engage210

Look, I loved Friday Night Lights like the rest of us and I'm not *complaining* that I have some new (potentially AI-written) version of it to watch. It is kind of uncanny how many story/character/setting/plot beats are SO similar even down to scene construction (e.g., Lauren in the trailer with Lucas and bro...), and of course MK as a matriarchal lead. Also the music - sorry, but clearly ripped from the genius Snuffy Walden from his work on FNL.

The actors are actually generally pretty good which I think is the shows saving grace, but the STORY is literally paint by numbers Fri Night Lights + textbook soap opera. It's to the point where any somewhat surprising turn of events/character responses/actions becomes surprisingly delightful in its mild deviation from utter predictability. Which would typically be a sad and disheartening state of affairs for a show, but against the backdrop of true love for the Fri Night Lights World it actually becomes easily, if not eagerly digestible. Still, though, with the talent on hand you can't help feeling like it's a shameful waste of both their time and ours.

I watched this way before White Lotus and it has stuck with me for a very long time. I don't know why I felt compelled to write a review now, perhaps just to elevate this show. The acting is perfection (as always for Dern) but if it's not obvious it's the imperfection of the characters that is so, so compelling and so, so heartbreaking. You can identify with all characters in a way, but not all ways, and also feel disappointed and at times disgusted by them. Ultimately Dern's character is a legit narcissist but you root for her and cringe at her at the same time over and over again. Underlying it all I think is a sense of humanity that gives its flawed characters substantial dignity beneath a veneer of distaste, and asks us what we see of ourselves in them.

There are so many elements that if assembled artfully could have made this spectacular, - I mean INCREDIBLE cast, production, location, etc. I was rooting for this show so much. It becomes a struggle to care about the characters' stories over time -- and that's really a bizarre anti-achievement because there are so many beloved actors who you just automatically are charmed by and cheer for. You can't HELP but love Kristen Wiig and the whole cast from the start and then all that potential just seems to drain away. I wonder if it needed someone like David Lynch to elevate it to where it seems like it wants to go.

I felt like I was being promised something great... eventually... and it never shows up (or hasn't yet).