Following the premiere of its fifth and final season a few weeks ago on DirecTV, I found myself dreading the inevitable end of one of the best television series of the past decade: Friday Night Lights. Set in the rural Texas town of Dillon and following the lives of a determined high-school football coach, his ever-resilient wife and all of the people they touched, Lights revels in the smaller moments that, when piled together, form a life.
Compared to the insistent glitz and glamour that usually inhabits our television screens, Lights is starkly realistic both in plot and in acting. Rarely does a television show that prominently features teenagers tackle the subject of abortion head on, not only delving into the personal torture experienced by young women who have the operation but also the awkwardness of the adults around them. And although the story of a reformed delinquent youth has been told numerous times, Lights has twisted this classic tale on its head by showing that even people who seem to have turned a new leaf can be tempted to do the wrong thing, and that sometimes their lives are easier when they make poor choices.
It helps that the show is grounded by two of the best actors on television at the moment - Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton. As Eric and Tami Taylor, Chandler and Britton have created one of the best marriages in television history. The Taylors have not cycled through divorce followed by reconciliations throughout the show's run; instead, their commitment to one another has only grown stronger.
Like the best of television, Friday Night Lights creates a setting so captivating that it is difficult to believe it is nearing its end. But all great things must come to an end, and what is even more admirable is that Lights seems to be going out on its own terms with a true feeling of finality. So here's to a show that was starkly realistic, fearless in its subject matter and always reliable. There won't be anything like it again soon.
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