High school dramas, like high school itself, have a ticking clock built in. Time passes, graduation looms, characters outgrow their acne years. Beverly Hills 90210 was fun while it lasted, but eventually Luke Perry and Gabrielle Carteris appeared to be starring in an AARP ad.
Last year, in its third season, the high school football drama Friday Night Lights (loosely based on the book and movie) sent several characters on to college and the wider world, with farewells that stayed true to the show's small-town-Texas realism. In the outstanding finale, coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) was ousted through...