Entering into its fourth season (and second since the NBC/DirecTV deal), Friday Night Lights is a show in transition on numerous levels. The high school football drama returns tonight to DirecTV's 101 Network at 9 p.m. ET (NBC won't air this season until next summer) and for fans of the show, it's an episode they've long been waiting for.

Ever since the season three finale, as Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his wife Tami (Connie Britton) stepped on to the East Dillon Lions decrepit football field, Eric's new home, the tension has been at an all time high in Dillon, Texas. How can Coach Taylor, a man whom many consider to be a high school football wunderkind, start from scratch with a team that doesn't even exist yet?

(S02E14) This episode left me comparing the show itself to its own fictional Panthers football team. Both had their seasons get off to a rough start, but now everyone seems to be coming together in the hopes of a strong finish. There are still no guarantees for another run at state, or a third season, but tonight was a step in the right direction for both teams. With some great development for Saracen, a turn in the Landry/Tyra story that didn't make you want to kick a writer in the crotch, and the continuation of Smash's story, a lot of points were put on the board.
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(S02E09) "Can I tell you what gets me going? Pee." - Isabella

A combination of the coming holidays and the writers strike means that "The Confession" is the last we will see of our pals in Dillon until after the new year. Like so many other shows, the break is a disappointment, but this was the right episode to head into a break with. As the episode title implies, this week brought us the big conclusion to the controversial murder mystery that began with the pilot. That is as good a point as any to stop and reset a few things.
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(S02E02) As I was watching the show tonight, thoughts on this post were running through my head. Initially I planned on doing like last week and pushing the Landry/Tyra stuff to the end of the post, after we go through the parts of the episode that actually make some sense. But then I typed out that episode title, "Bad Ideas", and I just can't get over how well that fits.

They may have intended that title as a reference to what is going on with many of the characters. Things like Tami's admission that her insistence that she and Julie stay in Dillon was a bad idea, how Buddy's own actions have created his situation, the experimental Mexican surgery proposed to Street, or even Antwone's trip to the Justin Timberlake concert. To me though, THE bad idea is nothing that any of the characters are doing. It is this Landry and Tyra story that the writers and producers have cooked up. So we'll get started there, after the jump.

(S02E01) And we're back for another season with the Dillon Panthers. You have to think that there is some pressure on the folks behind the show as they kick off this new year. The renewal was great and all, but I suspect it came with some helpful suggestions as to the kind of numbers the network is looking for on Friday nights. It should be interesting to see how the show performs on the new night.

Over the summer we lost eight months of Texas time, but that really doesn't matter. For the most part, we pick up all of our ongoing stories where we left off last spring. Anything we really need to know is handed off to us as we are reunited with these characters again. Since the show kicked off with Matt and Landry at the pool, let's start there.

(S01E17) Well, they certainly are hitting all the hot buttons. The big sex episode is nothing new for a drama that deals with high school kids. Even though I knew going in that we would be traveling a familiar path, I was looking forward to it for the simple reason that we would get to see Tami Taylor's reaction. Connie Britton didn't disappoint. She continues to turn in one amazing performance after another.

The scene where she confronts Julie about having seen Saracen buying condoms was the highlight for me. It was a nice setup to the discussion she had with Eric later. With no real idea of what she was supposed to do, she just jumped right in. "I saw Matt Saracen buying condoms today." There's an icebreaker. By the end of it, she's so concerned, and so close to just losing control of her emotions. Great stuff. The interaction between Tami and Eric as they tried to deal with all of it was also very good.

(S01E08) Who needs a football game? Sandwiched between the big homecoming game from the last episode, and the 'toughest game of the year' in the next one, this episode managed to be great with only one brief stop at Panther practice. The characters and their story are just so good that the games don't matter. That's a good sign, because the football season seems to be moving along much faster than the television season. But there will still be plenty of story to tell when the track team takes over the field.

We got something of an answer as to why Tim lives with his brother this week. They didn't really spell it out, but we get the idea. The details aren't important though, as finding out served the purpose of more development for Billy. I really liked the way this played out. As we learn more, Billy is a different person than he appeared to be early in the series. He certainly has his flaws, but he does have Tim's best interests at heart. It seemed that he was going to Coach Taylor for advice for purely selfless reasons. And with the gift he brought to dinner, while it was odd (knives?), it showed that he is trying. And speaking of the dinner, Tami had a great line, "What do you want me to cook for dinner when the Riggins boys come over. Should I slaughter a goat?"