In Season 2, the show Friday Night Lights finds itself in an interesting situation: How do you top the previous season? I mean, FNL has been plagued by rumors of cancellation for its entire five-year run, as far as I can tell, which led to the writers pulling out all the stops in the first season and culminating in the ultimate goal, the Dillon Panthers winning the state championship, right off the bat. So what to do in season 2? None of the main characters have left yet, so it's hard to make a "we lost a great player so nobody believes in us this year" type of storyline. What would make an interesting ultimate fate for the Dillon Panthers' 2007 season? Unfortunately, the viewer doesn't get to find out until season 3, as this season got cut short by the writer's strike. That fucking writer's strike. Anyway, the thing to focus on here is the story arcs- how well did they work? The first thing I need to get out of the way is the murder plot. Mild-mannered Landry kills a guy. This is the biggest criticism of the show, and perhaps the lowest point of all five seasons. I mean, the show works so great because the problems all feel like real problems people actually face in a small town- the anti-O.C. in a way. But murder? It really didn't mesh well with the rest of the plot. As the story goes on and Landry drags more people into it, my eyes were a-rolling, but thankfully the resolution works in more than a "thank God that's over" sense- the final scenes about it were handled very well in my opinion and really showed off Jesse Plemons' acting chops. It also gets him together with Tyra, and those two are so adorable that I'm okay with the whole thing now. Last year's main character Matt Saracen just kind of floated along for the most part this season- he's the undisputed QB1, so no issues for him on the field really. He deals with some interesting relationships off the field that all end horribly, resulting in his best moment of the season getting shitfaced with bad-boy Tim Riggins. Oh, boy. Riggins had himself a season. Faking his religion, a trek down to Mexico, moving in with nearly everybody in town, and the line of the season talking to a potential Julie-rapist- "I will end you" just beating "It's Wendesday, I always take Wednesdays off." Awesome. Smash provides some interesting insight on how a poor but gifted star athlete approaches going to college, but it's the short storyline late in the season where he deals with a racist where he really shines. I'm still impressed with the show's remaining focus on Jason Street, the former star quarterback who became a paraplegic in the series premier. It would have been easy to just move on to all the other characters and not deal with the at-times depressing storyline, but Scott Porter plays the character very well and I was continually impressed by his storylines. Lyla Garrity kinda becomes a flatter character this season, inexplicably becoming a hardcore Christian, but later in the season when you find out why she did this in the first place she at least shows some range. Her father, Buddy, had a redemption season and actually becomes a guy you root for- unthinkable in season 1. He sorta adopts a troubled youth for the sake of the football team, but despite his motivations I really liked the dynamic between the two. Unfortunately in season 3 this troubled youth simply disappears and is never spoken of again. All of this, and I haven't even mentioned the glue of the whole series, Coach and his family. Coach Taylor starts off the season with his new college job at TMU, but obviously he's gotta come back- what kind of show would it be without him? Another running theme throughout the season is the new baby Gracie, and how it strains the relationship between Julie and her mother. Gallagan kept telling me what a bitch Julie was this season, but doesn't that make sense for the story? I mean, she's a teenager who suddenly feels like her parents are paying no attention to her, that's just what's going to happen. Anyway, I'm sure most of you stopped paying attention a while ago because you have no idea who these characters are or why you should care, so I'll leave you with this. Friday Night Lights is a drama that works on its realistic depictions of life in a small town where high school football is king. The acting, writing, and especially the music are all top-notch and make this a great show that I'd recommend even to people who don't care for television dramas. I should note that this praise is coming from what's considered the show's weakest season, so it's only going to get better from here.
Glad to see the grueling pace. It's a show that warrants one. To summarize and expand one bit on what you said, the biggest reason "everyone" "hates" this season is that it's a total step down from Season 1 in every way and it never gets to ramp up into a noteworthy finale. Most characters became either less likable (Coach, Julie, Smash, Lyla, Tyra, Landry) or more boring and less involved (Saracen, Mrs. Coach, Street) with only Riggins really becoming bigger and better. Things improve in Season 3 (which you know, since you've already posted it) and with no strong end note to Season 2, most people remember it for all the worst reasons in spite of its continued status as a decent show.
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