Friday Night Lights leaving me a bit cold...

I know that every December is a hiatus month but with the strike and all it's been making me kind of extra sad hearing all the "[insert show here] will return with new episodes in the new year" announcements after shows...

So things I liked about our last new FNL for 2007:
- Everything with Jason. I'd been kind of unsure of where the writers were going with him, but I love him when he's around Herc, his scene with Lyla was really nice, and his date was hilarious. I'm glad he's moving out of his parents' house...and I'm glad that his parents are evidently supporting that decision.
- Everything with Riggins. That gymnastics scene cracked me up. Tim's one of those people who seems like they wouldn't care about anything except drinking but the way he lets himself really get into stuff like football and Powderpuff and girls' gymnastics is so funny. Also glad that the writers remembered that Coach Taylor is now the school's athletic coordinator.
- Everything with Buddy Garrity and Santiago. This storyline seems much more Season 1 to me because it's very football-centered, and about how football kind of has that power. I feel like we've really been missing that elsewhere.

And now for the things that I kind of hated:
- The wrap-up of the Landry/Tyra murder plot nightmare. I don't know, in a way I'm relieved that it's over, but the resolution was just...blah. The charges being dropped because of self-defense? I don't know a lot of about law but that doesn't seem exactly applicable. They filmed it in a way that made it seem kind of questionable and I don't know how Landry could have gotten off that easy. Plus what about his dad destroying evidence? I think this storyline has allowed the actors involved to give some really outstanding performances but I still hated it. I want funny Landry back. I want sassy, confident Tyra back.
- The Gracie christening storyline. I really liked that Coach and Mrs. Taylor were such smart parents last year, to both Julie and the other kids in school. But I feel there's been almost none of that this season...I get that the writers want to shake things up and all but Tami's been pretty annoying and Coach has been kind of a doormat. I didn't think that the family getting back to normal was all that convincing but I hope that it's true.
- Matt and Carlotta. Ugh. I hate when shows portray couples as being cute THAT AREN'T CUTE.

You know, I think I've finally realized what it is about this season that just seems off to me. Dillon doesn't feel like a small town anymore. I thought during the first season they did a pretty excellent job keeping all the storylines and characters tied together...a lot of times through football. But this season it seems like a lot of the characters are just sitting in their own little worlds. I was reading through the thread for this episode on TWOP and one of the posts really hit the nail on the head. Like, why does no one else in the town seem to know or care about Landry and the murder? Why hasn't Billy come looking for Tim? Why wouldn't Tim at least talk to Jason or Lyla about his housing situation? Why hasn't Lyla been continuing to help Santiago? Why haven't we seen the town react at all to the fact that the Panthers' defense has been apparently been sucking?

FNL has always been really good about packing a lot into an hour, but I feel like I'd be totally okay with them scaling back a little if they could make the episodes a little more cohesive. I know there are a lot of characters to deal with, but there were no less than 6 separate storylines going on in this episode, with hardly any crossover...