Friday Night Lights

I am confident declaring this the best drama on TV. One of the best ever. Laugh if you must, but it rivals The First Season of the OC in sheer perfection. The show shines, however, in the completely opposite light of my previous favorite show. It's not a fantasy world. It's a really shitty town and the show in insufferably depressing. Not a positive thing goes by without 4 soul-crushing happenings to follow. So while it's not an easy show to necessarily stomach, it's impossible not to watch once you're hooked.

It's the characters that drive this show. I haven't had this much invested in a fictional set of people since...season 1 OC. But this show feels like real people. Every character has multiple dimensions they're forced to deal with, and nobody is getting it all right. On the OC, the most satisfying moments were when everything came together perfectly. The perfect line was said, the perfect moment was formed, the perfect song swooped in at the perfect time and you couldn't have hoped for anything better. This show can't pull that off. The citizens of Dylan, Texas are not generally the most articulate people. The characters have way too many faults to believably create a perfect scene. And, if this is making any sense, this makes it all so much more satisfying. It makes watching Matt Saracen stumble through an emotional monologue just seem so spot on. A kid like that wouldn't nail his lines in real life, and he can't on the show. Same goes for Tim Riggins, who has blown so many scenes this season you have no choice but to feel bad for him, but the characters respond as he's blowing it as well. That's who he is on the show. A guy who just can't get it right. I have no clue if that guy is actually a good actor or not, but how he's playing that role, it fits perfectly.

And as far as the old TV drama cliche that everyone is unrealistically good looking? Sure, the star QB, his cheerleader girlfriend, his football playing best friend and his ex-GF are all extremely beautiful people. But I don't think that's too big a stretch for a sleepy town like this. Saracen is as normal as a guy can get. His best friend Landry is less than normal looking and plays the perfect Seth Cohen role Adam Brody could have pulled off if he wasn't so darn cute. Most of the time when they show background or supporting characters, they're shown as plain, emotionally sheltered and generally insecure. Not unrealistically detached, vain or...perfect. I'll bend to say the Taylor family is a little bit on the too perfect side to be completely sold on, but they are surrounded by so many other characters that manage keep them seemingly on the level. The way the OC was so on point by showing one end of the American dream spectrum, this show so masterfully nails the other side of things. It's not an easy thing to watch.

If the show itself wasn't strong enough on the writing alone, not even getting into the cinematography and direction, the music is ON POINT. (lemme just say tho, it's got the most realistic football scenes, at least up until the "last play." When they zoom out and show from the TV camera, it's so good it totally throws you off. Anyway...),  The endless sweeping Explosions in the Sky epics, the right songs in the right times. Wolf Like Me made an appearance. As did Black Parade. I love it.

(This wasn't on the show, but it's a new EtiS track that's pretty rad.)

Explosions in the Sky - What Do You Go Home To? (mp3)

There is so much going on here I can't even begin to scratch the surface on all my thoughts, and I think skimming over the details like I just have might actually do the show a disservice. But it really needs to be seen be believed. NBC is not giving up on the show, thankfully, despite serious ratings issues. They've even made every back episode available on their website to stream for free. If you've never seen, please watch. At least check out the pilot and give it a shot, regardless of what you think about sports. This is as much about Football as The OC was about going to High School. It's there, but it really only acts as a framework to define the characters, rather than something you have to care about to enjoy. Just watch.

The opening credits are even sort of amazing on their own. Watch below if you'd like.

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As good as the kids playing Sarencen, Riggins and Landry are (really good), don't leave out Kyle Chandler as Coach Taylor. He's awesome. That scene when Sarencen showed up wearing a Members Only jacket for his date with Taylor's daughter... perfection.

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