All American: Homecoming Season 1 Episode 11 Review: What Now?
Laura Nowak
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Simone and Jordan have officially broken up, so why is Simone so stubborn about rekindling her friendship with Damon?
Long-distance relationships are complicated, especially with your high school sweetheart. During All American Season 4 Episode 18, the high school sweethearts broke up after realizing they had grown up.
During, All American: Homecoming Season 1 Episode 11, Simone coped with losing Jordan and her guilt about crossing a line with Damon.
For weeks, Damon and Simone still have awkward run-ins. Does Simone have a reason to feel this guilty?
She and Damon understood each other and had an emotional connection.
It's painful to watch them be stilted and awkward around each other so often.
While they don't need to date, it would be refreshing if Damon and Simone lost the awkwardness and could return to being friends, especially in group situations.
Simone wanted to distract herself with tennis and schoolwork, so she wouldn't have to concentrate on her break-up.
Just know it's okay not to be okay and if you find yourself in that place, I'm here.
Amara
For Simone, she was losing a vital part of herself. However, as soon as Simone chose to attend Bringston and Jordan stayed in LA, we knew this breakup was inevitable.
Simone feels like she is going places if she pulls herself out of this funk. However, she and Damon were an unbeatable team, and now she wants to handle things independently.
Simone only allowed herself a few moments of vulnerability in Damon's arms before she pulled away and forced herself to handle things independently.
Simone and Damon both dealt with emotional issues. While Damon would have confided in Simone, she refused to tell him about her breakup.
Damon won't wait forever for Simone. His and Thea's blossoming relationship was much less complicated.
How will that affect Thea and Simone's relationship now that they're friends?
Thea seemed happier after becoming closer to Damon, and Damon listened to Thea's advice.
Let's discuss Damon's adoption search's main story and the twists and turns.
JR: That would mean Damon and I are brothers and we're not.
JR's mom: I know this is hard for you both.
JR: No mom, we took a DNA test. We're not brother.
The flashbacks of JR's mom divulging that Damon was her biological son were so powerful. I never knew that if you had a transplant, the DNA could merge with the donor.
That was such a twist. It made JR feel even more guilty that his mom never knew Damon because of his aplastic anemia and the medical bills.
JR: So you had to decide between keeping Damon and taking care of me?
JR's mom: Baby, no! That's not what I said
That was so much information for both JR and Damon to process.
How is Damon supposed to accept that his dad knew for years that Damon was his child and never told him?
To add to that, his dad told JR's mom to stay away because he feared the secret coming out.
All of this will affect his relationship with his father moving forward.
Will Damon be able to have a relationship with his dad or his birth mom at all, or with his adoptive mom and JR be the only family he chooses to associate with?
This series focuses on chosen family and friends. Damon found another one of those in Thea, whether they end up good friends or as a couple.
TheA cared enough to tell Damon he needed to face his problems and help him destress. The two love romance and corny love stories so that it may be a match made in heaven.
When he went off and blamed JR for the family drama, Thea reminded him to be careful not to lose his best friend. Both " What Now" and All American Season 4 Episode 18 reiterated the importance of male friendships and brotherhood.
You were sick. You were literally the chosen son.
Damon
Once the two made up, they joined forces to solve the mystery of Coach Marcus.
Since Marcus heard about the Terry Tucker piece, he had been on edge, but his paranoia hit an all-time high.
Marcus has always been calm and level-headed with his team, so they knew something was off when he started yelling at them uncharacteristically.
Marcus never even asked Damon what was wrong when he had a bad day.
He assumed Ralph was there to interview to dig up dirt on him so that Amara would never date him.
His outbursts affected JR after JR got recognized for his pitching virally, and Marcus blew up because he didn't want JR to become an internet scandal.
Luckily, Nate knew how to handle it and was there to record Marcus's next outburst at JR in the training gym.
He also reminded JR he earned the spotlight.
When JR and Damon compared notes, they realized only Amara could help Marcus.
Marcus seemed so far gone that he even lashed out at Amara.
Is Marcus off some meds like anxiety meds, and that's making him lash out more, or did he start using pain meds more?
Hopefully, we'll get answers by the end of the season. Thankfully, the series handles challenging issues like addiction and mental health, just like the mothership, so this storyline has been compelling.
Over to you, All American: Homecoming Fanatics. What can Damon's dad tell him to justify keeping this secret for so long?
What is making Coach Marcus so paranoid? Are you Team Simone or Team Thea for Damon? Chime in below in the comments.
Remember, if you missed an episode, you could 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.
