Dillon, We Have a Problem

So the season two premiere of Friday Night Lights has come and gone. I'd be lying if I wasn't a little bit concerned. I also know I'm not the only one. Were there still some outstanding moments in the show? Absolutely. There are the two montages set to Wilco's "Muzzle of Bees." There's Tyra asking Landry to lotion her back, Coach Taylor telling Seracen not to stand by and let some Swede win over Julie, and there's Julie telling her father, Coach Taylor, her fears of ending up like him and her mother. The greatest scene was when Coach Taylor had to tell his wife, Tami, who gave birth a couple days ago, that the university needed him back early. It showed the distance has silenced this once communicating couple. Coach begs her to say something, but Tami can only try to keep herself composed till he leaves. Then she simply breaks down. If that scene couldn't win you over to Friday Night Lights, I don't know what else will. So what's the problem? Well, let us just say that the episode ended on such a whopper that I think it's going to scar the show. You perhaps have seen the promos, and had a suspicion of what was going to happen. Most likely you've already heard people complaining about it. (Big Spoiler If You Care).....

The lovable outsider Landry does in fact kill the guy that assaulted Tyra last season. He follows her all episode and then attacks her at a local quick stop. Landry comes in to her rescue. The attacker swears he'll come back for her, and Landry hits him in the back of the head twice with a lead pipe, and you know what? The scene is extremely well done. Jesse Plemons (Landry) and Adrianne Palicki (Tyra) act the hell out of that scene. The build up to the moment to their decision to dump the body once they realize he's dead. It all works. I just don't think it works for Friday Night Lights. This show is about the interactions of people in a town where football is religion, not murder. I was happy with the progression of Landry and Tyra's relationship. It was perfect having to outsiders, though for different reasons, come together and rely on each other. Was Tyra ever going to feel for Landry the way he did for her? No, but watching him make attempts and her decision to ignore them made for great moments of levity. Now that's all thrown out the window. Friday Night Lights is still excellent television. I'm just really concerned about this huge albatross the writers have hung around the show's neck. I did though like that the body was dumped near the same spot in the river that Lyla was baptized in, but I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.

You know I will probably look past it if we keep getting scenes like this: