Friday Night Lights is in an interesting position as it begins to wrap up its third season.  The thirteenth and final episode of season 3 will air on DirecTV on January 14, and two days later NBC will begin rerunning the series every Friday at 9pm.  The network has yet to decide if they'll renew the show for another year, but if they do it's possible the fictional town of Dillon, Texas will look a lot different.  Friday Night Lights has always painted a realistic portrait of small town life, which means that some of the characters who are high school seniors may not be around for season 4.  Details have started to come out about the upcoming season 3 finale, and it's possible fans may have to say goodbye to some of their favorite Dillon residents.
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According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, the season 3 finale will jump ahead five months to the end of the school year.  This time lapse will give us a good idea who will be staying in Dillon (and moving on to season 4) and who will be heading off to college.  Ausiello reports that fans may have to say goodbye to a lot of their favorite characters, though he doesn't name names.

If Friday Night Lights makes it to season 4, which characters will stick around?  Landry, Matt, Lyla, Tim and Tyra are all seniors this year, which means any of them could leave for college at the end of the season.  I hate to imagine any of these wonderful characters leaving the show, but I'd personally miss Matt and Tyra most of all.  Of course, it would only take a bit of clever writing to keep some of these characters in Dillon for another season or two.  Matt could stick around to take care of his grandma, and Tyra and Tim could have trouble getting into good schools.  I can't think of a plausible way to keep Landry and Lyla in the picture, but anything is possible in the world of television.

Do you want Friday Night Lights to live on if it means losing some of the show's best characters?  Who do you think will stay in Dillon after high school?  Sound off in the comments below.


- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: Entertainment Weekly
(Image courtesy of NBC)