As Friday Night Lights wraps up its fifth season on NBC, the ESPN channels are rerunning the series from the beginning, which gives us an excuse to head back and experience it all over again. Here we take a look at a key series moment from the pilot episode.
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." - Eric Taylor
When I heard that ESPN was going to rebroadcast the entire Friday Night Lights series from the beginning, starting last night with the first two episodes, I was super excited. I wasn't pumped because I would get another opportunity to watch the show every week; I can watch it whenever I want on Netflix Instant. I was pumped because I knew I would have the chance to write about the pilot. When the episode originally aired in 2006 I hadn't started writing about TV yet and pretty much no one I knew was watching the show, so I didn't really get a chance to sing my praise for what is truly one of the best pilots of all-time. From the opening frame to the final credits, this episode grabs you by the facemask and makes you respect it. There is no way you can watch it and not be moved. After a single hour, it was clear that Friday Night Lights was going to be something special.
The following is the first of a two-part series in which I reminisce on some key moments in the first two episodes. Keep in mind that this is by no means a definitive list; virtually every scene in the pilot is a key moment. The moments I have chosen to include are simply the ones that stood out to me for one reason or another. Some of them resonated with me emotionally, other simply set the stage for themes that would recur throughout the series. Please feel free to use the comment section to add your own key moments. Now join me as I bow at the alter of the glorious god that is FNL.
The first practice scene does a great job of introducing us to the players and showing the audience what the stakes are for the Panthers. Dillon is a town where football is everything and football players are heroes. Practice is flooded with members of the media fawning over these kids. Jason Street (Scott Porter) handles the attention with class, responding to a question about how good the Pathers will be respectfully, saying, "We are a very good team." Smash Williams (Gaius Charles) is brash and egotistical, responding to the same question with "We're the best. 'Cuz they've got me." Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) shows up to practice half drunk.
Of all of the great character combos the show produced, my favorite would probably be Matt Saracen (Zach Guilford) and Landry Clark (Jesse Plemmons). Their friendship is so genuine and their banter is so natural. The pilot features the first of many scenes featuring the two discussing life, love, and the universe in Matt's front yard while trying to throw a football through a tire tied to a tree. The scene also has a classic Grandma Saracen (Louanne Stephens) line. Landry tells Matt, "I'm thinking of starting a Christian speed-metal band, you in?" and you hear Grandma shout from inside the house, "Matthew, you need to get a new friend."
Before the Panthers' first game of the season, they play a scrimmage against a local pee-wee football team. It's a very cute scene that is followed by Jason giving the youngsters a pep talk. One of the little kids asks Jason if he thinks God loves football. "I think everyone loves football," Jason says before leading the group in a prayer. I mention this scene because it is indicative of the mature, non-judgmental way religion is treated on FNL. The show itself is not religious, it doesn't preach or push an agenda. But the characters on the show are religious. Church is part of their lives and the show does a great job of demonstrating this without making a big deal out of it.
"Texas forever" would become an unofficial motto in the show. It's first said by Riggins to Street and Lyla (Minka Kelly) as the three relax around a campfire dreaming about Street's future in the NFL. Even in the first episode, Riggins seems resigned to his life, with an expectation to be trapped in Dillon with no chance of a future beyond its borders. "Here's to God, football, and ten years from now, living large in Texas...Texas forever."
In the locker room, before the Panthers take the field for their season opener, Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) gives the team one of his patented pre-game speeches. He ends the sermon with his motivational saying, "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." If "Texas forever" is FNL's unofficial motto, than "Clear eyes, full hearts" is the show's official motto. Those six words combine to create the greatest piece of "coachspeak" ever uttered aloud.
FNL can be a pretty tough show to watch sometimes, so it doesn't really surprise me that it struggled in the ratings for virtually its entire run. The subject matter at times is a lot to handle, and I think for some casual viewers it proved to be too much to handle. FNL doesn't pull any punches: right from the first episode it shows the viewer what he or she is in for if they stick around for a while. The storylines are mature and honest, sometimes brutally so. Also, producers Peter Berg, Brian Grazer, David Nevins and Jason Katims did an excellent job of translating to television the subtle sense of underlying sadness permeating Dillon, Texas that Buzz Bissinger captured so well in his book. The feeling of being trapped in a small town, of potential squandered, of destinies predetermined, of dreams lost, become major themes in the episodes and seasons to come and the seed is planted in the pilot. "Devil Town," written by Daniel Johnston and performed by Bright Eyes, is a brilliant song choice. Not only does the song slither into your head and haunt you for days, it completely embodies the emotional essence of the show.
It's ballsy and possibly even a bit alienating to have a main character, the star quarterback, get paralyzed in the first hour. I can imagine families out there in TV land who tuned in expecting something along the lines of Rudy: The Television Series, watching this with their mouths agape, wondering what the heck kind of show this is. The Jason Street injury scene is like a punch in the gut. I came home a little late yesterday so I didn't catch the first 45 minutes of the pilot on ESPN, but my girlfriend had it on when I arrived. She likes the show, but hasn't seen a lot of the earlier episodes. She started watching with me in the later seasons (or as she calls them, "the ones with Wallace playing quarterback"). I entered my apartment and she is on the couch with a soggy tissue in her hand, just bawling. "You didn't tell me Jason got paralyzed in the FIRST EPISODE!" Sniffle. Sniffle. She didn't stop crying until 15 minutes into the second episode.
The Street injury is the key scene of the pilot. It's risky, it's brave, it put everyone on notice that Friday Night Lights is not for the feint of heart, and it solidifies the episode's credentials as one of the best pilots of all time.
Lucas, you (and FNL) had me at Saracen and Landry tossing a football at a tire on his front lawn. And amazing banter involving mention of a Christian speed metal band. And how cool that Landry is involved in said band until he leaves Dillon.
Amazing point too about setting up the character of Jason Street marvelously well within an hour before setting his life on a completely altered path. And how great to go back and see the maturation and development of Saracen back from this very early stage as well.
Friday Night Lights is one of the best shows of the past decade-plus and deserves as much regonition as possible. Awesome job, Lucas !
It was an amazing show - so elegantly written, so beautifully filmed - and your review reminds me of why it worked. Thank you.