FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Season 4 Premiere: “East of Dillon”
Posted by: Ducky in Connie Britton, Ducky Does TV, Friday Night Lights, Kyle Chandler
“Welcome to East Dillon, Bitch!” Sorry for THE OC reference in this FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Season 4 shout out but it kind of fits…
Season 4 of FNL premieres tonight on DirecTV 101 and it’s a whole different ballgame for Dillon and the Taylors this season. In last years finale, Dillon found itself a town divided, sending Coach Taylor to East Dillon while Tami was left to rule the school we’ve come to know and love.
Lyla, Street, Smash and Tyra have all moved on and the original gang left behind finds themselves lost as Season 4 opens.
You’ll all be happy to know that FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is still pretty much the same FNL we’ve laughed and cried with for the last three years (or was that just me bawling my eyes out week after week?). It still has the documentary style look and intimate feel the show is known for. It still has the heart, passion and dedication of the Taylor family. It still has the flawless acting, authenticity, integrity and humor we expect from FNL.
Hell, it still has a shirtless Tim Riggins and that’s got to count for something right?
Because FNL doesn’t premiere on NBC until Summer 2010, I don’t want to spoil much for the non-satellite fan base so my quick not too spoilery thoughts on “East of Dillon” are after the break…
Who’s Back for Season 4:
The Taylors, Matt Saracen, Landry, Tim Riggins, Billy and Mindy Riggins, J.D and the McCoy’s, Wade Aikman, Mack and the Coaching Staff, Buddy Garrity, Grams Saracen and Devon the lesbian rocker chick.
The Newbies:
- Vince Howard: a’Cops & Jocks’ recruit that can run like the wind and enjoys hitting people.
- Braids: a hot head newbie with a severe attitude problem and dislike of Lance Landry
- Asst. Coach Traub: a little eager and a little bit of an Eric Taylor stalker but a lot of comic relief
- Becky Sproles aka Curly Sue: Sassy daughter of Riggins lay
- Luke Cafferty and Jess Merriweather are also Season 4 additions but not in the premiere.
You can sum up the tone for Season 4 with one question: How do you go from being a Texas hero one minute to just being a normal guy the next?
This is going to be an interesting reboot for Dillon, the Taylors and us FNL fans but I think there’s a lot of promise in this new direction. Did I worry for a minute that Coach Taylor would suddenly morph into Morgan Freeman (Lean on Me), Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver) or Michelle Pfeiffer (Dangerous Minds) and cure all the problems of the under-privileged misguided East Dillon youths? Possibly… but FNL is better and smarter than that!
This show has always been about the struggles of Dillon and more importantly the struggles of the Taylors trying to make it in Dillon. Now Coach Taylor has a new Dillon to motivate and rebuild while Tami’s left to fix the shattered Dillon he left behind.
Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!
Season 4 picks up in late August as Dillon finds itself a town at odds. Coach Taylor’s sporting a Red “EAST” Dillon hat (he looks smokin’ hot in any color but brace yourselves… it’s a shock to not see him in Panthers blue), Landry’s been transferred to the wrong side of the tracks and Matty Saracen’s delivering pizzas instead of blows on the field. Is this FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS or bizarro world?
Back in Dillon, Wade Aikman & Douche McCoy won’t pay any attention to poor Buddy Garrity and the terrible twosome are already trying to undercut and swindle Tami Taylor any chance they get!
Tim Riggins is in college! Go Riggs! Oh wait, he’s walking out of a class on Homer, littering the Texas landscape with textbooks and is back to floundering without a plan for the future… Damn you and your gorgeous mane of hair Tim Riggins!
Billy and Mindy are still happily ever after, with child (Tyra’s gonna be an Auntie - maybe Adrianne Palicki will return for the birth?) and not pleased that Tim’s thrown away his entire future. Even worse, that he’s trying to crawl back to a home that’s no longer his.
Matt can’t catch a break at Dillon Tech and is probably questioning his decision to defer the Art Institute of Chicago. He’s the ex-star that’s now the semi-pathetic boyfriend of a Dillon High student going nowhere fast. That’s a tough pill to swallow and it truly saddens me to watch.
J.D. McCoy is cockier and bitchier than ever… and I quote: “This is my Dillon now!” He’s BMOC and still delusional that Julie Taylor will ever pay a lick of attention to his over-privileged, Daddy’s little rag doll ass.
Some of my favorite Quotes from “East of Dillon”:
And the best quote of the night…
As I’m not a DirecTV subscriber, I was lucky enough to get a screener for “East of Dillon” and I hope more follow because I can’t stand to live in a world where FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS exists and I’m not watching it until Summer 2010.
Catch the premiere of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS on DirecTV 101 tonight at 9pm
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