The reel critic: small screen edition

“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose” is the sappy but never-tired mantra of Coach Eric Taylor who recently began a new era as coach of the East Dillon Lions on the new season of “Friday Night Lights.” Coach Taylor’s path of leaving the powerhouse Panthers for untested waters is familiar material for the FNL crew ,as just last year, they left NBC primetime to air first run on DirecTV Network. In an innovative deal to save a critically acclaimed but rarely watched show, NBC and DirecTV brokered a deal that would allow FNL to stay on the air by playing twice, once on DirecTV then as a rerun on NBC. This year, NBC announced that FNL will be part of its summer lineup, a time when many dramas are on hiatus in order to help the show find an audience. For all the criticism NBC has taken for its decision to forgo creative programming at the 10 p.m. slot five days a week in order to air “The Jay Leno Show,” this partnership to keep FNL on the air shows that network television still appreciates narrative storytelling.

Season four begins with a montage of what we’ve missed in Dillon, Texas, since we last left. Under the familiar voice of the town’s football radio announcer, we see Coach Taylor headed to his new job at the downtrodden East Dillon High School, Tammy dealing with the consequences of redistricting, Matt coping with his decision to stay in Dillon, and Riggins inevitably leaving school and returning home. In addition, we are introduced to new characters such as Vince, the talented but wayward running back that Coach Taylor lets on his team as part of the cops-for-jocks program, as well as expanding roles for last season’s minor characters like JD McCoy. From the get-go, the tone of the season is set with the town of Dillon now featuring two schools and two football teams, one rich upper-class school with an illustrious past and one poorer school seeming to be predominantly black with a new football program. While FNL has addressed race issues in the past, the stage is set for that to play a dominant role this season. This season is clearly going to be a challenge for Coach Taylor, given the talent, commitment and support he has.

Three episodes in, the new season has yet to disappoint. The first episode started bleak, then — as FNL does so well — built up hope only to end the episode with one of the lowest of lows that the series has ever presented: Coach Taylor’s forfeit. The out-of-character move characterized the uphill battle Taylor and the Lions have ahead of them this season. In the second episode, Taylor has to fight to regain the trust and commitment of his team. Another new character is introduced in this episode: the Panthers’ star running back Luke Cafferty who, because of shady practices by the boosters, is forced by Tammy to attend East Dillon and play for the Lions. At first it seems that Luke is going to act entitled as a star on the fledgling Lions, but by the end of the episode, he burns his Panther blue and accepts his new situation (and position). In the third and most recent episode, the Lions return to the field but not without tension between the team’s two stars, Vince and Luke. Both players look for special attention from Coach Taylor, with Vince making it racial. The episode comes to a head when Vince intentionally misses a block, preventing Luke from scoring, leading to a helmet-off confrontation with Coach Taylor on the sideline. In a way only he could, Taylor puts Vince in his place and earns his respect. The episode ends with Vince scoring a touchdown, the team’s first, leading to a new hope among the Lions team.

The show is headed in an intriguing direction both on and off the field. This season should be groundbreaking for FNL on the field dealing with a bad team, socially addressing race and class issues, and emotionally with old characters flaming out and changing. The show captures realism as well as any show on television and thankfully, creative programming strategies by NBC and DirecTV has given it two more seasons to do so.