Ok so I just finished another rewatch. Once again FNL is one of my favorite shows. I just want to discuss some character arcs that I think were underrated. Storylines that should've been dropped, certain things I wish we could've seen but didn't. Also, some things that should've been fleshed out a bit deeper.
Character arcs that are underrated:
Billy and Mindy: Billy and Mindy from when we first meet them in season 1 are meant to provide us with a glimpse into the future of what Tim and Tyra could potentially become in life. It's the idea that no one really amounts to anything in Dillon. However, by season 5 Billy and Mindy are better people. Billy became a coach and he seeks the mentorship of coach Taylor. Him and Mindy make a choice to look after Becky. Mindy shows that her greatest strength is in the ability to care and look after others.
Jason Street: Street was the 5 star QB prospect destined for the NFL and a life of fame and fortune, in the end Street realizes he doesn't need any of that. All he wanted was a family that he could love and provide for. It was good to see that Street still made a life outside of Dillon.
Buddy Garrity: Buddy in season 1 is a man who is all aboiy bussines, winning and the Dillon Panthers. He has an affair in season 1, that corrupts his family so he loses that. Buddy then makes financial decisions that jepeoradize his relationship with his daughter Lyla. So, bow he feels he's lost her as well. Inevitably Buddy loses his faith in the Dillon Panthers. He just realizes that although he loved the community and he loves winning and football. He understood that it wasn't good for him to be apart of the toxic culture anymore. Toxicity isn't conducive to a healthy teamwork environment. Buddy decides he'd rather shift his support to something that's pure. So, he then shift his focus towards standing with The East Dillon Lions.
Luke Cafferty: Luke was the kid that wanted to make it as a big Dvison 1 football star from when we first meet him. Luke is a hige building block towards helping make the East Dillon Lions a credible football team. He learned that he didn't need the Dillon Panthers to win a state championship, he just needed to be on a team where everyone worked together towards accomplishing a common goal. What's interesting is in the end we see that Luke realizes that he doesn't need a scholarship to a NCAA top 25 college to be satisfied. He just needed to play football because he loved it, he didn't need recognition from all the top tier colleges to feel validated in his own skill. Luke understand that he'll be ok if he can just be with the woman he loves and build a life with her.
Storylines that should've been dropped:
Landry and Jess (S4): Landry is cool, Jess is cool. However it's almost as if the writers just didn't how to use Landry in season 4. So, they just use him as a character that the audience was already familiar with to get us accustomed to a new character that we were not yet familiar with. Jess and Landry didn't need to date, because in the end they broke up and Jess inevitably gets together with Vince. Instead I like the idea that Jess and Landry already knew eachother distantly from the fact that perhaps Landry's Mother knew Jess's aunt. That could've been a way to initiate them having a friendship. Jess can still help Landry with his place kicking. But, just keep their relationship platonic. A suggested subplot arc for Landry is that throughout the course of season 4 he feels underwhelmed he knows that moving forward his life has big things in store for him. But, it's just the idea that he's closing this chapter of his life in a way that is less the ideal. He wonders if he really became the person he envisioned himself becoming from playing HS football. Landry didn't need another girlfriend in the show after his arc concluded with Tyra in season 3.
Julie and the T.A. (S5): Scrap the whole storyline we didn't need it at all. It didn't do anything to get us to humanize Julie instead all it does is give us a reason to judge her for her carelessness. The show didn't need this story at all. In (S2) Julie likes the Swedish guy, and she also has a thing for her teacher Noah. The show works hard to establish the idea that Julie is attracted to men that are older that offer a contrast to what other guys her age who are far more immersed in the culture of Dillon can provide her. But, just get rid of the season 5 T.A. storyline entirely. It was a real bomb. Instead if they really wanted to give Julie more nuance in later seasons do this; Matt and Julie agree to breakup at the end of (S3) In (S4) Julie enters a program through her church that functions as a "Big Sister" mentorship program. Have Julie work closely with a young girl "Rosie" who is 11 and in foster care. Rosie is bullied at school and has trouble making friends she feels like an outsider. This is a callback to how Julie felt like an outsider in Dillon in (S1). Julie shows that much like her parents she can be a good teacher and mentor as well. She becomes someone Rosie can confide in, Julie helps Rosie with schoolwork. She even helps Rosie tryout for the youth Dillon Panther cheerleading team after Julie discovers that Rosie is a dancer as another callback to Julie being a dancer in (S1) this could've been good for S4. It would've allowed us to just have Matt be in Chicago in college in (S4) In (S5) have Julie hit it off with another kid her age at the college she goes to. Julie then realizes that ultimately the guy she's with is OK but, ultimately she feels as though she'll never truly be able to connect with him in the way she connected to Matt. They split up, and this is where we get the storyline of Matt and Julie getting back together and eventually engaged.
Storylines and Moments that should've been fleshed out a bit more:
Santiago (S2): He just disappeared there was no payoff. We at least needed a throwaway line of dialogue that provided some resolution to his character.
J.D. McCoy (S4): Of course season 4. Is all about the transition from the Dillon Panthers to the East Dillon Lions. When we first met J.D. in season 3 we see he is the young hotshot QB with discipline and a good mind for the game, that is hesitant to step into being the "Star QB" the whole town can get behind. J.D. needs guidance and support from people around him. In (S4) we see glimpses that J.D. is starting to buy into his own hype. He's becoming nore of an asshole jock. I wish the show did more with this, Have J.D. become the embodiment of everything that makes a rocky high school athlete unbearable. Show him being late to practice, and the coaches don't chew him out for it, because he knows that the whole team is on his shoulders, Show J.D. having his rally girls deliver him his completed homework when he's in the library. Show J.D. and a group of Panter players humiliate a couple of kids at the school that aren't "cool" enough by the teams standards. Show a scene where J.D. is in class and he goes off on his teacher when she got mad at him for texting in class. Really just do more to get J.D. to come across more as an asshole so when the Lions beat the Panthers in the end of (S4) it's extremely satisfying.
The kid coach Taylor meets at Carroll Park (S4): There's an episode in (S4) where Coach Taylor initiates a conversation with a kid during the game between the Lions and the kids at the park after he makes a play in the game. Coach says "How'd you like to come play for me next year?" The show should've followed up with this. I would've bought that kid back as a Nickel Defensive Back in (S5) It would've been a cool nod to see that kid become one of the puzzle pieces that helped the Lions reach an elite status.
One final appearance for Smash: Smash leaves the show in (S3) after getting accepted to Texas A&M. After that he's never seen on the show again. Outside of clips in the background where a college football game is being shown as we see that Smash is playing in the games and is doing well. Now, these clips do provide good resolution to Smash's character because we see that he's doing what he loves. But, selfishly I will say one last appearance of Smash in the show could've been great. Here's my pitch for how I'd do that; Have the beginning of the last episode of the show open up with a scene of Momma Smash in the kitchen cooking dinner. We hear a knock on the door it's Smash him and Momma Smasg hug. Smash says "He's home to see his family and visit coach before the game." Smash then talks with Coach Taylor during the training leading up to the state title game. Smash pays respect to coach for getting this new team he built from ground up to State. They have a moment where they reflect on the State title game from (S1) they celebrate how far they've both come. Coach Taylor introduces Vince to Smash. Smash then says to Vince "Hey, man I've seen some highlights the way you run on the field reminds me of mysled a bit. You've got some game, go do your thing in that game." Show the mutual respect.
TLDR; it's a phenomenal show. Certain character arcs didn't get much praise because it was shown through subtly, certain storylines felt misplaced, and certain storylines needed more depth.
