![]() “Surviving The Times” may drop us directly into the action, but it never gets around to providing any answers. All American - “Surviving the Times” - Image Number: ALA318fg_0012r.jpg - Pictured: Greta Onieogou as Layla - Photo: The CW - © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. It gives Asher an opportunity to navigate through devastating news while finding a new path, and Cody Christian a chance to showcase his immense acting abilities through heightened material. He may not be able to play football anymore, but his talents lay in coaching. ![]() The added emotional grenade of a heart condition, plants the seed for an incredibly interesting future storyline moving forward. Related The CW Announces Programming for the 2023/2024 Season It’s the perfect way to showcase Asher’s growth over the past two seasons, and prove how much he’s learned from his mistakes. He finally does the right thing for both his team and his friend - even finding a way to give Jordan playing time. ![]() All American reverses that blunder in the finale by recentering his purpose around football.Īsher handles discovering Jordan’s secret with integrity and honesty. The most surprising payoff of the episode, however, is Asher Adams.Īsher’s storyline this season was derailed by an unnecessary “almost” romance that did nothing but regress his character trajectory. All American - “Surviving the Times” - Image Number: ALA318b_0314r.jpg - Pictured (L-R): Casper Van Dien as Harold Adams, Cody Christian as Asher and Alexandra Barreto as Coach Montes - Photo: Bill Inoshita /The CW - © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. Luckily, Bre-Z’s impassioned delivery of Coop’s speech to Mo lands beautifully, and a beloved character like Coop earns an automatic emotional response. Instead, Coop’s big, potentially life-ending moment ends up feeling like it deserved more. Preach shooting the mother of his child in an attempt to protect Coop could be a great reveal - if All American has developed his relationship with Mo and their daughter earlier in the season, earning viewer investment. The introduction of Mo has felt perfunctory at best All American misses an opportunity to deliver a more three-dimensional character in Mo, and her connection to Preach feels shoehorned into a plot that’s been relegated to the backburner of the season. All American - “Surviving the Times” - Image Number: ALA318a_0575r.jpg - Pictured: DeSean Jackson - Photo: Bill Inoshita /The CW - © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. It’s a truly genius twist, and the raw emotion Ezra and Behlings put into their performances drive the moment home.Īnother second twist comes in the final moments of the episode, when Coop and Mo finally square off. Related Representation on TV: January Highlights Include ‘The 1619 Project’ and ‘All American’ Now, a friendly game turns personal with pride on the line and emotional stakes are at an all-time high. Sharing offensive plays essentially pivots every character against one another for different reasons, causing the absolute destruction of team unity - and intimate relationships - minutes before they’re forced to take the field. It was clear Billy would eventually discover the boys had been training together, but the reveal of Jordan sharing the offensive playbook with Spencer adds an entirely new layer of conflict one that branches out and becomes both team’s problem. All American - “Surviving the Times” - Image Number: ALA318a_0695r.jpg - Pictured (L-R): Daniel Ezra as Spencer, Taye Diggs as Billy and DeSean Jackson - Photo: Bill Inoshita /The CW - © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. Jordan and Spencer’s display of brotherhood pivoting into rivalry minutes before the State Championship is an unforeseen story route, and gives Jordan’s injury the ultimate payoff. It’s undoubtedly a symptom of filming with pandemic restrictions, but “Surviving The Times” brings those conflicts back around, making them relevant in surprising ways. Multiple plot lines this season have felt only partially fleshed out paths taken have felt like roads going nowhere. It may be a shocking opening, but it’s also one that only gives away so much information even with knowing pieces of what will come within the hour, All American manages to deliver multiple twists and shocking cliffhangers by episodes end. All American - “Surviving the Times” - Image Number: ALA318b_0632r.jpg - Pictured (L-R): Hunter Clowdus as J.J., Michael Evans Behling as Jordan, Daniel Ezra as Spencer and Noah Gray-Cabey as Frausto - Photo: Bill Inoshita /The CW - © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. ![]() It’s a clever and well-thought-out diversion from the show’s usual storytelling format, building tension from the very opening moments of the episode. The series takes a different approach with “Surviving The Times,” opting for an in medias res cold open. All American Season 3 Episode 19, “Surviving The Times” delivers shocking conclusions to long-standing conflicts, leaving multiple lives hanging in the balance. ![]()
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