Let’s talk about Season 5, episode 14 of All American. Despite recording a video in December with Lexi from ‘Film Study: An All American Universe Podcast‘, I have yet to talk about this show publicly on my platform because the universe hates me, so the audio was trash. But less about my woes, let’s talk about this week’s episode, Jordan’s grief episode -‘ Make me Proud.’

So, Spencer, I can’t wait for him to stop being a little arsehole. Billy was the dad that stepped up, and watching him avoid his grief has been strange; it’s like that was your father figure, your coach and most importantly, your future father-in-law. I’m glad his time with Olivia last week opened the doors for him to grieve, even though he’s burning every bridge he has connected to Billy. I hope that in the next episode, like Laura, Olivia and Jordan, Spencer can reach somewhere where he realises he hasn’t been abandoned even though Billy is gone. Billy’s last words in that voice message should help motivate Spencer in the coming seasons as he makes it to the NFL.
I’ve been saying this since before Billy died, but I want nosey Spencer back, and now that his character is at a turning point in his life, this will be a great place to start minding other people’s business again; for my entertainment and his arc. I’m unsure where his storyline is going for the rest of the season; I just hope he actually grows from the experience of losing Billy in the end.

Patience, her storyline, is a little confusing because of the direction in which they’re taking it. Like, what’s the endgame for Miko? We don’t really know much about her, so unlike the Carrie storyline, where we understood her better, we have no clue who Miko is other than her saying Patience’s music helped her with her self esteem. I can’t tell if this is about Patience’s self esteem or a stalker or both, but this will probably play out till the final episode of this season and into season 6 if they go with the self esteem storyline. Part of me feels like this is all a vice to get Patience and Coop back together. I don’t know how I feel about it. I don’t hate Coop and Skye, and Coop is still on my shit list for how she treated Patience in the Season 4 finale. All I can say is the showrunner named her Patience for a reason. I think that the stalker storyline has the potential to be exciting and entertaining; I just believe cause we haven’t seen much of Patience this season, and with Billy’s death, I feel like something is missing from this storyline because it probably needs more screen time to be executed in the right way.

Laura, welcome to the Vortex. I guess she’s an honourable member. I love Mrs Baker, and I think that Patience and Layla overreacted, but I will give Layla a half pass for the letters cause that’s truly what she was worried about when she went to Olivia. I’m confused why they went to Olivia, but at the same time, I guess it pushed the storyline at the same time; after her episode, I see why they’re walking on eggshells. I’m glad that at the end of this episode, she finally felt comfortable writing in her journal again; I see where Olivia gets her passion for writing. I saw what she wrote about Spencer and Olivia; she’s definitely a Spelivia Stan, and she’s right; they will find their way back to each other I just don’t think it’ll be any time soon after their conversation in Olivia’s episode.

Jordan, you are loved and not just by the viewers. I know some people aren’t happy with how he’s been grieving, but I think everything’s understandable. Jordan lost his dad, who he never had the closest relationship with, and now he’s the man of the house, and he’s trying to be like his dad when he didn’t really know who Billy was. In Laura’s episode, he started his search to learn more about who his dad was, and it wasn’t until this episode that he realised he was just like Billy and was trying to become someone Billy never was. With Laura’s reassurance that he had his dad’s qualities and Layla telling him that “the Jordan Baker way” is the legacy that would make Billy proud, he finally started to believe in his own capabilities.

On top of that, Layla’s love confession made him feel like he could do anything. She is THE best part of his life; she’s the one girl he’s dated who hasn’t made him doubt his capabilities as a football player and has always seen him as a leader. As soon as he realised what Layla said, Jordan was floating; he knew how he felt and was waiting for her to feel comfortable saying she loved him too. She said it like she had been saying it for a while, I’m sure, in her head. The high from such a simple, effortless “I love you!” pushed him even more to become the leader he’s always been but never believed himself to be. At the end of this episode, he had no doubts because, after years of feeling second to Spencer because of his dad, Jordan did something Spencer and Billy had spent weeks trying to do in a day.

This episode was great. I can’t wait for Spencer’s storyline on Monday. I really liked this season from a storytelling perspective. They’ve done really well, considering it’s their 5th season. there’s still time to up your game though.

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