Bracing for a great series to produce its final episode can be like watching an egg-on-a-spoon race: you tense up, hoping your player doesn't drop it at the last moment. FNL kept the egg intact, finishing up five seasons with a finale that gave closure to a vast number of Texas stories while giving poetic voice to its values of community and selflessness — most movingly, with Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) agreeing to move to Philadelphia for his wife Tami (Connie Britton) and her career. The episode climaxes in a football game (spoiler alert: our team wins), but fittingly, we never see the winning pass come to earth. To the end, the heart of this American classic was not whether you win or lose but how you play the game.