Drama

Friday Night Lights

A couple of years ago I started watching one of the best new shows in years, “Friday Nigh Lights,” a drama that focuses on a small town high school football team in Texas. Before I had seen a single episode I knew that the subject matter would mean more to me than perhaps the average viewer as I grew up in the South where football is second only to Jesus. I hoped that they would capture the fact that in Texas football is Jesus.

I saw the movie and had little hope for the TV series until I saw the pilot. The casting was phenomenal and if possible, the dynamic of the coach and his family was played even better on TV than in the film. The chemistry between the coach and his wife is palpable and at times uncomfortably recognizable. I found myself nodding in familiarity, almost as if I was watching a scene between my mother and father.

See here:

And here:
 

Shot and edited in a loose way off the field, the show feels like it’s barely hanging on sometimes. Like it could go up or down or nowhere at all. The conversations feel like they could explode or implode at any given moment. That tension is brilliant.

The scenes on the field bring back the memories of my own small town high school years, of the scent of hotdogs and sweat, of the excitement of having something, anything to do on a Friday night. My high school football team took state my senior year and I loved nothing more than attending the games. Watching this show reminds me of what it used to feel like having no worry in the world other than what I was going to wear so that people might notice me as I climbed the bleachers.

Here’s a scene where the super green backup quarterback finds himself on the field: