Suspense. Last night’s episode was all about suspense. Not just in the most obvious ways — the build-up to the big game, and the will-they-or-won’t-they-win kind of thing, but in the way the whole show was formatted. Some of our questions were answered (Street’s definitely paralyzed and Riggins and Smash are really starting to lose their cool), but so much of the episode left us wondering. Did the Panthers win the game? Will Coach Taylor be fired? The final shot of the football hanging in the air was a fantastic symbol of all this suspense. I think it was a brilliantly executed episode on both the production and acting fronts.While light on actual football, we got to see a lot of character development last night. Tim Riggins is quickly identifying himself as the most complex person on the team and Taylor Kitsch did a wonderful job in the scene where Riggins watches the shot of Street getting hit over and over again. It was tough to watch him go to pieces, especia...
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I have to admit that this week’s episode left me cold — dead cold, as Horatio might say. What’s fun about CSI: Miami is that it’s so over-the-top about the Miami money and celebrity culture; unfortunately, male models are not a culture I care about all that much. The whole story line almost seemed more like an excuse to introduce the subplot about Natalia’s abusive ex-husband than a fully formed idea in and of itself. In fact, it felt a little like "America’s Next Top Nip/Tuck: Miami." In terms of the four episodes that have aired this season, I think this ranks just above the season opener. It’s nice to finally be rid of the Ray Caine action, but it seems that this void will instead be filled by Natalia’s troubles. (On another note, how is it that Natalia has worked in the lab, and yet seems to be completely in the dark regarding how to process crime scenes?) I won’t dismiss the ex-husband plotline just yet, because I’m interested ...
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OK, so this isn’t exactly the type of football show that makes you want to pull out your old Jock Jams CD, but what an opener. I just knew from the start when I saw Jason Street getting interviewed that this too-good-to-be-true life wasn’t going to last till the end of the episode, a feeling that increased as his parents spoke with the recruiter. That said, it was still hard not to be shocked when he couldn’t get up after slamming into the guy on the other team. But how wonderful was it to see Matt Saracen actually get a chance to play? The horror-stricken face as he was called up may have been the most true-to-life moment in this episode.In that vein, there are few shows that hit the ground with such a lived-in quality, but this is definitely one of them. We’ve managed to get some histories (Coach Taylor has coached Jason since PeeWee, Smash and Tim Riggins really hate each other) without it seeming forced or contrived. Riggins’ line regarding Smash that, ...
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Friday Night Lights premieres October 3rd at 8 pm on NBC.
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