thoughts on Friday Night Lights series finale

Good Lord. I expected to tear up a little at the Friday Night Lights finale. I did not expect to full-on SOB like I did. Like, making noises, shoulders shaking. A closing montage that shows all of the characters in the future gets me every time: got me on the finale of Six Feet Under, got me on the finale of The OC (a VERY underrated show, for the record), got me here. Tami in her new Dean of Admissions position. Coach with his new team. Julie and Matt together in Chicago, with her at a new college. The Riggins boys working on Tim's house together. Just the name, "J. Street," written on the wall of the Panthers' locker room. Becky saying goodbye to Luke as he left for the Army. Jess on the sidelines at a new school. All ending with Tami walking up to Coach on his new field, wearing that same tan leather jacket she's worn since the beginning. HOW PERFECT WAS THAT?

This show has really gotten to me the past couple of episodes, probably moreso than it would under normal circumstances because of some things I've been thinking about with regard to my own life, but the thing I really took away from this was how things tend to work out for the best, even if there are times when we can't really see how that could possibly be true. I think in this episode that really hit me the most when Tim told Tyra that he would never do anything illegal again for the rest of his life. Like, I know he was resentful of his time in jail, and that at the time he felt like his life was ruined, but in a way I feel like he needed it to happen. He really only managed to be "okay" and go down a decent path during high school because he always had Jason or Lyla looking out for him, and there were hints all along at how bad things could end up for him. Like, he always got himself into bad situations. The drinking. That ridiculous business with the meth dealer. Then within his first year without Jason or Lyla, he winds up in jail, which again, seemed horrible, but I really feel like now he'll be okay on his own, for the first time (and yes: I realize that I'm talking about the character Tim Riggins like he's a real person. Obviously I know he's not. I'm just saying, I feel okay about the character's future). The finale just did a great job of making me feel like all of the characters are on the right track, which was awesome.

And good Lord, the finale worked in a lot of great moments: Matt practicing his speech to coach with Landry, and the two of them reflecting on how it wasn't so long ago that the two of them were trying to figure out how Matt was even going to talk to Julie. Coach laughing in Matt's face when Matt asked for Julie's hand in marriage, then basically completely losing it when he realized Matt was serious. And, very best of all, Coach asking Tami, "Will you take me to Pennsylvania with you, please?" I LOVE that the their marriage was never really in jeopardy, that the idea of Tami leaving him to go to Pennsylvania was never even brought up, but that Coach ultimately did the right thing, anyway.

And that was another thing that made me think about how funny life turns out: what, two months earlier, Coach thought he was turning down the college coaching position so that he could stay with the Lions, when unbeknownst to him, in the very near future there would be no Lions, and Tami would be offered a great job in Pennsylvania. I also loved Coach barging in to tell Tami about Matt asking for Julie's hand, and Tami thinking they were going to argue more about the job thing, and him just being like, "No. This is so much bigger than anything you're thinking right now." Just in the middle of the biggest fight of their marriage, something huge happens to put things in perspective. (And how much did I love Tami calling after him, "Why are you yelling at me? I agree with you!")

Also, I love that for as worked up as Coach and Tami got about the engagement, and that for all of the crap Julie has pulled that would rightfully make a parent question her judgment (most obviously, the whole sleeping-with-a-married-TA thing), it was clear that in the end they were going to let her make her own decision about marrying Matt. The older I've gotten, the more I've come to appreciate how important it is to be given the freedom to make your own decisions, so that even if those decisions turn out to be mistakes, they're your responsibility. I have been repeatedly blown away by how awesome my own parents are in that way, and I'm glad that Coach and Tami are, too.

So...it was pretty much the perfect finale. I kind of wish they would have found a way to bring Lyla back one last time, but I can see where her and Tim's storyline was really wrapped up last season, and her coming back probably would have just opened a whole new can of worms.

And, looking at the series as a whole, I think that Friday Night Lights has probably been the most consistently solid show I've ever watched. I know that that is a bold statement and that I am prone to hyperbole (as was discussed over the weekend =)), but-- like-- I loved Alias, but it definitely included some sub-par seasons and storylines that indicated a lack of planning. I really liked The West Wing, but it wasn't as good after Sorkin left. I liked Gilmore Girls, but there are chunks of that show that I flat-out refuse to rewatch. There is very little that I can find to complain about with regard to Friday Night Lights.