much better job of not only making West Dillon more believably (and not cartoon-like) hate-able and build West Dillon up to be a powerhouse team next year. Perhaps even have West Dillon finding a mailbox-like loophole to "recruit" players like the private school going after Luke.
Really enjoyed the season, though I agree with many of Alan's points. I especially thought Luke was under-utilized for the sake of some of the older characters, which I get but don't like.
I would love to see less early seasons 90210-like heavy handed, one-sided arguments on teenage issues (e.g.: abortion, pain killers, teenage pregnancy, parental behaviors repeating themselves with kids) in the fifth season. This show started off being about the characters -- even moreso than football -- and it should stay true to its roots. I just don't think this needs to turn into an issue show and would be disappointed if it continued down that road in its final year.
Rant over. Flame on.
renton
August 7, 2010 at 3:47PM EST Reply to CommentThanks for so often identifying the music on shows in your reviews, Alan. I was trying to figure out the Auerbach song (and only now remembered it was also used in Up in the Air).
Angela I too appreciate the titles to songs because I like more of what I hear on TV than I do on the radio these days.
August 7, 2010 at 7:10PM ESTWith the help of iTunes 99 cent songs I finally have some music to listen to again.
Angela Renton, Thanks to you I'm going to be spending some money tonight as you reminded me that there are many songs I've heard and loved since reading Alan's reviews that I haven't bought yet.
August 7, 2010 at 7:35PM ESTSOA's song choices were great. "Fortunate Son" by Lyle Workman comes to mind. But I remember there were some wonderful female artists too.
Though I did buy "When the Night Comes" by Auerbach from the last episode of FNL, and from Parenthood, "Storm" by Jose Gonzalez.
I think I've found a music critic I like in Jason Katims.
Alf
August 8, 2010 at 6:01AM EST Reply to CommentOne thing I haven't seen mentioned is that Tim's land was bought with dirty money and in all liklihood would be takenaway from him.
Angela I wondered about that too. There's always next season though.
August 9, 2010 at 4:01AM ESTarg1918
August 9, 2010 at 9:34AM EST Reply to CommentOn the BS Report, Chuck Klosterman hypothesized that Coach Taylor may have been becoming an alcoholic in front of our eyes this season. Any commentary on that?
non_Canadian We saw some episodes of drinking, but we didn't see many of the other behaviors and negative consequences that can be associated with alcoholism. The boozing didn't seem to affect Coach Taylor's relationships, he always took a cab, he never got drunk and violent, he wasn't drunk at 10:00 in the A.M., he didn't get smashed when he was alone, he wasn't putting booze into his coffee/water bottle/soda can so he could disguise his drinking...
August 9, 2010 at 5:39PM ESTI'd agree that we saw some binge drinking, but I think its a stretch to take that and call it alcoholism.
non_Canadian
August 9, 2010 at 5:30PM EST Reply to CommentAlan,
Even if I knew at the first episode of this season exactly were things would end up at the finale, I would still have enjoyed the show. I watch FNL primarily to enjoy the journey regardless of the destination.
The journey this season felt a little rushed at times. I agree that there just wasn't enough time to properly cover all the material introduced and I agree that 22 episodes would have been more ideal. Hopefully the writers will adjust down the scope of characters and plot lines in the last season. If they can only give us 13 episodes, then cut out the chaff and make every scene count.
I hope the producers don't feel compelled to give us brief Facebook updates about every character we've ever met on the show. Now that Tammy is becoming a Lion, I'd be perfectly happy with dropping 95% of the Panthers/Team McCoy/West Dillon plot lines. The show used to live in West Dillon, but it doesn't anymore. I feel comfortable moving on.
evan
August 11, 2010 at 4:06AM EST Reply to CommentI like this show a lot but I want to hear people's thoughts on some things.
First, one person already mentioned this but I don't see how the school board is ok putting Mrs. Coach in a position where her SOLE DUTY is now to give advice to the kids when giving advice to kids was the only thing she "failed" at in her principal position.
Second, what was with coach putting in Luke who was so badly injured that earlier in the week coach said he would not be playing? Made no sense to me as I was watching it.
DJR12
August 16, 2010 at 7:54PM EST Reply to CommentThis season's FNL kind of reminds me a bit of the final season of "Lost." The individual scenes and acting are so good that they kind of distract you from noticing that overall, the story isn't being told with a heck of a lot of coherence or sense. I'd give the writing an A for individual scenes and a D- for ongoing plot and character development.
True, much of the problem seemed to lie with having only 13 episodes to introduce quite a few new characters, and obviously there were budget and/or scheduling constraints with actors as well, most noticeably with Big Mary -- clearly there was no compelling story reason whatsoever for him to be replaced by Aunt Cypher in the last couple of episodes.
But beyond those real-world problems, it just doesn't seem like the season was planned very well. The showrunners were simply not competent at keeping a basic level of consistency from episode to episode or at maintaining the internal logic of the plot and characters. Too often, events happened or characters made decisions not because those things made sense and were organic to the story, but because the episode needed things to randomly be as they were. How is it that the Panthers were bad enough to be knocked out of the playoffs in the season's last game? Because we needed the game to have some dramatic stakes. Why on earth were the Riggins family all invited to the Taylor Thanksgiving? Because the show wanted all of the principals gathered together at once. Why did Becky or her mother never factor in at all in the story of Tammy's school board troubles? Because they wanted to give Tammy a spotlight and not them. Why did the principal of East Dillon seem to have a weariness dating back years when the school was apparently just created this year? Why did we pretend there was an East vs. West Dillon rivalry dating back years when, again, East Dillon wasn't even around until this season? That's not time constraints. That's just sloppy writing that neglects the continuity of the show's universe.
I agree with non_Canadian. Next year, FNL needs to drop the Facebook updates, drop West Dillon except as maybe a rival of the week. Focus on your core characters and letting their stories play out naturally. And I definitely agree with JD Marinovich -- please no more 90210-level simplistic "issues" stuff. It would be nice if FNL went out as the same kind of low-key, character-based drama it started out as.
Charlotte
August 28, 2010 at 11:10PM EST Reply to CommentI'm willing to bet money that the brochure Landry was flipping through on the plane ride was about Northwestern (the name in the upper-right hand corner is only shown for a blurry second). I thought this was great, seeing as how Zach Gilford is both from Evanston and an NU alum. And being an NU student myself, I enjoyed the reference. :) Plus, I was wondering when the school was going to be mentioned--after all, how could Julie the (former) budding journalist or Landry the math nerd not be considering it during their respective college searches?
September 19, 2010 at 8:51AM EST Reply to CommentI'm a total latecomer to FNL - I moved to the US last year and discovered it via this blog, and thanks to Netflix and Hulu am now all caught up.
I loved the finale - I'm a sentimental sop at heart so I was so pleased to see Landry FINALLY get a moment of joy after so many crushing blows in the girlfriend dept (swear off women Landry - it's the only way!) and the toothpick idea was inspired.
As the game was playing out I really had no idea how it was going to go (took me back to Season 3 when I really thought they'd win state and didn't) but I was so pleased that they won - if only to see the smug look wiped of Joe McCoy's face!
It's such a shame Kitsch is moving on, but like others have said - Tim was coming to the end of his natural FNL life it seemed and although heartbreaking, it was a fitting way for the character to bow out.
Now my only problem is waiting for Season 5 - after watching 4 seasons online it's going to be hard having 1 ep a week!