Why The Friday Night Light’s Finale is The Best in Television

I was first introduced to Friday Night Lights (FNL), the show about life in the football obsessed Dillon, Texas about 6 years ago. 3 years after the series finale had already aired.

My wife and I instantly connected with the show and watched the entire series in under a month (This was before kids, when this was actually possible).

In spite of the shows flaws and missteps — like the moment when they tried to convince you that Landry was capable of killing someone — I consider FNL to be one of the best television series of all time (currently #3, behind True Detective Season 1 and The Wire).

The character development, the storylines, and the settings all came together beautifully to give the audience a glimpse into what it might be like to live in football obsessed small town Texas. Where, for better or worse, the priority is Family, Football, Community, and God — in that order.

A lot has changed in the 6 years since I first watched FNL. My family has grown from 2 to 5 (I include the dog as 1), we’ve said goodbye more times than we’d like, and have started to live in the real-real of life. I resonate more with the characters of the show way more now than I did 6 years. So on recent long haul work trip, when I discovered seasons 4 and 5 of FNL on my iPad, I decided to give it another go. I completed those two season after several more massive flights (and a few Bloody Marys) came to the conclusion that the Finale of Friday Night Lights is the best in television.

Before I explain why — allow me to quickly touch on what I believe makes a great finale. Finales are suppose to provide a level of closure to the story you’ve been listening to. This doesn’t mean a finale has to have some epic build and then be all wrapped up nice and tight with a bow. What it does mean is that you are able to naturally part ways while the fictional story plays on.

The FNL finale does this perfectly. The episode takes all the key storylines, catalyses them around a key moment — in this case the state championship — and then uses a montage to Delta Spirit’s “Til The Devil Knows You’re Dead” to to properly send off the all characters we have grown to love.

Let’s start with the key storylines. This episode really only focuses on 2: The Future of Tim Riggin’s and final test for Eric and Tami.

The coming of age of Tim Riggins

Tim is one of the few high school characters from seasons 1–3 that sticks around for season 4–5. He’s always been a lovable character with terrible luck. Here is a quick recap of Riggin’s greatest hits:

• He tried to helped his paralyzed best friend by taking him to Mexico to find snake oil to fix his back — didn’t work.
• He became a surrogate dad to a girl who was kind of in love with him, but also needed needed the support — the girls mom (who rigs slept with) accused him of sleeping with her daughter and kicked him out of the house.
• He supported his brother’s chop shop efforts to help his brother build some wealth for his family — he ended up taking the fall for his brother and serving 9 months in Jail.

Keep in mind that Riggin’s is roughly 20 years old, that’s quite a bit of ground to cover in a very short time. The one silver lining to the Riggin’s adventures was that he was able to purchase a killer 25 acre plot of land with his chop shop money, which is the central piece of his final storyline.

Tyra, the actual love of his life, returns from our sophomore year at UT for the holidays. Tim and Tyra are sitting in lawn chairs on his property, reminiscing about their lives and openly talking about their love for each other, and their dreams; Tyra’s to go into politics and Tim’s to build his house on the land and calling it a life — with the simple nod “maybe our dreams will merge one day.” It’s a lovely and real moment — Tyra is going to chase her dreams and Tim is going to chase his. You hope they come back together, but we don’t know for sure and that’s the perfect final moment for his story.

As the sun sets on Tim and Tyra, you can’t help but finally feel a sense of relief for this wayward soul. He’s finally figured out who he is where he’s going. It just so happens that he’s not going to go anywhere and he’s going to focus on being present and in the moment.

The final hurdle for Tami and Eric

The whole series is built around the Taylor’s relationship so it only makes sense that their relationship is the focal point of the finale. To kick off the episode the Taylor’s are faced with two competing job offers and the biggest challenge of their relationships. Tami has been offered a Dean of Admissions job at a college in Philly, while Eric has been offered a 5 year contract to coach the Dillon Panthers.

• If i’m Tami — I’ve finally been recognized for all my hard work and now have an opportunity to really shine and Eric’s opportunity, while great on paper, been given to him by the same people that have introduced a lot of chaos into our lives.
• If i’m Eric — I’ve been offered my dream job at home along with the promise of financial stability for my family, which will come in handy considering my daughter is getting married to a dude who works in an art gallery. Tami’s opportunity would present a huge risk. After all, it’s a job she’s never had in an environment she’s never been in. At the same time, he see’s how staying in Dillon would crush Tami’s spirit.

Both opportunities have their pros and cons, but the Philly opportunity is by far the more risky. This move requires the Taylor’s to leave behind the only life they have known as a couple and start something brand new.

As a husband and father of 3 (remember, dog =1) , I completely understand Eric’s desire take the offer and keep his family in Dillon. His whole life he’s been told his job is to provide for his family and now he has a great opportunity to do just that (not to mention to potential career upside down the line).

Even though Tami has been fighting for recognition the entire series and finally gets it, she is giving Eric the power to chose their next steps. She’s willing to give up her dream for his. Eric knows this and he knows that he has to chose between trusting his wife or trusting himself.

He chooses Tami — on the day he’s suppose to sign his 5 year deal , he swings by the mall and tells her he wants to go with her to Philly. Deep in the heart a of patriarchal community, this patriarch put his wife first and showed her that he trusted her.

This is a perfect concluding moment for the show’s central relationship and a pretty big moment in television. 2 years before Lean-In became a hashtag, two fictional characters did exactly that and it’s awesome.

The Final Game / Conclusion

Anyone who has watched the series will tell you the series isn’t about football. The last football game drives that point home. This is the State Championship game, the Apex of what you can achieve at the high school level — yet this game is muted. You watch the action play out, while Explosions in the Sky plays in the background. The only moment where they break the mood is on the very last drive, when Vince air’s it out in a Hail Mary.

You don’t see the catch.

Instead the flying football transitions from the Cotton Bowl to a field in Philly 8 months later ,where Eric is the coach and then fades into the final montage of the series- where we learn what happens to all of characters.

We learn that the East Dillon Lions did win State as noted by the championship ring on Vince’s hand and that Vince is now in charge of the Dillon super team with a bright future ahead of him.

We see Buddy driving around Panther Stadium in a golf cart, I love this moment most of all — because when I was first introduced to Buddy in season 1, I wrote him off as 2 dimensional character only to learn over the course of 5 season’s how deeply principled he is. Seeing in him in this moment mirrored the first moment in season one, but serves as a great reminder to never judge a book by it’s cover.

We learn that Jess is now in Dallas — while she’s able to take a critical step forward in her dream to become a coach, she’s had to say goodbye to her friends and loved ones in Dillon. Reminding us that this isn’t a fairytale ending, it’s merely the close of this chapter of the story.

We see them pulling down the state champs banner and the scoreboard at East Dillon — Again, it’s not a storybook ending, but it’s the right ending.

We see Tim and Billy building his house on his land, cracking beers to “Texas Forever.”

And finally, we see Coach and Tami, together walking off the field together as the field lights shut off, telling us that it’s finally over.

The show is finally over, but this particular finale allows us to know exactly where each of these characters is going next, without overblowing it. Providing us a conclusion that allows us to bid farewell in a way that is true to the story we’ve been a part of for so long.

And that’s why I believe this is one of the best finale’s in television. Feel free to agree or disagree. But through all of it remember one thing…

Clear Eyes. Full Hearts.

Can’t Lose.