Yahoo News All American Stages Its Biggest Game Yet in Sentimental 100th Episode — Grade It!
All American celebrated its 100-episode milestone on Monday the same way it celebrates most special occasions: with a little nostalgia, and a lot of great football.
The momentous hour — titled “100%” and directed by series star Daniel Ezra — found Spencer trying to make sense of recurring dreams he’d been having, in which his fallen Crenshaw friend Shawn Scott appeared to him on the field where Spencer once played Pee-Wee football as a kid. In order to sort out the dreams’ meaning, Spencer took the day before the looming NCAA championship game to revisit all the football fields he’d ever played on — joined by some old friends along the way — and take a deep dive into his troubled psyche.
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During his visits to the Pee-Wee field, South Crenshaw High and Beverly High, Spencer had meaningful chats with his mom, old Crenshaw pal Chris (returning guest star Spence Moore II, always a joy to see), Asher, Jordan and Coop — and everyone, especially Chris, helped Spencer realize he was quite nervous about the upcoming championship, even though he’d been dreaming of playing in a pivotal college game like this since he was a kid. As Chris pointed out, Spencer likely felt, deep down, that he wasn’t just playing in the championship for himself; he was playing for his entire Crenshaw community, and his subconscious was starting to feel the weight of that responsibility.
Later, when Coop showed up at the South Crenshaw field to help Spencer out of his funk, she unintentionally uttered the same sentence that Shawn had been repeating to Spencer in his dreams: “Don’t you got somewhere important to be?” And once those words were out of Coop’s mouth, Spencer realized why Shawn had been making appearances: He wanted Spencer to work through “whatever I had emotionally brewing underneath, so that I can be ready for whatever the future’s got waiting for me.” (With wisdom like that, let’s hope Spencer is a therapist in some massive flash-forward during All American‘s eventual series finale.)
The next day, Golden Angeles and Coastal California faced off in a nailbiter of a championship game — a game where even Asher suited up to play (!!) for the first time in a long time, when the rest of Coastal’s wide receivers were out of commission. Asher’s stunning touchdown (which was also briefly frightening, after he took a few minutes to recover from a brutal tackle in the end zone) helped Coastal take the lead, putting the score at 45-42, Coastal, with just 12 seconds left in the game. And as much as GAU’s Coach Mac wanted to trust the all-powerful analytics and get things tied up with a field goal, Spencer urged his coaches to let the team play with their heart — and Coach Kenny finally relented. With Billy Baker’s long-ago encouragement in his head (“You can see the field in a way few players can,” Billy had said years ago), Spencer made a last-minute signal to Jordan just before their final play of the game… and it resulted in a gorgeous touchdown from Spencer, aided by a game-saving block by Jordan in the closing seconds. GAU wins!
Elsewhere in Episode 100…
* After his impromptu appearance as a player in the championship game, Asher returned home to Jaymee, who said she finally understood (after watching the game on TV) why football is so important to Asher, and why he needs to continue playing. But Asher didn’t need all that: He just wanted one more chance to play out there with his friends, and to say goodbye to the game on his own terms. “I’m happy with my life here,” he told Jaymee. “With you, AJ, coaching. I’m already living my new dream.” Sniff!
* Olivia got feedback from her publisher that the Billy Baker biography needed more salacious details — which, of course, meant his affair with Grace. But after some internal debate about whether she wanted to include that in the book, Olivia decided she didn’t. “My father’s legacy isn’t who he was in his darkest moments,” she told editor Quinn. “His legacy is his heart… I’m not going to tarnish my dad’s legacy just to sell books. I’m going to do the right thing.”
* Layla, still unwilling to truly confront her fears about marriage and becoming her mother, swung to the opposite side of the spectrum and attempted to plan a surprise wedding, with the idea that she and Jordan would get hitched right after the championship game. (Yikes.) Fortunately, Jordan intercepted at the last minute, reminding Layla that her wedding shouldn’t be about fear or wanting to prove that she’s not her mother; the wedding should only happen when Layla is fully ready to be Jordan’s wife. Plus, he said, they don’t need to get married to prove that they’re not Layla’s parents; they’re already proving that every day.
* Coop discovered that Miko has an arrest record that’s unfortunately sealed, leading her to believe that Miko has in fact stalked someone before. Laura reminded Coop that legally, the arrest record can’t be unsealed — and if Coop is thinking of hacking into the files, then she might not be cut out for a career in law. Never one to back down, though, Coop told Laura that if she’s right about what’s in the sealed record, “this case won’t need to go to court.”
* Olivia’s moving in with Spencer at the beach house! And, praise be, new roommate Charissa is on her way out.
What did you think of All American‘s milestone 100th episode? Grade it in our poll below, then hit the comments with your full reviews!
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