So FINALLY I got round to watching the last few episodes of season 4 of one of my favourite current shows, Friday Night Lights.  You know that Mark Twain quote that includes ‘dance like no one is watching‘? Well, this blog post is written under the maxim ‘write like no-one is reading’ because I am well aware that most of you have never seen one episode of this show, let alone all four seasons.  In fact, the only person I know who has watched any at all (hello Paul!), will probably want to click away now since there will be spoilers ahoy for anyone who has seen up to the end of season 4.  Accordingly, I will I stick the rest of the post after the jump.

Ok so lets get straight into it.  First off, as usual, watching this show put me through the wringer emotionally.  It has a very special way of making you completely invested in the characters so you feel all their frustration, hurt, loss, joy, pride and sadness.   So I was quite a mess at the end of the season finale.  I am just going to concentrate of a couple of my favourite story lines here otherwise we will be here all day:

Tami Taylor

This story line was quite shocking for me but also utterly believable.  As principal of West Dillon High and an ex-guidance counsellor, she seemed like the perfect confidante for young Becky who found herself pregnant at 15 and pretty decided that an abortion was her chosen route.  Tammy’s actual advice was impartial, clear and in no way advocated the abortion option (although she did tell Becky that she didn’t think it would mean she would go to hell – something that Becky seemed to be genuinely worried about).  I have no way of knowing how accurate was the resulting uproar; it does seem to be a much hotter issue in the States generally than the UK.   The mother of Becky’s baby-daddy was the most vocal accuser and protester and the one pushing for Tami’s dismissal.  This just seemed to alien to me – how on earth could a school principal, trained to give counsel, get dismissed for talking to a child about her options.  It’s not like abortion is illegal – and the child in question went with her mother to get the abortion.  Anyway, I watched this whole storyline with growing frustration and Connie Britton did an excellent job of maintaining her dignity whilst having to accept that reason does not always win the day.

Tim Riggins

It is quite hard to write about this man without coming over all fangirl – he really is a hunk o’ man – but hunk aside, Tim Riggins has really been on a journey this season. No longer adored for his high school football status (although still referred to by many as 33, his player number), he has had to find his way in a small town with not much going for it, or him.  He tried college but the book-learning part got in the way of the football-playing part and it wasn’t for him.  As well as helping out Coach Taylor with the Lions football team, he started working with his brother at Riggins Rigs, a mechanics shop which seemed to fit in with the simple life he had planned but in reality, the money was not enough for him to achieve his goal – to own a piece of Texas so he can build a house and a life for himself.  So it was this dream that was his downfall – his brother, already mixed up running a nighttime chop shop, gives him a quick and dirty way to make a lot of money.  It was just heart-wrenching to watch Tim make the sacrifice for his brother – a new father and husband – when the law finally caught up with them. This character has always been honourable even when his actions were sometimes less-than-honest.  His fall from grace was almost inevitable and it made me really sad.

Coach Taylor and the Lions

And then, since this show does have SOME football in it (American Football for those of us on this side of the Atlantic), there was of course Eric Taylors ongoing struggle to coach East Dillon High’s Lions who are woefully underfunded  and underappreciated compared to their Panther rivals.  Eric’s demotion (which the move from West to East essentially was) has taken its toll on Coach but he is not a quitter and the last victory against his old team was as sweet as it should be, no less because a favourite of mine Landry Clarke kicked the winning goal.   I am gutted that Landry won’t be back in the fifth and final FNL season but I suppose I can understand it. Sweet Luke Cafferty (aka Becky’s baby-daddy) played for several weeks despite a serious injury which he picked up working on his father’s farm.  Football was not a priority in his household but he was good and he wanted to play.  Having to move from the Panthers to the Lions was difficult but he did it without (much) complaint.  Shame about his cowbag of a mother.

I think that season 4 has been one of the strongest yet and I am excited to see what they have in store for the last season.