Friday Night Lights: East of Dillon

I must tell you that I am not a Direct TV subscriber so I am watching Friday Night Lights season four on NBC as if it is airing for the first time. I realize that FNL is not the type of television show I normally care about as there are no aliens, magical islands, demons, or mutant creatures. Yet for some reason, I have loved every story line this show has ever put to the screen, excluding one major misstep in the second season.

If you are not watching Friday Night Lights, you are not alone. The only reason I even checked out Friday Night Lights was that I realized the newly released (at the time) first season DVD's could be bought for less than 20 bucks and I thought that was a steal. Most people have tuned this show out for some reason, which is why the odd deal with Direct TV exists. However, FNL is always in the top tier of television shows on the air even if they do not have the viewership to go along with it.

East of Dillon picks up a fair bit after the events of season three. Coach Taylor was forced out of Panther land, when he refused to play the football prodigy and ridiculously rich kid JD during the big state final, in a coup d'etat by JD's father. Taylor was sent by the generous board of education to East Dillon which was recently reopened without much fan fair.

Watching Eric Taylor walk onto a field with more beer bottles than blades of grass was heartbreaking. Seeing him end his first practice after only 18 minutes was demoralizing. Experiencing real fear when he stood up to the "player" that attacked Landry during practice was epic television. How could a show about such a depressing turn of events be so riveting to watch?

That is not to imply there were no moments of levity in this season opener. The new assistant coach was a lot of fun. I wonder if he will turn out to have any sort of value as an actual coach or if he will simply be a place holder until Tim or Matt take over. Tammy's protest of winning the coin toss with the wrong call and then then taking offense over D had me smiling ear to ear. Julie's decision to attend East Dillon this school year had me simultaneously cheering and wondering how she will be able to go against the new zoning laws when police officers are physically ejecting students from West Dillon.

I do not watch Friday Night Lights with the same microscope I use when viewing Lost but I would be remiss if I did not mention one inconsistency with this episode. JD as a freshman was controlled by his father to the point where he was not allowed to have a girlfriend because it interfered with football. His dad forced him to apologize to Coach the one time he drank during football season. Yet JD as a sophomore is drinking the week of the season opener, consorting with girls and assaulting his former coaches daughter in an effort to prove he is better than Matt. Why has his father not punched him in the face again?

When Taylor came back to Dillon and ousted the new coach before he got a chance to really make the team his own, that coach told him that action would come back to haunt him. Karma has a way of working and that coach could be called a prophet because no one could have predicted that less than two years later Coach Taylor would be forfeiting his season opener down at the half 45 to zip. Well no one other than the writers of Friday Night Lights I guess.

The good news for Taylor is that no one with any real power expects him to succeed. They are hoping he simply quits his job in frustration and shame. That said, I am guessing that Buddy's ego is not going to let him play second banana to JD's father. Even though Buddy bleeds Panther blue I am thinking he is going to be a booster for the Lions by the end of this season.