Friday Night Lights: Season 3 | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

100% 18 Reviews Tomatometer 95% 100+ Ratings Audience Score "Friday Night Lights" centers on the rural town of Dillon, Texas, where winning the state football championship is prized above all else. Coach Eric Taylor guides a high school football team through pressure-filled seasons while dealing with struggles relating to his own family. The interactions between the team members, current and former players, supporters, coaching staff and regular townsfolk address many of the issues facing small-town America. Read More Read Less Watch on Vudu Premiered Feb 03 Buy Now

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Friday Night Lights — Season 3

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Friday Night Lights — Season 3

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Critics Consensus

Fueled by realistic depictions of everyday issues and elevated by an outstanding young cast, the third season of Friday Night Lights finds the series continuing to shine.

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Cast & Crew

Kyle Chandler Coach Eric Taylor Scott Porter Jason Street Zach Gilford Matt Saracen Taylor Kitsch Tim Riggins Connie Britton Tami Taylor Gaius Charles Brian "Smash" Williams
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Episodes

Previous Episode 1 Aired Oct 1, 2008 I Knew You When Coach Taylor is unsure how strong his team will be without Smash; a new star player (Jeremy Sumpter) arrives on the scene; a season-ending injury results in Smash losing his college scholarship. Details Episode 2 Aired Oct 8, 2008 Tami Knows Best Smash has confidence issues as he works with Coach Taylor to prepare for college tryouts; Tami finds that the community cares more about a new screen on the field than education; Matt faces a tough decision about his grandmother's care. Details Episode 3 Aired Oct 15, 2008 How the Other Half Lives Coach Taylor is pressured to make some changes to his team for an upcoming game; Saracen feels the heat as fans lose faith in him; Tim tries to get out of debt. Details Episode 4 Aired Oct 22, 2008 Hello, Goodbye The new bad boy in town woos Tyra; Saracen's mother tries to re-enter his life; Smash leaves Dillon for the first time. Details Episode 5 Aired Oct 29, 2008 Every Rose Has Its Thorn Cash's dark side comes to light; Jason thinks he knows how to bring him and Erin back together; coach Taylor makes a decision that leaves Matt debating the future of his football career. Details Episode 6 Aired Nov 5, 2008 It Ain't Easy Being J.D. McCoy The new quarterback, J.D. McCoy, becomes a victim of hazing; Matt and Julie get closer after spending some time together at the lake; a woman claims that Cash owes her child support. Details Episode 7 Aired Nov 12, 2008 Keeping Up Appearances J.D.'s skills are put to the test at Friday night's rival game; Landry thinks he is over Tyra when he meets Devin, who seems to be the perfect girl. Details Episode 8 Aired Nov 19, 2008 New York, New York In hopes of getting his family back, Jason follows a job opportunity to New York; Tyra is torn between following Cash on his rodeo tour and her college dream; Tami tries to talk Coach Taylor into buying a new house. Details Episode 9 Aired Dec 3, 2008 Game of the Week Dillon is in the spotlight when the Panthers' game is selected as the nationally televised game of the week; Riggins decides whether to meet with a college coach; Tyra sees the truth about Cash and finds herself in a desperate situation. Details Episode 10 Aired Dec 10, 2008 The Giving Tree Buddy Garrity is forced to tell Lyla about his financial troubles; when J.D. meets a girl at school, his father worries he is losing his focus on football. Details Episode 11 Aired Dec 17, 2008 A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall Saracen's grandmother's mental health rapidly deteriorates; Lyla learns that she has been accepted to her dream college; tensions between Joe and J.D. escalate. Details Episode 12 Aired Jan 7, 2009 Underdogs The McCoys' and Taylors' friendship is on thin ice after Joe and J.D.'s scuffle; Buddy tries to make amends with Lyla; Tyra and Landry try to rekindle their romance. Details Episode 13 Aired Jan 14, 2009 Tomorrow Blues Matt prepares for college; Lyla's dreams are in the hands of an estranged uncle; coach Taylor feels uncertain about the future. Details Next

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Friday Night Lights — Season 3

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Critics Reviews

View All (18) Critics Reviews
Previous Friday Night Lights: Season 3 | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Keith Phipps AV Club I could probably watch an hour of Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler bantering every week, but Friday Night Lights offers much more. The cast members who started out good have only gotten better. B+ Feb 6, 2015 Full Review Friday Night Lights: Season 3 | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Ken Tucker Entertainment Weekly I've seen the entire season already on DIRECTV, and trust me, it only gets better, deeper, and richer. A Feb 6, 2015 Full Review Friday Night Lights: Season 3 | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Stuart Levine Variety If this is game over for Lights, the series goes out with its legacy intact, no matter what Nielsen says. For three seasons, the cast of little-known twentysomethings played their respective students with exceptional clarity, charm and authenticity. Feb 5, 2015 Full Review Friday Night Lights: Season 3 | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Jeff Dooley Bullz-Eye.com Friday Night Lights got back to what it does best in Season Three: delivering scenes that are equal parts engaging, action-packed, thoughtful, well-acted, and funny. 4/5 Nov 6, 2019 Full Review Friday Night Lights: Season 3 | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Tara Thorne The Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Television's best drama returned in fighting shape for its third, most affecting year. Nov 17, 2018 Full Review Friday Night Lights: Season 3 | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Eric Goldman IGN Movies As always, it's not the storylines that stood out on this show, but the moments -- the many times Friday Night Lights captures interactions between these characters that feel 100% genuine, even if you've seen versions of these stories before. 9/10 Feb 5, 2015 Full Review Read all reviews Next
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Audience Ratings

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Previous Dave K Of the the best shows of all time Rated 5/5 Stars Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/08/23 Full Review Regal R 70/100 - Honestly not a bad show. Some of the characters and writing is a bit odd. Its hit or miss. It's either really funny with great, witty dialogue, or it flops to some weird writing with plot holes, bad pacing, etc.. It wasnt received well and its hard for me to rate this because the first 2 seasons are mostly great. Season 3 is kind of bad. Season 4 gets revamped with michael b jordan but is still meh. season 5 is a bit better. Like I said the show is both good and bad, hit or miss throughout the episodes, I kind of wish the characters stuck to their character type instead of every single character changing to the opposite of who they started as. It makes the show kind of hard to watch because it's very predictable when you know if X happened last episode, the character will do Y next episode. Unrealistic in that aspect and breaks the 4th wall. Wroth watching though, its a drama for sure but its decent. Rated 3.5/5 Stars Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/01/23 Full Review whosmirko - Friday Night Lights:Season 3: 8- / 10 Rated 3.5/5 Stars Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Friday Night Lights (90%) (A-)Gets back into the day to day drama that makes the first season so good. Starts to make more development for once side characters and it does a really good job here. The characters that are introduced in this season are fleshed out well and add a lot to the overarching story. Tim Riggins is solidified as the man. Rated 4.5/5 Stars Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member This is one of my favorite shows ever! I watched it a few years ago and am currently rewatching it. I don't even like football, but this show has depth that goes way beyond football. You'll laugh, cry, and cheer with the variety of characters. Rated 5/5 Stars Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the hallmarks of the first two seasons of "Friday Night Lights" was the show's ability to really use its ensemble cast to the fullest. Each week would shine the spotlight on a different character scenario or two, and if those weren't the ones that appealed to you...well, you knew that the next week it would be something different. While this third season does a good job of moving certain storylines forward, it also turns rather repetitive at times in terms of the areas it really focuses in on.For a basic summary, Season Three is one in which we (as viewers) say goodbye to some established figures and welcome some "new blood" into the fold. Because the writers strike of 2007 completely screwed over Season Two's "ending", the beginning episodes of this year basically just get us back up to speed. From there, a few things given to us in this installment include:-Mrs. Taylor's new role as school principle and the new perspective it gives her on certain issues.-The continued evolution of the Tyra/Landry & Tim/Lyla relationships.-Jason Street doing everything he can to provide for his new "family"-The ongoing foibles of Buddy Garrity.-A new QB threat to Matt Ceracen.There are some parts of Season Three that work very well. The chemistry within the Taylor family is still the backbone of the show, and it still never fails to produce emotion in nearly every episode. The "new QB in town" angle is also probably the strongest one of the entire season. Tami's new turn as school principle also brings up some moral dilemmas that prove quite interesting.The trouble with this season, though, is that all the other angles fall under the following two categories: Either they are done too quickly (Smash Williams, Jason Street), or they linger on for far too long (Tyra's rebellious streak, the ticking time bomb that is Tim Riggins). More specifically, the characters of Tyra & Tim (who really stood out in the Second Season) are given more screen time but less character development in the sense that they don't seem much different from beginning to end. It is probably a case of the writers knowing that such drama works with most viewers and being a bit scared (in the wake of cancellation) to stray too far from the formula.Overall, then, I can't rate Season Three of "Friday Night Lights" nearly as well as its two predecessors. Whereas those earlier seasons were high drama with pockets of repetition, I felt that the formula was flipped in this case. The ending of the season set up a scenario that looks like it has great potential to produce an entertaining fourth season, so I'm not giving up hope just yet. I'm just a bit concerned that the show has "slipped" a bit with each subsequent season so far. Rated 3/5 Stars Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews Next Post a review

Season Info

Executive Producer
Peter Berg, Jason Katims, Brian Grazer, David Nevins, Sarah Aubrey

Network
NBC

Rating
TV-14

Genre
Drama, Sports

Original Language
English

Release Date
Oct 1, 2008
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Friday Night Lights: Season 3 | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

FAQs

Why is there such a big gap between season 2 and 3 of Friday Night Lights? ›

With the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike cutting the second season in half, there is a longer story gap between the end of season 2 and the beginning of season 3 than occurred between the other seasons of Friday Night Lights.

Who leaves Friday Night Lights in Season 3? ›

Season 3 introduced audiences to new characters, including the phenom QB JD McCoy while saying goodbye to four main characters, Jason Street, Brian Williams, Tyra Collette, and Lyla Garrity.

Why is Jason Street not in season 3? ›

In Season 3, due to Porter leaving the show, Jason moves to New York City after landing an entry-level position at a sports agency to be near his infant son. The character is inspired by the real-life events in the career of David Edwards, a high school player in San Antonio, Texas.

Is season 3 of FNL good? ›

Fueled by realistic depictions of everyday issues and elevated by an outstanding young cast, the third season of Friday Night Lights finds the series continuing to shine.

Which season of Friday Night Lights is bad? ›

The show's infamous second season was shortened because of the strike, but that's not the whole story. Dan Solomon writes about politics, music, food, sports, criminal justice, health care, film, and business. The second season of Friday Night Lights is not very good television. In fact, it's downright awful.

Why was season 2 of FNL so bad? ›

Moving from this sense of realism to outright murder was a mistake for Friday Night Lights because there was no frame of reference for such an action ever happening before. Instead, it evoked a sense of emotional whiplash, even confusion, that almost undermined all the delicate character work previously established.

Why did Matt Saracen leave Season 4? ›

After military compensation for his father's death (along with life insurance) is enough for his grandma to live comfortably, Matt abruptly leaves for Chicago to finally attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—without telling Julie. Matt eventually calls her to offer an apology, but she refuses to accept it.

What happens to Tim Riggins in season 3? ›

Season three

Lyla encourages Tim to pursue a scholarship while Tim refuses to take the recruiters seriously. Billy is concerned about Tim's future as he wants Tim to go to college and make something of himself, something that Billy himself never got to achieve, and asks Jason for help.

Why was Tyra not in Season 4 of Friday Night Lights? ›

Tyra is absent from season 4, presumably spending her time at the University of Texas. She is mentioned by Landry briefly in one episode when she fails to meet him at their designated meeting spot, when he decides to completely give up on a relationship with her.

Who does Lyla Garrity marry? ›

She repeatedly apologizes to Jason, who realizes he still loves her and eventually takes her back. Jason proposes to her and she accepts.

Why did Matt Saracen's mom leave? ›

During his senior year of high school, Matt also slowly begins to reconnect with his mother. Shelby left Matt when he was a child after divorcing Henry (the full extent of their relationship is unknown, but it is implied that Henry may have been an abusive husband).

Do Tyra and Landry go to jail? ›

Landry and Tyra are convicted of first-degree murder in the “guy that got murdered five years ago” case. They are both sentenced to life in prison. After reuniting at the swearing-in ceremony, Tim and Lyla begin to date again back in Dillon.

Do Tim Riggins and Julie get together? ›

Some fans might have spent some time in their first watch of the series wondering, "do Tom Riggins and Julie Taylor get together?," since she made a play for the older student. While that didn't happen, Julie did get involved with someone else older.

Who does Billy marry in FNL? ›

Billy marries Mindy Collette, the older sister of Tim's ex-girlfriend Tyra, at the end of Season 3.

What happens to JD McCoy in season 3? ›

Season 3. J.D. joins the Dillon Panthers as a freshman from Dallas with a personal coach, Wade Aikmen.

What happened between season two and season three of Friday Night Lights? ›

No, season 2 was shortened by the writer's strike, so many plot arcs were never finished. FNL tries to cover critical events in the S3E01 "Previously On" but lots of S2 storylines either never get resolved or the show pretends never happened.

Why does Friday Night Lights season 2 end so abruptly? ›

While initially renewed for a 22-episode full season, the show ended production for the season after filming the 15th episode, due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.

Why was Smash suspended in Friday Night Lights season 2? ›

One night at the movies with his girlfriend at the time, Noelle Davenport, and his sister, Noannie, Smash punched a white teenager after he made a racist remark towards his sister. This incident led to Smash's downfall, as the white teenager informed the media.

Why did Friday Night Lights get cancelled? ›

Friday Night Lights ran for five seasons but was cancelled because of low ratings. It's the curse of many a cult favourite but at least it didn't outstay its welcome.

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