On the website TV WITHOUT PITY, a columnist said, "How do you summarize perfection?" in reference to the NBC series FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. People who made it a requirement to be seated at the 5o yard line every Friday to follow the amazing people of Dylan, Texas, who came to life in the five seasons of FNL, must agree. I wouldn't begin to attempt a summary of the stories of the Dylan Panthers, who begot the East Dylan Lions, of the lives of Coach Eric Taylor and his wife Tammy, of Tim Riggins, Jason Street, Lila and Buddy Garriety, Matt Saracen, Julie Taylor, Landon, Tyra, Bobby, Vince, Smash, and so many more. I do believe that the concluding episode, which aired last Friday, was as perfect an act of TV closure as I can imagine. When at the end of the special hour and half finale, Vince threw a "Hail Mary" up into the lights, it spiraled down and reminded us that compromise is a must in marriage, that marriage should be about spending your life with your best friend, that forgiveness is good and essential, that dreams can be made of timber and cement on a Texas hillside and put together with nails, beer and brotherly love, that there comes a time that you must put away the great moments of the past and start fresh in a different kind of uniform, that you just might fall in love with somebody when you're both 5 years old and still be in love when you both turn 20, that hard work is rewarded, and sometimes you really do earn what you deserved. That is only a small part of the list of important things that one can learn from watching FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, a TV show that transcended the good movie and great book, that it was based on, to become for me the best damn show since THE SOPRANOS, which was the best damn show since HILL STREET BLUES. FNL offered the best damn ending, although THE SOPRANOS came pretty close. Let's hoist a Lone Star. Texas Forever!!
