All American Season 2 | Episode 9 “One of Them Nights” Review

When we left All American in December, a lot was left up in the air over winter break. Olivia and Asher became official. Laura and Billy became officially separated. Jordan is not the father. Cory died and Spencer decided to quit football because it reminded him too much of his father. Olivia checked herself into a mental health rehab. And Coop got the scary surprise of Tyrone being out of jail. Now, it’s time to jump into the second half the season where the characters try to navigate these life changes and curveballs.

Facing Reality

Admitting to yourself that you need help takes a lot of courage and strength. Walking through the doors and checking yourself into a mental rehabilitation center, even more so. But what about when it’s all said and done? When you’ve been in the center for weeks, you’re thriving, and you’re even cleared for off-campus visits? The anxiety and pressure that must weigh one down as they debate whether they’re ready to go back to reality after being in the safe and confined bubble of the treatment center has got to be worrisome. That’s what Layla has been feeling. Even though she’s thriving with opening up to her peer group about things she’s never even confessed to her friends or family, like the fear of not being enough for them to stay, she’s still fearful of the pressures of the “real world” and that no one will be there for her. Not to invalidate her fears or anything, because they’re totally understandable, but shouldn’t she know the strong support system she has in her friends? Especially Olivia and Spencer after everything they did to try to help her.

However, Layla soon realizes that she’s not alone in her fears as her new friend (and sort of mentor) breaks down the night before she’s supposed to leave the center because she’s too afraid to face the real world yet. This causes Layla to realize that, even though she’s afraid, she needs to face reality. Not just for herself, but for her friend as well. And just when she’s walking out of the gates to the center, Olivia and Spencer are there waiting, ready to take on the world with her. Even her dad is “pulling the car around” – we don’t actually see him in this episode, but that’s what Spencer says. See, Layla? You’re not alone in this. 😊

Weak

I love Coop. She’s a great character that has allowed a lot of serious issues to be brought to life, and her friendship with Spencer is one of my favorite relationships on the show. However, as good as she is at giving Spencer advice, she’s not so great at handling her own life 90% of the time. Don’t get me wrong, she’s made some smart choices. The problem is, she’s either doing something on impulse or she has to be pushed to make the right choice, whether it be by Spencer, Patience or Preach. The latter person is done being her backup when she’s caught in a bind.

You see, Preach shows up with a gun when Tyrone sneaks up on Coop. They make a deal that if Tyrone leaves Coop alone, Preach won’t shoot him for his own revenge. Instead of being thankful for Preach’s deal, Coop gets upset about the fact that Preach is the reason Tyrone got a get out of jail free card since he refuses to testify. He’s no snitch and wants to handle business himself. I get it, but… that’s just dumb. You let a dangerous dealer back on the streets to get revenge, but now your plan has backfired in order to protect Coop. Well, it doesn’t look like that protection will last much longer.

Coop gets herself in another bind when she decides to trust some guy booking talent for the re-opening of the roller rink. He promises Coop a spot in the line-up if she can sell 40 $100 tickets. Preach advises her not to fall for it since she doesn’t know the guy, but with the help of her friends, she sells $4,000 worth of tickets. However, when she gets to the opening, the guy doesn’t vouch for her and she’s left outside. She later tries to get the money she earned from the crook, but he refuses. Once again, Preach shows up, beats the crap out of the guy and gets half the money back. He’s not giving it to Coop, though. He’s done with her. She’s too weak. I mean, I can’t blame him. He’s been there for Coop with little gratitude in return.

Memories Matter

Since quitting football, Spencer’s been busying himself with work at the restaurant and walking dogs in BH, trying to earn money for college since he won’t have a football scholarship now. While commendable, there’s one problem – he’s been so busy burying his own grief (for his father and football), he’s completely neglected his brother’s. In fact, Grace even enrolled Dillon in Big Brother camp since Spencer’s been MIA. So, when Spencer does come around and tries to be there for his baby brother, Dillon serves major attitude. Can you blame him? He just lost his father, whom he had just gotten back, and now his big brother would rather work than be there for his grieving family? I get Spencer has to deal with grief in his own way, but for someone who’s made sure to be a constant figure in Dillon’s life, he sure did bail at the worst possible time… even if his intentions were good.

It’s not until they’re racially profiled and Spencer spends time with his ex, Kia, at the roller rink that Spencer learns the important life lesson that memories matter. Kia recalls the time she spent with her uncle learning how to debate, saying he was her best teacher and they’re some of her favorite memories. She advises him to make memories with Dillon, especially during such a tough time. So, Spencer frees up his Sundays to become Dillon’s Big Brother, literally and figuratively through the camp. 😊

On Blast

Let’s talk about the racial profiling I mentioned because… wow. After selling the tickets for Coop, the group of friends stop in for fro-yo at a new shop that replaced the Crenshaw staple, Smitty’s. It’s owned by a white woman, “Crenshaw Cathy”, and as soon as they walk in, the woman starts eyeing them. Then, when Spencer and Dillon get into an argument, she refuses to serve them. The group moves to the outside table while Dillon eats his yogurt, but the cops show up and accuses them of loitering. It turns into a whole mess of harassment and a gun nearly getting pulled on Dillon just as Billy shows up and deescalates the situation by threatening to sue the officers and the whole police department. You go, Billy!

Fortunately, Olivia captures the whole thing on her phone. While it was a scary and uncalled for, Olivia’s taking it as an opportunity to put situations like this on blast in a social injustice podcast. This isn’t the first time All American has touched on racial profiling. We saw it with Jordan and Spencer when they got pulled over for no reason last season. With Olivia’s new podcast, I have a feeling this won’t be the last social injustice issue we’ll see played out on screen. While it’s tough to watch situations like these, it still needs to be talked about because it’s not just fictional television. This is reality people of color face everyday, and All American does a good job at portraying such issues.

All American airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW!

By the way, All American has already been picked up for season 3 so woohoo! 🙂

Featured Image: IMDb