TVSquad

(S03E01) And so begins phase two of NBC's grand Friday Night Lights experiment. The show kicked off it's third season on NBC Friday night, but all of these episodes have already been shown on DirecTV. Allison reviewed the premiere back in October, but we thought we'd run it up the flagpole again and see who salutes.

Despite the delay for those of us without DirecTV, the season premiere made it so easy to slip right back into the series. Most of our favorite Dillonites are back, and we were quickly brought up to speed with what each of them has been up to. We also got a good look at where a lot of these stories will be heading.

(S02E10) And we're back. After a month off for viewers to celebrate the holidays, and for the networks to try and figure out how to fill up the schedule as the strike stretches on, our old pals in Dillon have returned. And things picked up right where they left off. Riggins is still wandering from home to home. Buddy is still in denial. None of us are sure just why Shelley is still living with the Taylor's. And Landry has gone from being riddled with the guilt of committing murder to being emotionally pummeled by the fact that he's fallen for a passive aggressive nutjob. It's a lot to get to, but we'll give it a shot, after the jump.

(S02E06) And you may ask yourself - Well... How did I get here?

It's a great title for this episode as we find a lot of our pals in Dillon questioning, being questioned about, or owning up to the situation they are currently in. That doesn't make for huge plot points that you can point to and say, "Look at that!" But it does bring up some interesting questions, and pave the way for stories in the future. With so many of the characters getting time this week, all of these changes actually overshadowed the one big, holy smokes, moment of the episode. That little thing you see in the screen cap.

(S05E05) "Lance!"

Week five of season two brings us another packed episode. Eric is getting settled back into his role as the Panther's coach, and being with his family. Big changes are in the air for Landry on, and off, the football field. A more assertive Matt is coming to some realizations about Julie. And we find out the result of the great Mexican shark blood surgery road trip. It's a lot to get to.

(S02E03) "What if I told you I could make him go away and you could have your job back?" - Buddy Garrity

That line was the big feature in the promotion this week, and it certainly means a lot moving forward, but that was just a tiny part of what was a jam packed episode three. Really, sometimes when I look back over an episode of FNL I can't believe it's only an hour long show. When it's firing on all cylinders, they really can deliver a boatload of story. And that's what we got in episode three, with everybody getting involved.

(S02E01) And we're back for another season with the Dillon Panthers. You have to think that there is some pressure on the folks behind the show as they kick off this new year. The renewal was great and all, but I suspect it came with some helpful suggestions as to the kind of numbers the network is looking for on Friday nights. It should be interesting to see how the show performs on the new night.

Over the summer we lost eight months of Texas time, but that really doesn't matter. For the most part, we pick up all of our ongoing stories where we left off last spring. Anything we really need to know is handed off to us as we are reunited with these characters again. Since the show kicked off with Matt and Landry at the pool, let's start there.

(S01E22) Can it really be? We've been through twenty-two episodes of Friday Night Lights already? Maybe it's just my reluctance to have the show end, but it seems like this season went by awfully fast. Last week I guessed that the team would win the game, Eric would stay in Dillon, and that the show would get a second season. We got answers for those first two, but we'll have to wait a bit longer on that last one. News that the network has ordered six more scripts is certainly positive. We'll cross that bridge when word comes out.

Throughout much of the season I made a point of noting that this isn't a show about football. Most of the Panther games we got to see were given very short bits of episodes, and were usually not the focus of the episode. This episode altered that balance and gave a lot more time to the game. Understandably so, this was the state championship. It's something that these characters have been working toward for the entire season, so a big payoff was fitting.

(S01E18) "Extended Families" was a good name for this episode. More than most episodes, this one was balanced out pretty evenly between the whole Friday Night Lights family. Saracen got a little short changed in the deal, but considering all the other good stuff, that's ok.

Let's start with Tim Riggins. Normally I would refer to him simply as Riggins. Or occasionally Tim, if Billy is involved in the conversation. Today, because Bo's repeated use of his full name made me laugh, I'll use the whole thing. That whole story just came out of nowhere, and I'm a little iffy on it actually. On the one hand, it seems a little late in the game to be setting up yet another love interest for Tim Riggins, and that sure looks like what they are doing. Although, if they want to carry it right on over into season two, I'm good with that. On the other hand, I do really like the casting of Brooke Langton (Melrose Place, The Net, pictured).

(S01E13) Outstanding. This installment of FNL was just jam packed with story and there was enough of it for everyone to get a little piece. More than any other episode, this one balanced everything out so the entire cast got to play. And with one exception, which we'll get to later, all of the stories were very good.

First up, Smash. I was initially unsure about this story, but now that it has played out, I like what they did with it. This is a much different Smash than we originally met in the pilot and Gaius Charles deserves a lot of credit for doing a great job. As good as he was though, the standout of this episode was Liz Mikel, who plays Corina Williams. All of her scenes were great. I loved her explanation for going to Coach Taylor, "I didn't want to think that you were dumb enough to do something so stupid on your own." Of course, the Smash revelation caused some big problems for Eric as well.

(S01E07) First and foremost, thank you to NBC for giving this show a full season order. This was almost a hectic episode. Where other episodes have pushed some of the characters to the side to focus on certain stories, everybody got some time tonight. While it did jam a whole lot of story into one episode, I don't think that is what held the episode back. It just seemed like there were a lot of little things that didn't really ring true this week. The best part of it was that we finally got some development for some of the characters that have been hanging around the fringes of the show.

(S01E05) They sure picked a good episode to have the big Monday night showcase of the series. So many things going on this week. Rather than try and go through it all in chronological order, let's do it by character/storyline. First off, Tyra and Connor. That was a little disturbing. It did serve to show us how much Tyra wants to get away from Dillon and everything it represents to her, but dang, how old is that guy? You figure to be in that job he must have graduated college and worked his way up for a few years. So, he's 25? Picking up high school girls. Creepy, man, creepy. Tyra's no angel, but she doesn't need that.

Julie didn't get a lot to do, but for the little bit that they did use her, it was effective. She's an interesting kid. Was she reading Doonesbury? The scene where she mentioned that she had been looking up coaching gigs for Eric was funny. But did they have to take a shot at Seattle? Why couldn't it be Portland? And I dig everything about Julie and Saracen together. They have very good chemistry and bring a much needed balance to the high school romance angle. Julie also got the best line of the night with, "Dude, you need to chill out. I'm not ESPN." Saracen is delightfully nervous.