Last season, Friday Night Lights earned kudos for its willingness to tear down its established structure and build something new in its place. The praise was deserved: Not many shows have the (foot)balls to attempt such a radical reinvention, least of all ones with such a sensitive and devoted fan base. Perhaps one of the reasons Peter Berg, Jason Katims, and Co. felt comfortable ripping up and starting again was because they had the luxury of knowing exactly how much time was left: With a guaranteed fifth (and final) season on the horizon, there would be plenty of time to credibly replace the Dillon Panthers with the East Dillon Lions, to make the new version of Friday Night Lights as comfortable as the version it replaced.
Read the rest of the recap, originally published when DirecTV aired the episode in January, here.