Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

I just finished watching all of S1 on DVD. So, I watched the preview on Yahoo.. oh lord, do I not like the way the S2 premiere is going. I will reserve judgement until a few episodes in, but S1 had kind of a really original story, well played.. and that premiere on yahoo is the most cliche packed, ridiculous soap opera.. if those are the plot lines for the year, I'll wait for the DVD set.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

Wasn't crazy about the first 2/3 of the premiere, but it got a little good, and then it just took a swerve into oncoming traffic, and will cast a pall throughout much of the season, I suspect.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

Spoilerized below, here's the problem as I see it:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

I am curious to see how the Coach Taylor angle plays out with him being in Austin with TMU. I would has thought that after the finale he was coming back to coach the Panthers. If the arc is for him to return to coach Dillion it probably will not be until season 3.

Wasn't Riggins a senior last year? And I thought he got past his demons on the field after he and Street talked.

Buddy Garity is still one of my favorite characters. Loved his on screen time in the premiere. He might be able to get Taylor back faster..

Didn't like the Landry angle at all. But kids do stupid stuff. Tyra is not above making a stupid decision despite her intelligence. So i'll give some latitude there.

They made a believer out of me last season so I am sticking with them.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

Dumb, dreary, and disappointing. If dumbing down was the only way to stay alive, maybe this show should have died. Much as I like Landry, I just don't think this plot is going to work. But Glenn Morshower (Agent Pierce of 24) is on the way as Papa Landry, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

What I think made Season 1 interesting was that the problems were things you could relate to. That plotline is something that is so goofball and out there that it just breaks that suspension of disbelief for me.

To be honest

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

I didn't watch last season but ripped through the DVDs and enjoyed it. But seeing the premiere via Yahoo makes me wonder if they are jumping the shark.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

I just finished watching the first season DVD, ate it up in three days actually, and man am I sorry I didn't watch this when it was on! The finest damn hour of engaging drama on television is how i'd describe the first season, I just hope that some of the things i've read here about the season 2 premiere are represenative of that ep only and they don't turn this outstanding show into Dawson's Creek.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

Haven't read any spoilers or watched it yet, but I think the biggest problem for this show is the fact that it got moved to Friday Nights...duh...the night most people in the target audience are at hometown football games of their own

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

Actually, I think the target audience is People Who Don't Like Football but Like the Human Interest Stuff. They thought they would get football fans watching it last season and it never really happened, but there were a lot of "Man, I can't stand football but this is a great show!" reviews.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread

I hate to see these comments about season two's premiere. Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) That said, after that incredible first season, I'm in for the long haul. I just can't foresee them turning the best outright drama on television into a soap opera.

Interesting sidenote: Both Connie Britton and Zach Gilford have major roles in the new eco-horror film, The Last Winter. That was a nifty bonus for this FNL fan.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

Just a reminder FNL returns for its sophomore season tonight.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

While this season opener appears to have put FNL into the cliched murder/self-defense killing subplot territory, bear in mind some critics have seen the 2nd and 3rd episode and are okay with the start of the new season and how it unfolds, so, let's not panic after just this first episode.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

Because I really enjoyed S1, I'm sticking with it. Besides, I've got kids so I'm home on Friday night and there literally is nothing else on.

But the murder subplot, which I pointed out above, is so beyond-the-pail ridiculous that I'm struggling for this show to redeem itself. The son of a cop would know better then to turn an obvious self defense event into a hide-the-body plot. One means you are seen as a noble defender by many, probably face limited to no time. The other is an instant conspiracy and murder charge. I can't believe he's that stupid. I have to admit, I also don't like Landry going out for football... being a HS Debater myself I don't remember that many speech folk who already gave big speeches on how their academic work would be their ticket out suddenly hopping ship and deciding they had to pick up football to belong.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

Only problem I had with the premiere was the murder, that sort of thing isn't what this show is about and it doesn't feel genuine which is one of the things that I absolutely fell in love with in season 1.

That sort of run-of-the-mill stuff doesn't belong and isn't wanted on Friday Night Lights, it totally ruined the funny, and REAL, way that Landry was trying to clumsily make a move on Tyra.

Felt intrusive in the extreme.

Everything else was golden IMO, felt completely on par with what we've seen in season 1. Landry, aside from the murder, is emerging as one of my favorite characters, mostly because he is so me at times, I would have been terrified to try something with Tyra lol.

Can't stand the new coach, he reminds me of that hard-ass coach from Beavis and Butt-Head lol, I was waiting for him to order Riggins to kick him in the jimmy.

Minka Kelly is looking sexier than ever , although I go back and forth with her as a character, she can at times be so sweet but she can also be sort of a bitch and I can't get a fix on her.

And what in the hell is coach Taylor doing!? My god man forget what your wife told you to do last season and go home to your family and stay there!

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

I didn't have a problem with the opener at all. It was pretty damn solid. Landry thought they were on the way to the hospital, and they ended up on a bridge. That's going to fuck up the believability of the legitimate self-defense argument. Besides, he's wrapped around Tyra's finger, and in a mindblowing situation like they found themselves in, a stupid option might start to sound good. Besides, we didn't see the body go into the water, so maybe they came to their senses and didn't dump him. I've been worried about this for weeks now, but I only knew that the shark jump (and can we retire that phrase now?) involved Landry. The whole episode, I was scared it was going to turn out that Riggins was cut and Landry took his spot. Now that would be hangin' ten with the Fonz time.

Sign of the quality of this show that I was sick that Julie was throwing Matt under the bus, but it certainly felt real. People grow apart, even when they thought they were made for each other.

The thing that worries me, and I don't want to violate forum rules here, but I hope they don't make Lyla's religious conversion an excuse to lambast Christianity in general. They were respectful of it last season. I don't mind what they're doing so far, because I do know that sometimes baby Christians go off the deep end and become overly zealous. They often are the ones who end up backsliding and becoming totally wild. Example: I attended a couple of Bible studies led by a guy who would really browbeat anyone who didn't read the week's lesson, and he was kind of a zealot. He ended up becoming a pagan, and ultimately a transsexual. True story. Lyla was always kind of religious, so maybe she'll settle into a nice groove with it. If not, I hope they make some of what I've said above clear, and balance it with a more positive portrayal like Smash's family.

Buzzcut.

I hope we can't just take it for granted that Coach will be coach. The hallmark of last season was that the rules of television didn't apply, that sometimes things happened more like they might in real life than in a script, where things can't change too much. That's an unrealistic expectation, since it would require Coach to be virtually unseen as far as Dillon is concerned, but I hope there isn't a deus ex machina that gets him back in the drivers set by next week. If there is, however, I'll be back here to rationalize it.


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Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

The whole "Ode to Billie Joe" subplot was disappointing to say the least, but the rest of the episode was fairly solid. I think Katims tried to serve up too many plot threads for a single episode though. A lot of the main cast was relegated to "cameo" status.

This time-lapse between seasons bugs me a bit, too. So eight months have passed and even taking into account how "bumbling" Landry is supposed to be, do you mean to tell me that after all this time of seeing Tyra on a regular basis, he has never made any kind of move on her?? Come on!

I have no problem with the producers throwing in this murder/self defense storyline in an attempt to make the show accessable to a broader audience. I just hope they don't forsake the more grounded-in-everyday-life drama (that is the hallmark of the series) in the process...

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

My memory is that it was a lead pipe, but that is just details. I don't know how it would be handled by the law and a jury, but in television land, it definitely was not self defense. That's why they made the point of having the guy walking away, telling Tyra he was walking away but would be back. In a real life situation, I would imagine this would cause the surviving participants to engage in a bit of a "white" lie: "Okay, after he knocked me down, he was going for you again, RIGHT? That's why I hit him in the back of the head, RIGHT? He wasn't leaving."

If I was on the grand jury and a lie *wasn't* involved, I think I could be comfortable no-billing Landry. I'd have to be there to really know, but I could see it: guy tried to rape and beat her before, tried to run her down, followed her, attacked her again, and in the heat of the moment, Landry did what he thought he had to do. But, again, in TV land, that's not how it works. The hero is expected to give the villain every chance at salvation. You've seen it countless times. The hero has the bad guy down on the ground, and he says, "It's over." Then, when he turns his back, the villain produces a hidden gun, and the hero has to shoot him dead. It's very rare for the hero to have the villain down and go ahead and kill him. To Hollywood, this is a worse breach of conduct than anything the villain had done to that point.

Anyway, I can see where this could be seen as a heat-of-the-moment murder rather than pure self-defense, and perhaps Landry recognizes that as well and is tempted by the easy alternative of dumping the problem. It'll be far worse in the end, of course.

By the way, I thought Tyra took the guy's eye last season. Did it not happen that way at all?

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

If an admin is reading this thread, you might edit the title of this thread to warn that there are major spoilers here. FWIW, I enjoyed the first episode last night.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

The general rule is that you can talk openly about an aired episode. If you have knowledge about what happens in a future episode, it needs to be spoilerized.

Not only is Landry an intelligent kid in love with a hot chick, but I don't think it's a stretch that he would't be cool and collected after killing a man.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

Once an episode is aired, it's fair game. Otherwise you couldn't discuss a series. We all spoilerized all talk before the episode aired. After it's aired, it's open. If you have advance knowledge of anything unaired, it should be spoilered.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

Logically I hear what your saying about coach Taylor, Greg, that in real life people move on and they don't come back, but i'll be damned if I don't want him back in charge of the Panthers in spite of that and like you I would totally tell myself that "sometimes in real life people DO come back." if he does return.

It feels so much like he's doing the wrong thing with this job and being away from home for weeks on end. They just had another child for cryin' out loud and Julie needs him there.

Go home, Eric, go home.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

It's cool having you aboard for the "live" broadcasts, John.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

Happy to be here, Greg, it's all thanks to you bud.

BTW, Wendy is now 2 episodes into disc 2 and it's hooked her as well, she told me today that she cried her eyes out when the team went to visit Jason in rehab.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

LOL. It's spreading like a virus! She'll show it to two friends, and they'll show it to two friends, and so on, and so on. . . .

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

Greg!!!!!

I loved your posts on the Fonz danger, Lyla's newfound Christian zealotry and Coach Taylor in Austin vs. Dillon.

And, if I may add, that it was a rather gutsy call, IMHO, for Riggins to say what he said about Lyla being in a cult.

It is contents such as that which make this show true MUST SEE TV!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

Thanks. It is, for me, the best show on TV by far. I like quite a bit this season, so that's saying something.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

Agree that the dead body plot had me rolling my eyes. Can't stand my favorite show to go the way of ordinary tv crap. But ... I keep telling myself that the writers took cliched storylines and threw curveballs last season and made them good, eg. steroids, racism, infidelity. They can save this. Body isn't in the river yet. Wish Landry hadn't made the team, but they'll probably turn that into a good story too.

Re: Friday Night Lights - Season 2 Thread (premieres 10/5/07)

He hasn't made the team, has he? I think it's just tryouts and cuts haven't been made yet. I'd expect him to drop out after this, but who knows.

The storyline just kind of resonates with me. A guy expected his night to end with an attempt to get to first base, and he ends up killing a man. I can just feel the crushing weight of that and hope I'm never in a similar situation.