Friday Night Lights (TV) (2006)

Let me tell you a secret.
Sometimes, things aren't as bad as they seem.
Sometimes, those same things, end up being pretty damned awesome.

Friday Night Lights is one of those things.

Forget the dismal reviews, forget the criticisms, forget NBC's own comments about the show. This television show is nothing short of pure inspirational genius.

Chances are I've already ranted to you about it, and it's even more likely that you still haven't seen it. "Football?! Drama?! Hah, that's a joke." Don't deny it, I can hear you thinking it. But it's true, this show is classified under drama, but not in the way you'd think. Sure, it's a lot of teenagers with a lot of problems: physical, psychological, emotional; you name it, FNL's got it. But its not portrayed in a typical soap opera style, it brings you into the minds of the characters. It brings you into the field as they play. It brings you the spirit you've always wanted to find.

Centered around a football coach returning to coach a year of high school football, only to have his star player, the reason for his return, paralyzed in the first game of the season. A shocking blow to the hopes of the town of Dillon Texas, where this show is set. And in a town like Dillon, where football is viewed on the same level as religion, there isn't much hope to go around.

All this is good and well, but the thing about Friday Night Lights that sets it apart from others, in my opinion, is its visual brilliance. There are criticisms about the style its shot in, a documentary style, the notorious "shaky-cam". Distracting, some call it. Annoying, say some others. I call it being real. Somehow, the aspect of the show that reminds you its being recorded, immerses you into it even more. Then, from how it's shot, we move on to what. From scenes filmed with the characters face filling up half the screen, to the grandeur of two lone teenage boys sitting alone in an empty stadium on the eve of an important game. It's all there. And it's all done right.

But the best part of the show? It'll make you feel good about life. It portrays human vulnerability and the strength to come back from that, built on the foundation of nothing more than hope. The soundtrack helps, with pieces from "Explosions in the Sky" placed so wonderfully that you might find yourself wanting more, to keep listening to the music instead of having to watch a heart wrenching speech about the fragility of human spirit, until you become so immersed in the words to the point of wanting to find someone to smile at and hug.

Please, give it a chance, keep an open mind, and watch the first episode. If you don't like it, then leave it, find something else. Whatever melts your cheese, or so the saying goes.

But if you do like it, then i implore you to keep watching. You'll be a better person for it.

It's just that good.