FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is Back with a Few “Twists” (Spoilers)

WARNING! The following contains spoilers for tonight’s episode of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.  Read at your own risk. 

I thought the holiday season was over, and here we are getting the gift of an all new episode of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.  And what an episode it is!  I was lucky enough to catch tonight’s episode as well as next week’s during the holiday break and you are all in for quite a treat.  While I will tease you just a bit (I am mean like that), I have to be careful of spilling too many secrets.  Why?  Well mostly because I watched both episodes back-to-back and I’m not crystal clear on what happened during tonight’s episode as opposed to next weeks.  It’s all a blur of hot men and sassy women. We’ve got drunken debauchery, sex scandals and natural disasters – and that’s just talking about Tim Riggins’ week.

Fans of Tim Riggins will be happy to know that #33 not only takes over the majority of the screen time over the next two episodes, but that he brings perhaps some of his best stuff to the table in some emotionally charged scenes (and all along you thought his best stuff were his abs…which he also has on display, so don’t worry).  Riggins has had a tough time as of late – the fallout with Billy, the poor choice to shack up with the gun wielding, meth dealing, ferret creep.  But all seems to be calming down a bit since Coach Taylor brought him into his home. Riggins seems to be settling in just fine with the family, but that seems to unsettle Tami Taylor just a bit.  A little weary about the amount of time both Julie and Shelley spend ogling Tim, Tami voices her concern to Eric – who also seems smitten with Tim, if for no other reason than he likes having another guy around the house to help out.  But don’t expect things to stay smooth sailing when the Coach misinterprets a moment shared between Tim and Julie.

Riggins isn’t the only tornado blowing into town these days.  A real tornado touches down (in a moment I found a bit too cheesy for FNL standards) and this time instead of dropping off Dorothy and Toto it brings to Dillon a nearby rival high school football team whose stadium was destroyed in the storm.  And while Coach Taylor greets the the new team like Glinda the good witch, let’s just say the munchkins aren’t ready to play nice, and the rival coach is seen flying around on a broomstick.  And with that I’m done with the Wizard of Oz metaphor (sorry, got carried away like the Wizard in his hot air balloon…ugh, ok now really I done – I promise).

Tyra and Landry have a little tornado of their own brewing.  With the legal side of their issues done and over with, the two try to navigate a relationship not predicated upon drama. Neither are sure where they stand, but when Landry tries to push the issue he also pushes Tyra away. But it’s not all black and white with these two and look for some emotionally intense scenes both this week and next as they try to define where they fit in eachother’s lives.

On the other side of Dillon, things seem to be looking up for Buddy Garrity.  His relationship with this children seems to be back on track and he couldn’t be happier, that is until Lyla tells him of Pam’s engagement.  In perhaps my favorite Buddy Garrity episode of all time, Buddy deals with the full range of emotions knowing his wife has moved on for good.  Awww, Buddy.

Smash fans will certainly see a bit of the boy over the next few episodes as important decisions are made regarding his future.  Matt Saracen will make a cameo appearance and watch for a tension filled scene when he and Carlotta encounter Julie and Riggins out and about.  Is there any hope for Julie and Matt?  I hope so.  If Jason Street is your man then I’m sorry to say you’re going to be a bit disappointed as the former QB1 isn’t seen at all in the next two eps.  I guess he and Herc are having fun in their new apartment.

As a whole tonight and next week’s episodes are pretty great (as is the standard for FNL in general).  There are some emotionally charged scenes which had me cringing one moment and screaming at the TV the next.  Be prepared because you’re going to be left with a few cliffhangers tonight that may or may not resolve themselves in the next episode.

If I can offer up one criticism, I will say that I’m concerned about the balance of the screen time of some of the characters.  With a big cast like FNL there has to be compromises, but at what cost?  Last year we had a solid focus on Matt Saracen, a character who we really haven’t heard that much from this season.  Jason Street seems to become a background player.  Smash’s storyline, which was so full last year, is regulated to a one dimensional tale about his getting into the right school next year.  I do worry that because the cast is so big the audience is getting a bit cheated out of some important character development.  I’d like to see more of a balance and know what’s going on with all my favorites, just not the few that are owning the big storylines that week. It seemed to work for them last season, but somehow they lost their way a bit. That being said, it’s still hard to complain because what this show delivers week in and week out is far and above most of the drivel coming out of the networks these days.

Tune in tonight at 9pm on NBC.

Note: If you are still reading than I suspect you’re already a FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS fan.  But if you know someone that needs a bit more convincing, check out this great post by my friend Jen who just got into the show this season.  It’s a great read for newbies and diehard fans. (Click to read: “If You Like good TV, You’ll Love Friday Night Lights“)