All American “Homecoming” Review

The mid-season finale of All American gives us the anticipated homecoming game against Malibu, which also gets the Beverly Hills Eagles to the playoffs if they win. That’s the question, though. Can they win without Asher? Will Jordan be in the right headspace to play? Is football really that important to him? Will Spencer be emotionally okay to pull out a win? The underlying theme of this episode is to be a little selfish and do what’s best for you. We see this play out with Jordan, Spencer, Coop and Shawn. It makes for a very good, yet emotional, mid-season finale.

So Close

In the last few episodes, Shawn’s been trying to get out of the gang life to so that he can provide a better life for his daughter. Coop helped him get a job with Layla’s dad. After Ty threatened him and Coop last week, Shawn gives Ty all his savings in exchange for getting out. Ty laughs and says that he isn’t worth that much but keeps all the money and lets Shawn go.As Shawn’s outside his apartment building on the phone with Coop, who is inside, it’s clear how excited he is to move on with his life – he has plans to move to Louisiana where his cousin lives -, and he’s appreciative to Coop for helping him see he can have a better life. However, things turn grim when someone pulls up behind him, gets out of the car and calls Shawn’s name. Shawn turns around and the guy is pointing a gun at him. He shoots without hesitation or care. Coop hears the whole thing.

He was so close to getting out.

RIP Shawn.

The Game

Everything is riding on this homecoming game. Scouts are there. The play-offs. Coach Baker’s job. It’s no wonder everyone’s stressing about it. Asher’s still upset he can’t play. His dad’s even more livid about it. Billy chastises Jordan when he tries sneaking in the morning of the game, still in his homecoming attire minus the shoes. And Spencer’s just lost one of his own, leaving people wondering if he’s emotionally okay to play the game. He gets emotional as he tells the team the game isn’t just for the Division and asks for their help. Jordan brings it in by saying their playing for something bigger tonight.Even though the guys are on their A-game, running every play as they should, there’s something off. Malibu knows and anticipates their every move. Jordan is the first to notice, and by the half (when they’re down 0-14), Coach and Spencer realize Malibu has their plays. Coach suggests Spencer chooses his favorite three players and use some of Crenshaw’s plays. Then, Spencer enlists Chris (his old Crenshaw teammate) to help the team with the Crenshaw plays. With his help and the use of Crenshaw plays, Beverly pulls out the W!

During the game, Jordan sees a Malibu player make a gesture to Asher in the stands. It’s then that he realizes what’s happening. Asher’s the one who gave Malibu the Beverly playbook. When Asher walks into the locker room after the game, Jordan confronts him about it. Asher tries to explain himself – it was another moment of weakness -, but Jordan isn’t hearing any of it. He’s going to tell his father, and Asher’s going to get thrown off the team

Ripley the Snitch?

The morning after the big win, Billy has to call his players to the locker room. Why? For drug testing. Someone snitched to the Malibu coach that one of the players violated the drug policy. Of course, Billy assumes he has nothing to worry about. He knows that his players aren’t stupid enough to do such a thing.

EHHH WRONG!As the team is lining up, Jordan asks his dad what will happen if someone doesn’t pass – they’ll get suspended from playoffs – and then confides that he’s going to fail. Now, I wonder who possibly could have snitched. The only ones who knew were Olivia (who caught him when he snuck in the house) and Ripley, that we know of. Obviously, Olivia wouldn’t tattle-tale. Remember my theory last week about Ripley trying to ruin Jordan’s game? Yeahhh… that’s looking more and more possible.

Daddy Issues

As Spencer’s leaving the drug testing, the Malibu coach stops him and sinks his claws in. He mentions that he used to coach with Spencer’s dad, Corey. He even recommended him to Beverly, but then Billy swooped in. Spencer tries to stop him from messing with his head, but the coach says he wouldn’t do that. He’s always liked Corey and he was surprised to see him leave his family because of how much he always raved about Spencer. He even carried a picture of Spencer in his wallet. The coach says that Corey wouldn’t leave without a reason… he had to have been pushed to do so. Then he informs Spencer that Billy will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, and as he says that, we see Billy switching out Jordan’s pee cup. So, now the question is: did Billy Baker push Spencer’s dad to leave town?Another Beverly player with daddy issues? Asher Adams. It’s no secret Mr. Adams has some anger management issues when it comes to his son and the football team. We saw it during the booster banquet and we saw how he reacted to Asher getting benched for two games. What we haven’t seen is just how much of a jackhole is to his own son. At the end of the episode, Asher’s in bed when his father comes in and informs him that he should go live with his mom since there’s no use for him being there if he’s off the team. Asher says that his mom doesn’t want him, but all his dad says is, “that’s for you to figure out.” Ouch. Asher really sucks sometimes, but I can’t help but feel for the guy now. Clearly his issues stem farther than just the money problems.

More than Friends

Later, Layla shows up in Spencer’s room. They talk about Shawn. Spencer explains that they had a complicated friendship, but Shawn was taking steps to better himself for his daughter. Layla tells him that “it doesn’t matter how you find out. It’s all a blur that doesn’t seem real.” All she remembers about finding out about her mom is time standing still, and Spencer makes the comment, “kind of like right now.” Next thing you know, they’re kissing and taking off clothes.After, she finds Spencer in the bathroom, and says that she understands what that was – him blocking out the noise. She doesn’t want this to affect their friendship, but he does. He wants to be more than friends. Life’s too short to be pushing away how you feel. Ultimately, he leaves the choice up to her, but she doesn’t want to be just friends either.

All American returns January 16, 2019 at 9/8c on The CW!