Summary
- The outcome of the Dillion Lions’ final State championship game is subtly revealed in Friday Night Lights’ closing sequence.
- Although football is central to the show, Friday Night Lights explores the lives and coming-of-age struggles of its characters.
- The show purposely cuts a pivotal scene to emphasize that winning or losing the game doesn’t matter as Coach Taylor has already instilled a winning spirit in his players.
Although Friday Night Lights intentionally avoids revealing the outcome of the Dillion Lions’ final State championship game, one subtle detail gives away its result. Inspired by H. G. Bissinger’s book of the same name, Friday Night Lights is less about football and more about the lives of the people linked with the sport in the fictional town of Dillon. The show uses football as a conduit for coming-of-age themes that are universally relatable. For instance, with Jason Street’s storyline, the show’s opening arcs walk through the all struggles the former football star faces after an injury leaves him paralyzed below his legs.
Meanwhile, using other characters like Tim Riggins, Tyra, Smash, and Matt as narrative devices, the show delved into other teenage issues surrounding alcoholism, pregnancy, poverty, abandonment, and racism. However, despite its emphasis on its characters and their coming-of-age narratives, Friday Night Lights also took football seriously and adopted a quasi-documentary filming style to enhance the realism of the central sport. Given the commitment with which Friday Night Lights made its football look authentic, it is hard not to wonder why it avoided revealing who won the State championship in the finale.
The Dillion Lions Do Win State – But Friday Night Lights Doesn’t Make It Clear
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Friday Nights Lights makes several bold creative decisions in its finale. Instead of featuring the regular commentary and dialogue during football games, the show walks through the final State Championship game with only a track by Explosions in the Sky playing in the backdrop. Other than muting all sounds, Friday Night Lights also avoids showing the outcome of East Dillon’s state championship game. While Matt Saracen and Tami cheer for their beloved team from the stands, Vince throws a Hail Mary touchdown pass, which has the potential to make or break the game.
However, instead of showing the final result of the pass, Friday Night Lights intentionally cuts the scene. While the show does not explicitly mention that the Dillion Lions won, its closing sequence features an East Dillon championship banner, hinting that the Hail Mary touchdown landed exactly where it should have. Although it seems strange that Friday Night Lights‘ ending cut such a pivotal scene, the creative decision holds immense narrative significance.
Why Friday Night Lights Didn’t Fully Show East Dillon Winning State
Friday Night Lights‘ intentionally avoids showing East Dillon’s win because winning or losing did not really matter for the team towards the end. Before the State Championship game’s kick-off, Coach Taylor kneeled and told Vince he was proud of him. Vince, too, gratefully admitted that Coach changed his life. This scene right before the game highlights how the Dillon Panthers had won even before they stepped on the field for the final game. Not only did Coach Taylor turn Vince’s life around in Friday Night Lights but also instilled the “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” spirit in all of his players, which will forever impact their journeys and help them win on and off the field.