All American Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Homecoming
Stacy Glanzman
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The Beverly Hills football team pulled off their own version of the "Philly Special" to win the Homecoming game!
Unfortunately, the win was one of only a few happy moments that occurred on All American Season 1 Episode 8.
The good news is that even in the hardest of times your family will always be by your side.
Coop may have distanced herself from Spencer's family when she chose to live with Shawn, but they never abandoned her. Spencer promised her that he'd never leave her behind, and he went out of his way to help Shawn because he knew how important it was to Coop.
It's awful and tragic that it didn't work out, but this family will find a way to persevere.
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To state the obvious, Shawn should have taken Laura's help, but snitching wasn't part of his code, and no amount of convincing from Spencer was going to change his mind.
Spencer began the day by telling his mom that he blamed himself for everything that's gone wrong in everyone else's life. Of course, that's ridiculous, and his mom tells him so, but it doesn't stop him from feeling it.
He puts everyone before himself, and the one decision that he made for himself was going to Beverly. It's not his fault that Asher couldn't handle the competition or that he cheated on his girlfriend. He couldn't have kept Coop from fraternizing with Shawn either.
Some things are meant to happen and are just out of his control.
Shawn's death is not on anyone but himself. Spencer and Coop did all they could to save him, and even though he's gone, I think that Coop made a real difference in his life even in such a short time. She made him want a better life, and that means something.
Spencer: You've been fronting like I had talent and you didn't since we were kids, but you chose to roll with guys like Tyronne. Choose something else now.
Shawn: Why do you even care?
Spencer: I don't. But I care about Coop, and she thinks you deserve a chance at something more, so you can take my help or not. That's up to you.
Shawn made the wrong choice, but at least he made one. He's not just another dead gangbanger. He's much more than that to everyone who truly knew him, and now that includes us.
I had a bad feeling Shawn would end up dead, and that's because of the way the writers have fleshed out his character recently. They heightened our sympathy knowing that we needed to care about him if his death was going to have the desired impact.
Well, I'd say it worked.
Our emotional attachment to Coop and her breakdown over Shawn's death is what affected us. Coop is one of the most prominent breakout characters of the fall, and her development over the first half of All American Season 1 has been incredibly satisfying.
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Everything she has been through and overcome makes her one of the strongest characters on TV. I can't wait to find out where she goes from here.
While Coop's surrogate family is surrounding her with love and support, Asher has been left out in the cold by his football family.
Jordan: As soon as I tell my dad what you did, you're off this team.
Asher: Are you serious right now? Over one game that you just won? I thought you said it was just football, man!
Jordan: Know what? No. If you would have been there on that field with us, you would have felt that.
Asher deserves to get kicked off the team. I wrongfully assumed Jordan's new girlfriend stole the playbook, but this is a new low, even for Asher.
What he did at the dance was bad enough, but he could have come back from that. His life is falling apart, and it's all of his own making. He has no one to blame but himself.
His dad is a jerk, and for that, I do feel for him a little bit, but he's old enough to take responsibility for his actions. That is a hard lesson, but it's one he needs to learn.
Just because Asher is responsible for the playbook doesn't mean that Jordan's girlfriend is entirely off the hook. Who else knew that he had been smoking weed and could have called in the tip? Why would she do that after the game though?
There's something suspicious about Malibu's coach, and part of me wonders if he did it knowing that Billy would cover for his son. The whole thing could be a ploy to get Billy fired.
Does Billy look like a hypocrite for protecting his own son after making such a scene about benching Asher, or is this situation different?
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I'm not saying Jordan didn't majorly screw up, he did, but he also didn't get high on school grounds and make a scene in front of everybody. He's not trending on YouTube.
Billy will punish him privately at home, but it's hard not to be understanding that he'd want to protect his son. What parent wouldn't want to do that?
There will be ramifications if he gets caught, so here's hoping that doesn't happen.
Could Billy really have had something to do with Spencer's dad leaving town? It's hard to believe that he would pull something just to get the coaching job at Beverly. People need to stop messing with Spencer's head. That poor kid has enough on his plate and does not need any more conspiracy theories floating around in there.
Lucky for him, Layla is more than willing to help him block out the noise!
Are you guys happy that these two are finally together, or were you rooting for Team Olivia? I'm just happy to see the love triangle end, and Chris is a nice fit for Olivia. I'm glad everyone gets to be happy for 30 seconds or so.
Some work still needs to be done to repair Olivia and Layla's friendship, but the lines of communication are open, so there's hope for them. With everything finally out in the open, they can start over.
What did you guys think of the fall finale?
Are you sad to see Shawn go so soon? Are you happy for Spencer and Layla? Do you have any sympathy for Asher?
Hit the comments and don't forget to watch All American online!
Stacy Glanzman was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in March, 2019.
