Friday Night Lightsdoesn’t receive the credit it deserves as a landmark prestige drama of the mid-2000s. While the series is commonly viewed as just a seminal sports drama from the 2000s, the Peter Berg-created show was innovative in the television landscape through changing its main plot line midway through the series.
By the start of the fourth season,Kyle Chandler’s Eric Tayloris forced out of his original job at Dillon High School and forced into a new role of rebuilding the East Dillon Lions football program.
Turning the initial fan-favorite Dillon Panthers into the main antagonists is an original concept that hasn’t been executed to the same degree by any other show. This is especially true for a program on network television, which tends to do anything to avoid changes to the status quo. And while an audacious decision in itself, the shift in protagonists was a natural fit with the themes set up in the show already. The move in scenery also allowed for a refresh on the premise in a more diverse setting.
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How the East Dillon Lions Continued Existing Themes
While the change in primary location was an adjustment for viewers, turning the Dillon Panthers into antagonists didn’t come out of nowhere. Structural flaws in the Dillon High School football program can be found as early as the first season of the show, beginning with the corruption of booster programs led by Brad Leland’s Buddy Garrity—though the first true hint of Dillon not being worth rooting for comes in season two’s handling of Bill McGregor.
Audiences at the start of the season root for Eric Taylor to return to the Dillon Panthers, but the writing intentionally creates this moment through manipulation by the school program leaving audiences with mixed feelings about the ordeal. In addition,this four-episode sagaessentially serves as a prologue for how this level of unceremonious exit can occur with Eric Taylor at the end of season three.
Though Dillon High School’s turn to the narrative dark side is a change for Eric Taylor, the Texas football program was always the bane of Connie Britton’s Tami Taylor. The series co-lead was forced into the toxic pageantry of being a “football wife” and having to continually make sacrifices for her husband and the system that never appreciates her. This concept was further explored when Tami became the principal of Dillon High School in Season 3. Her stint in leadership was met with strife as football loomed a large shadow over her ability to serve the students she presides over. West Dillon turning on Tami in the fourth season was ultimately a natural progression following where season three took the character.
The moral collapse of the Dillon Panthers is the culmination point of the show’s thesis on how toxic nepotism and financial interest can destroy a positive culture. For all the faults mentioned previously, the Taylors were able to rise above and create a championship caliber through their positive attitudes. However, corrupting influences such as the McCoy family and booster influence drive the championship-winning coach to a new competitor. This concept is ever prevalent in both the world of football and essentially any type of business at all levels.
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How Friday Night Lights Created Stronger, More Diverse Storylines
While the introduction of East Dillon fit into theFriday Night Lightsthat existed already, it also provided ample new story material for the series. Primarily, allowing the series to explore how unprivileged communities are ignored by the dominance of football in small towns. This creates a more natural underdog story for the team coached by Eric Taylor than in the first three seasons. Despite the hardships faced in earlier seasons, audiences don’t doubt that the world-class talent of the Dillon Panthers could pull off a dominant season. However, Taylor needing to genuinely build a team from scratch made for compelling television that griped audiences for the final two seasons. The notion that the stakes aren’t necessarily about wins and losses, but about creating a new positive culture was an inspired choice from the creative team. It also established to audiences why football can genuinely be good for bringing together a culturally diverse community.
The change in perspective also helped the storytelling through the opportunity to further flesh out characters. Eric Taylor became a significantly more dynamic character when placed in an unfamiliar environment. The head coach learns as much from his new team as he teaches them. Taylor is forced to challenge the notion of his white privilege. Race relations were briefly explored in season one but never progressed beyond surface-level discussion in multiple episodes. Meanwhile, the back half ofFriday Night Lightsgoes deeper into these themes as Eric Taylor must gain the trust of players like Vince Howard and the East Dillon community.
Delving into more diverse stories also allowed for Vince Howard and Jess Merriweather to be developed as fully-formed characters. Their past is important in defining who they become throughout the show, and it’s unlikely the two would’ve become as resonant without the show leaving the secure, yet superficial structure of the Dillon Panthers. This type of material for the show additionally provided future star actorssuch as Michael B. Jordanand Jurnee Smollett with great script material that showcases why they became star actors in Hollywood today.
Ultimately,Friday Night Lightsis remarkable in the history of television for its ability to reinvent itself halfway through airing. The narrative changes allowed for the show to maintain more longevity and be remembered as an all-time great series of the 2000s, and there are many lessons from this shift that modern shows could implement to improve their quality and legacy.
