Friday Night Lights is Gone
By Jason McIntyre
I’m not going to get all lengthy here and write 5,000 words on the show – others have already done that here and here and here and here – but I figured some pithy ruminations on characters who appeared in the finale would be suffice:
Coach Taylor – A man of few words. If my kid wants to play high school football, I’d like it to be for a Coach Taylor. Hell, I’d like to be a coach, and I’d model my coaching after him! In the finale, I like how he just rolled into the bar to see Vince’s dad, said once sentence, dropped the ticket on the table and walked out. No big scene, no confrontation. Simple. To the point. When he speaks, you listen.
Buddy Garrity- Funny dude. Likable. I’ll see him in any movie/TV role and think, “Buddy Garrity!” I laughed when he called coach Taylor at the crack of dawn to tell him about Little Buddy’s rehab progress and how he was going to be part of the “Super Team.”
Luke – Wasn’t a huge fan initially – the “replacement Tim Riggins” is how I viewed him – but his story arc was OK. Turned out to be a likable character, but who on this show wasn’t?
Vince – Of the young actors in the final season, I thought he was the best, by far. Did you know he was an actual high school athlete before blowing up as an actor? Of the football players, he definitely had the best storyline of the season.
Tim Riggins – Riggins is the man. When I think of coolest male TV characters in the teenage/early 20s age bracket over the last 30 years, I’d put Riggins right up there with Brandon Walsh as my favorite. Like Coach Taylor, Riggins said very little, and more was conveyed in the way he simply looked at people. Dark, brooding, and with hair always obscuring part of his face, Riggins was an all-around bad ass. One of my favorite Riggins moments of all-time was after they lost the State title (season 2? 3?), he walked out to the field – where the Longhorns play, I believe – and placed his shoes in the end zone. I also loved the scene where he got piss drunk and went back to a bar to fight some local. Riggins walked in the bar, looked at the guy, gave him a nod that said, ‘Let’s go outside and settle this’ and then got destroyed.
Matt Saracen – He started to annoy me the last couple seasons, and instead of rooting for the shrimpy backup QB, I was glad they largely wrote him off the show. I couldn’t stand his lack of confidence. He appeared on the screen and I’d think, “what a pussy.”
Julie Taylor – Hot.
Jess – Vince’s girlfriend was cooler when she was Landry’s girlfriend. The girl-as-coach storyline was OK, I guess.
Becky – Cute. Seemed like a pretty good actress.
Tami Taylor – The MILF you want to live next door to because she’d always have cool gatherings and provide lemonade and be super nice to everyone. I enjoyed this podcast she did with SI.
Billy Riggins – Nice job making this guy an assistant coach. Always laughed when he’d say, “Riggins’ Rigs,” which is a fantastic name for a business. Hated how he let his little brother take the fall for him. You never do that. Big brother always takes the fall.
Tyra – Always been a fan. Went from being Slutty Hot early on to She Forgot How Hot She Is in the later years. Mostly enjoyed her run with Landry, but getting back with Tim in the last episode was perfect. The video below might have been my favorite moment from the series finale (I downloaded the song last night) – well, this or Coach telling his wife in the mall that he’d move to Philadelphia, or Tim Riggins saying, ‘Texas Forever’.