Texas Forever? Seems Like It

Texas Forever? Seems Like It. Friday Night Lights Review

By Hanane Zahrouni The way this show focuses on the lives of the religiously obsessed high-school football team, with the Panthers and its domination on the families being just the backdrop of the small-city dynamics of Dillon, Texas. You do not have to love the sport as its filled with a variety of conflicting issues such as money, race and class, spirituality, striving and the hardship of broken dreams and relationships as well as all the other things that make life so wonderful yet so terrifying. It is the need to connect to something, especially when many of the connections in your personal life are frayed.

The false documentary style with the magnificent handheld camera work enhances the visual authenticity, which the audiences emotion dwell on - that drives us nuts with such a staggering insight and bursts of flashing color and frenetic editing. The climax of the Friday night game, where nothing but success is accepted on the field tends not to bring the best out of Dillon and there is this constant pressure on everyone, in particular Coach Eric Taylor played by Kyle Chandler who constantly keeps his balance as he is endlessly stabbed from every direction.

Watching the show for the second time has reminded me how remarkable, the timehonoured cast and performances are which are alone worth tuning in for: from Connie Britton as the coach’s wife, Tami Taylor to Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins, the degenerate yet sensitive lost soul hidden behind his messy hair and miserable pout. The way the characters wear their heart on their sleeve is what makes the honesty and raw humanity shine through, which forms the bivalve heart of Friday Night Lights. The merging of the two elements of family and the spirit of football, which has not been yoked together before on TV is what makes the show unique and characters solid.

Peter Berg successfully balances the courageous storytelling with passion proving the show’s emotional draw. It is a wonder portraying life in a small American town with warmth without being too patronizing. I would urge anyone to watch it and it deserves to be seen with “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts.” HZ