I've fallen in love with a lot of them.
I've broken up with some.(Hello, Grey's Anatomy
!) And those that truly made an impact broke my heart when they ended. I went into a brief period of mourning after watching their finales.
Friends
did that to me and I still mourn for it.Lost
did that two seasons ago and I still remember how much I cried. (Though I suspect that's partly because of exhaustion and relief. My brain could finally rest from trying to figure out what went on that show!)
Last night, I said my goodbyes to five seasons of good television, when the lights finally went off for Friday Night Lights. (What a beautiful, literal ending that was, huh? The stadium lights did shut down in its final scene. It was chilling!)Debuting in 2006, it was by random choice when I started watching this series. I did not know anything about it except that it dealt with football, where I had little interest. I also have not seen the movie version of FNL (I would watch after season one and discover a few of the cast from the movie is in the TV show). But I took a chance and watched because I saw it was just...there. And there was nothing good on.
I couldn't understand football that well, but I definitely got what FNL was about ---
- family, passion, patience, honesty, love, ambitions, goals, respect
- overcoming obstacles, racial divide, religious intolerance, economic divisions
Briefly? It was a show with a heart. It tackled realistic plots without pontificating or throwing judgement. It showed the highs and lows of the human spirit in quite technically intimate ways, too. (Friday Night Lights was lauded by critics for the way its camera angles were shot. It gave the show its signature.)
Yet, in spite its pedigree (it always received critical acclaims for every year it was on)... it did not have a good audience following, which was baffling. With the show bowing out last night (it will air Season 5 on NBC in April, however) --- viewers have missed out on something really good. Unless these viewers decide to get it on video.
Friday Night Lights Video Releases
From Season 1-5
Last night's finale is surely going to end up in someone's All-time List of TV's Best.As a fan of the show, I thought the writers did it flawlessly and perfectly. I thought that they did right by satisfying the whims of every other fan --- by giving each of the characters in the story their own resolutions and closures. Every character is going to be alright. Everyone is moving on. Everybody got their happy endings. That's the message fans will be carrying with them forever.
And with the writers doing that, my eyes were flooded with tears but the loss I felt doesn't sting as much. I can close my love-affair with Friday Night Lights and let it go with a smile and a grateful heart.
To have followed five seasons of this show was a pleasure.
Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't Lose!
