“Life is so very fragile. We are all vulnerable. And we will all at some point in our lives fall. We will all fall. We must carry this in our hearts. That what we have is special,” announced football coach Eric Taylor. Heartfelt and breathtaking, “Friday Night Lights” is like no television series ever before in, as the Associated Press said, “How it captures ordinary life against extraordinary passions.”

Loosely based on the bestselling book by journalist H.G. Bissinger, the “Friday Night Lights” television series does what the 2004 movie “Friday Night Lights” did not have the time or means to do.  Over the past four seasons, the television series has thoroughly and spectacularly explored the lives and struggles of the residents of the football-crazed, depressed West Texas town of Dillon. 

The pilot episode opens the series with one of the most unforgettable moments television has ever seen.  The premiere episode begins with the arrival of new Dillon Panthers football coach Eric Taylor, his wife Tami and daughter Julie.  In Coach Taylor’s inaugural game, the football fans quiet as they witness the town’s most tragic event ever – the fall of star quarterback Jason Street.  The remainder of the season breathtakingly shows how fiercely a group of people can rally together, how ruthlessly people can be torn apart, how vulnerable people are, and how fragile and precious people’s hopes and dreams truly are.

Shot in documentary-style with unsteady camerawork and rapidly changing camera angles, the show makes viewers feel as if they are on the football field, in the stands, and in the Panthers’ homes – celebrating with the characters during their triumphs and struggling with them during their falls.  Viewers get the privilege of watching the Taylors help each other through the criticisms of fanatical Panther fans and the extraordinary expectations they are held to.  Equal time and importance is allotted to the plight of the young high school characters and how they deal with racism, rape, steroids, jealousy, infidelity, life-changing injuries, and finding love.

While exploring deep-set issues and the culture of the football-obsessed town of Dillon, “Friday Night Lights” also organically progresses, and in its transitions, poignantly conveys humanity’s deepest fears and life’s changing nature.  The young high school students, while full of fear, move on.  Some students graduate, some go to college, while the unlucky majority stay in Dillon.  It is this fear, the fear of the future, that fuels the show – fear of being forever stuck in Dillon, fear of failure, fear to acknowledge reality, fear to change.  Despite fear, despite falling, the characters are motivated, fierce, and refuse to break. 

As Coach Taylor exclaimed to his dejected football team, “Every man at some point in his life is going to lose a battle. He is going to fight and he is going to lose. But what makes him a man is at the midst of that battle he does not lose himself. This game is not over, this battle is not over.” Coach Taylor, in one of his many motivational speeches, encapsulates the essence of “Friday Night Lights.” While we all struggle and fall, we can never give up or stop trying.  “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose.”

The fifth and final season of “Friday Night Lights” premieres on NBC Channel 4 on Friday, April 15, 2011 at 8pm.