FNL: Final (?) thoughts

The second-season finale of "Friday Night Lights," which aired two nights ago, will go down as the final episode of the series unless something unexpected happens at NBC before next season's schedule gets locked down. Ratings for the best show on television weren't stellar last year, and there's little indication they've picked up.

I'll keep holding out hope that somehow the network will see potential or an artistic halo in FNL, but the show's demise (if it comes about) will be one of the least surprising ones in my memory. It's not like "Arrested Development," a show so user-friendly you could start watching at any point in an episode and it didn't matter. To appreciate FNL, you have to at least be willing to get engaged in some stories about Texans, high school, and small-town life.

The closer wasn't the strongest episode ever, but I liked Tim's radio show and the silly confrontation between Coach Taylor and Moe (series creator Peter Berg). The whole thing with Street's one-night-stand waitress getting pregnant was a little over the top, but it was cute to end the episode with him telling her to just have hope. That goes for the fans, too.