I had an odd evolution with the show. I watched the first season and enjoyed it, but gave up on it during the second when they went all hypo-drama with the murder plot line. Then the schedule got all shuffled around so I only saw some of season three.
Then came season four and Vince, and it was over. I couldn’t possibly be more of a fan. I remember watching the third episode and breaking down over the realities of kids like this, kids with zero chance. Kids who meet a coach who gives them something to work for and be proud of. Kids who I knew because I taught them. You do the best you can for them in the few hours a week you see them but then they are gone and you wonder about them always.
Then came the episode "The Son." I literally stood up and screamed at Tim Riggins, “Don’t you break in to the mortuary Timothy Riggins!” while wielding my pointy teacher finger at the TV. But this is what Riggins does; he isn’t a forward thinker or a planner so when he makes suggestions they are simple and direct, and often exactly right. It was the most honoring and realistic portrayal of kids left to bear the burden of war I have ever seen.
From that point on I watched every episode and look forward to it, but not for the escape I usually seek, but for the reality. The realness of the show makes me feel more normal. The desire to escape from your hometown, and yet always being drawn back to it makes me feel normal. The Taylors marriage makes me feel normal. It also taught me the most important message I have ever learned about marriage: you change and it changes. It isn't about what you expected it to be or what the big plan was, it is about where you are and who you are and asking someone to risk that with you.
For a show about football, I haven't mentioned it much have I? Well that isn't because it isn’t there. It certainly was but it was kept in perspective and that works for me because my whole life football has been there. We won state my senior year of high school, I think my feet are still frozen from that day. The ducks went to the Rose Bowl my sophomore year and we went to the Naty last year. Does it make a difference that I am a girl and 36 years old? No way, because I am a fan and an alumni and that never goes away (just ask Buddy!). Darren had duck gear before he was born. He says "Go ducks!" and we give him high fives. It is a thrilling and agonizing game to watch, and obviously to play, but at the end of the day it is just a game and FNL never gave it too much more importance than that. Not everyone gets a happily ever after but they love it while they are there.
So I am sad to see this show go, but in a way I am also happy. It did run for five seasons, and it got better with each one, which is very rare. Kids graduated and were replaced with equally intriguing characters. So I am glad it goes away still being a great show instead of some shows that go on ten years and are just painful to watch by the end. When I was a teenager I watched 90210 and it taught me that drama was what made you important. That something bad always had to be going on. FNL taught me that family, friends and integrity are what make you important. Man, I wish this show had been around for me then, but thank goodness it was around for me now.
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." - Coach Taylor
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." - Coach Taylor
**And, on a reading note, I read the book in high school and LOVED it! It just may be time for a re-read.
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