It's about time someone said no to Layla.

It was repercussion time for several characters on All American Season 2 Episode 5.

There was still no football. But that was OK.

Instead, the focus for most of this season has been on the characters and the hardships they are enduring.

Finally, it appears that Layla is going to get the help she so desperately needed. But she left quite a lot of wreckage in her wake.

Having Layla's father JP come home to stage an intervention for Layla must have sounded good on paper.

But that blew up in a big way.

Thanks to JP being such an absentee father, Layla has grown up very self-sufficient.

So when something she doesn't know how to handle, such as her depression, happens, she quite naturally reacts defensively and lashes out at those around her, even if they are trying to help her.

Even if that's her boyfriend Spencer, who she dumped, or her best friend Olivia, who she blasted.

Frankly, JP deserved what he got, especially since he knew that her beloved mother battled depression for years. How could he have been surprised that Layla did too?

Layla played on JP's guilt at the intervention, getting him to back off inpatient treatment with a vague offer to undergo outpatient treatment instead, something for which she felt she had no need.

Olivia knew something was off when Layla was all huggy the next day, although Jordan was his usual oblivious self. That glare Layla shot her was proof enough.

Then, when JP put on the pressure again about treatment, she had to work on a sociology project with JJ.

Really? If JP were around more and were familiar with Layla's friends, he would have known that JJ has never seen the inside of a classroom.

Instead, she continued to show her lack of impulse control and decided to throw Olivia and Jordan a surprise birthday party, for which she had JJ conscript them.

That proved how little imagination JJ had, physically abducting the twins to get them to Layla's party. 

Subtlety is beyond JJ, I'd guess.

Olivia knew their being at the party was only going to get them in more trouble with Laura, but Jordan, thought-free as he often is, embraced the moment instead.

The party was Layla's way of punishing Olivia. Jordan was just collateral damage.

Why else would Layla have sent that photo of the twins partying to Laura, right when their mother was having second thoughts about not celebrating their birthday?

She also made the setting as uncomfortable as possible for recovering addict Olivia, with booze everywhere.

Layla regretted how she had treated Spencer, especially after she learned from Olivia that Corey had left him again without warning. 

But spying Spencer and Rochelle seemingly getting close, she jealously overreacted, kissing Asher right in front of Olivia.

Layla also still harbored the idea that Olivia was still pining for Spencer.

There was some of that at first, but Spencer has entered the surrogate-brother zone by this point.

Layla's meltdown was epic as she blamed everyone for her situation but genetics, blasting her father, Olivia, and Laura.

By the end, realizing he was at least part of the problem, JP decided to stick around and be Layla's father, getting her into much-needed treatment.

Also facing big changes was Jordan.

At least now we know why Simone was texting him back on All American Season 2 Episode 3, when he crashed Olivia's car as a result.

At last, a consequence from his big-man-on-campus, full-of-himself phase.

What a jerk, essentially asking Simone to take a number until he was done with the blonde.

And since Jordan can't even take care of himself, this should be an interesting storyline.

It also gave Billy an in to get back inside the family home, so he and Laura can present a united front in dealing with the baby mama and their possible grandchild.

Spencer also had to deal with daddy issues, starting with his runaway dad Corey.

It's a shame that Spencer blamed himself for Corey's leaving, when nobody, not Grace, not Billy, has any idea what caused Corey to run.

Spencer stupidly took his pain out of Darnell, who was also just looking for answers. That got Spencer squarely in Cliff's debt.

But Spencer was smart enough to bring along Billy, so he didn't fall under Cliff's sway. That he certainly didn't do, essentially calling Cliff a plantation owner and storming off.

Not the smartest thing to do to the football program's biggest booster. But Spencer quickly set some necessary boundaries.

Rochelle provided Spencer a much-needed sympathetic ear, as well she should have, after tricking him into moving back in the Baker home.

Maybe Spencer and Rochelle will get together, now that Layla has blown it with Spencer?

The big question that remains was what was Corey having genetic testing for, if not paternity?

About the only ones coming out of this episode with a happy ending were Olivia and Asher, who finally got together.

It was sweet of him to get her that prepaid phone for her birthday, with numbers for her sponsor and him programmed into it.

Then he sealed the deal by following up with ice cream the next day.

These two are the most sympathetic characters on the show now, after starting as two of the most troubled.

Even though she was struggling with her music, Coop was there for the people about whom she cared, offering sage advice both to Grace and Spencer.

To follow the characters' development this season, watch All American online.

Are you glad Layla's getting help?

Should Spencer move on from Layla?

How about Olivia and Asher getting together?

Comment below.

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Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.