Friday Night Lights – Season 2, Episode 9 – The Confession

Like its fellow NBC programs such as Heroes, 30 Rock, Chuck and My Name Is Earl, Friday Night Lights came to its premature, strike-induced ending for 2007.  Unless the strike wraps up soon, you aren’t going to be seeing any of these shows for a while, so I hope you took a moment say your goodbyes.  This week marked a fairly melodramatic, emotionally fluffy end to the FNL season’s first half, though we’ve been left with a few nice developments to explore once the show returns.  Take it to the breakdown:1. Matt/Smash — Ok, two cutesy scenes of Matt and Carlotta (ok, cute is more appropriate then cutesy.  I admit it, I smiled) plus one funny scene with Smash and Matt.  And that was pretty much it.  I know they need to rotate the focus to cover so many characters, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse.  If you have too many characters to fit into an episode, get rid of some characters or make them less important.  Which brings me to…2. Landry/Tyra — Can we all agree that it would be MUCH better for the show as a whole if these two recede back into supporting cast oblivion?  Remember the good old days when Landry jumped in for a hilarious barb or word of advice to Matt?  I love Landry’s scenes with his father, Aaron Pierce, but have Landry and Matt spoken all season?  And remember when Tyra was so awful that they made all the episodes about her sister and mother because there was nothing else to say about her?  Tyra needs to move out of Dillon, Landry needs to go back to being a sidekick, and Smash and Matt need to get more screen time.3. Street/Cute Waitress — I couldn’t tell who was better at making “I’m so into you” eyes, Carlotta or Cute Waitress.  Either way, QB1 past and present are stepping into some mighty fine romantic situations.  Street has officially made the final step from high school football star to new man.  He’s got a new girl, a new house, a new best friend– a new life.  Now here’s the kicker: how does he relate at all to the other characters?  Yes, Lyla had 30 seconds of screentime (what’s the deal?!) helping him move, but other than that, does he connect with anybody else?  How do they keep Street relevant?  My guess?  They don’t, and his story starts to feel like the last clown trying to climb into the VW bug. 4. The Taylors — Yes, I love the mother/daughter and husband/wife drama on this show.  I think it’s very naturalistic and verisimilitudinous.  BUT, don’t you think they’ve been laying it on just a wee bit too thick lately?  How many Julie/Tami showdowns are there going to be?  I’m going to hope that the writer’s have gotten it all of their system.  Look for the next part of the season to focus less on this family dynamic and more on Coach Taylor, the team and the players, as the football season progresses. 5. Santiago/Buddy — How old is this guy, 30?  It’s enough already that Street and Lyla are each in their late 20′s, but this guy makes them both look like children.  Which is why I found his whole, 10-year-old child”I hate you” mumble to be a bit ridiculous.  But I did enjoy seeing him and Buddy move their relationship forward, and of course, it was great to have an excuse to watch the Panthers play ball again.  When are we going to see Santiago butt heads (or befriend?) Riggins?  Smash?  Matt?  Come on!  You’ve got so many great characters to choose from– no way he’s going to be isolated with Buddy for the rest of the year.6. Riggins — My favorite character on the show this season.  Everyone else is running around kissing, yelling, making anguished faces (how ridiculous was Landry’s agonized face as he mowed the lawn?  Priceless.) and moaning.  But Riggins has been stoically and steadfastly turning from an immature, irresponsible drunk into a rock of a human being.  He couldn’t have been a better friend to Jason in Mexico, he helped Santiago practice, he helps Coach Taylor out with the Athletics Department, and as always, he chooses to suffer silently with his roommate than to ask for help.  I love that he’s sleeping over at the Taylors, and I think Riggins and Coach need to develop a stronger bond.  Not a bad start to the second season.  Was it as good as season one?  Not even close.  Were some of the episodes brilliant? Absolutely, but as a cohesive whole, it suffered from the same reasons 30 Rock (though the finale, the episode I saw live, was hilarious this week) and Heroes have this year: too many characters, too much plot to cover, not enough individual care and attention to the people we truly care about.  These shows need to study the mantra “less is more” and use this unfortunate hiatus to reassess the direction in which they are moving.  Let’s hope this time away prove to be a productive and useful one, and isn’t all in vain.Grade: BGrade for the season so far: B+