All American: Homecoming Season 1 Episode 4 Review: If Only You Knew
Laura Nowak
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Who doesn't enjoy a well-done love triangle?
All American: Homecoming Season 1 Episode 4 included two love triangles and many secrets complicated relationships.
Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) surprised Simone, forcing Damon and Simone to examine their complicated relationship. Simone's Aunt Amara also confronted her complex history with Coach Marcus after running into an old friend.
How many times have two people fallen asleep on each other after a long night of studying only for someone to suspect they're dating? It's a classic trope.
Planning a romantic surprise was sweet of Jordan, but thankfully, he could adapt. He may not like Damon, but Simon has other friends, both male, and female, and he needs to trust her.
Simone and Jordan exhibited significant communication issues, especially when he found out that Simone had a panic attack and never told him. He hated that Damon was there to support her, and he wasn't.
Truthfully, once Simone learned to juggle her college responsibilities better, she probably didn't think about her panic attack much. They may have different priorities on sharing every little detail of their lives, which will hurt them long-term.
Jordan seemed threatened by a male friend in Simone's life. Their connection was primarily based on sports and history.
Thankfully, they still shared the sports connection, so he understood when Simone had to play a doubles match.
He even put their issues aside to come to watch her and support her.
Was this weekend enough to reaffirm their love and open the lines of communication, or will the long-distance continue to crack at it?
Simone understands adoption better than any of Damon's other friends because she gave up baby Shay. This commonality has bonded them and was why she wanted to find his birth parents.
Damon felt lonely without having Simone to confide in all weekend. Neither one realized how much they'd come to depend on each other, and that's a slippery slope from close friendship to accidental lovers.
It really sucked not having you around to talk to this weekend. I hadn’t realized how much I rely on you.
Damon
Now that Damon has decided to search for his birth parents, continuously hiding their theories from him will bite Simone and JR in the long run.
Part of me felt sorry for Erica since it was evident that Damon was using her to get over his feelings for Simone.
JR and Simone made lousy detectives. They couldn't even have a private conversation without someone getting suspicious, usually Damon.
Simone didn't want to accuse her aunt of giving up a baby, while JR was terrified of wrecking the alumni weekend with his dad.
I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for weeks. Bringing up something like that is going ruin it no matter what they say.
JR
This weekend was so crucial to JR since he'd been coming with his dad for years, and now both he and his dad got to play in it together. While father and son appeared to have a friendly rivalry, JR's dad seemed overly excited to meet Damon.
Young man, you have the potential to bring this team to greatness so we will back you up any way you need.
He implied Damon would save the game and gave his son batting tips. While these father and son scenes suggested that JR had been practicing forever, it also made JR wonder again if Damon was related to them.
JR took everything his dad to heart. He idolized his dad and couldn't handle him not being the perfect father.
As JR mentioned before, playing ball at Bringston and continuing the family tradition was necessary. He didn't know if he could share that with Damon.
Simone: Hey JR, are you open to the possibility that Damon could be your brother?
JR: I don’t know. I’m not ready to live in Damon’s shadow, both as a baseball player and as a son.
Unfortunately, now JR was so focused on punishing his dad for lying that all he cared about was taunting him and striking him out to the detriment of his team.
Damon had to remind JR that he could talk to his dad, whereas Damon couldn't since he didn't know his dad. That hit home for JR, and this heart-to-heart talk just made them seem more like brothers.
Just as JR got the nerve to ask his dad the truth, his dad announced he was getting a divorce. That opened a new can of worms. Was one oh is parents cheating? Is Damon only his half-brother? So many questions.
Almost everyone was haunted by the past, including Amara and Coach Marcus, who was forced to face the past. JR's dad specifically recruited Marcus for the alumni team and inquired why he quit the Minors.
When Amara asked for the real reason, they broke up, and he quit playing, Marcus remained tight-lipped. What was he hiding in his past?
Hopefully, he'll admit his renewed feelings for Amara soon since she's getting tired of his jealousy every time someone else pays attention to her.
The coach remains in tune with his players, though. When Cam was allowed to play in the alumni game, it brought back memories of the teamwork he loved.
Today just reminded me of how much I miss playing. I played sports my whole life. I don’t know what I would do without them.
Cam
While we never heard the specifics, we learned that the coach did something he regretted that cost him his baseball career.
He told Cam to weigh what was important to him.
That motivated Cam to slow down before jumping into brain surgery.
Over to you, All American: Homecoming Fanatics. Who do you think Damon's parents are? Do you think Damon and Simone will survive long-term?
Will JR and his dad be able to fix their relationship? Chime in below in the comments.
Remember, if you missed an episode, you can watch All American: Homecoming online via TV Fanatic.
All American: Homecoming airs at 9/8c on Mondays on The CW.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on X.
