Take episode five, Git 'Er Done, which I just finished watching. It flowed seamlessly -- from Jason's quiet recuperation scenes, to Tyra's Los Angeles fling, to Mr. and Mrs. Coach's conversations... with a perfect lead-up to Friday night: a scene in which Lila visits Jason in the hospital right before the game, and is followed in by Coach Taylor and the rest of the team. A quiet prelude before the big game. FNL does quiet very, very well. It's harder to do quiet and familiar than loud and boisterous, in my opinion... the late afternoon scene with Coach Taylor and his wife, for instance; he talks to her, articulating the sides of his dilemma, and it's incredibly real and intimate. The lighting is only what comes in through the school office windows, so there is lens flare and dust and coarse shadow across faces; the couple interrupts each other, and it's so loving, and you really get the feeling they are perfect for each other, because the understanding between them is palpable, the chemistry so strong, that you're left with the impression that maybe you shouldn't even be watching these real people have this quiet yet important moment.
Woah, kinda got carried away there.
Anyway, I also wanted to mention Tyra's brief affair with Connor, the businessman from Los Angeles. Their scenes this episode seemed like interludes to the rest of the episode, which was dedicated to preparation for Friday night. She's not a principal character (yet?) and her scenes hardly acknowledged football. The show so far had portrayed her as the football jock's bitchy girlfriend, but this episode showed a different side of her and hence propelled her characterization and likability lightyears ahead of, say, Lila. I'm a hopeless romantic, so I loved this micro-love story: small-town girl fed up with small town meets guy from big city. It's been done, but the fact that it was done with Tyra's character -- and so sweetly, too -- is intriguing. He leaves at the end of the episode, but you can't help but ache with her because she connected with him more than she ever could with her ex-boyfriend Tim, or anyone in Dillon for that matter. Connor thought her cynicism was interesting and he obviously fancied her, but you also know he had his own life in LA. He leaves, and Tyra is in a strange place -- she is unsatisfied with her town and her dead-end life, the only person that could have understood that is gone, so where does she go from there?
Kind of got carried away there, too.
Finally, these are really, really fine actors across the board. Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler were Emmy nom'd this year, and rightfully so. Minka Kelly is annoyingly cloying most of the time, but I suppose that's her character. Everyone else supporting is just grand and completely believable.
I'm SO glad I have 70+ episodes left to watch! I don't want this show to ever end!
ETA: The writing on this show is solid, but what really makes it stellar is the acting and directing. With a weaker cast and a less stylized shooting style, this show could have easily bombed.
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