All American Season 2 Episode 4 Review: They Reminisce Over You

This All American review contains spoilers.

All American Season 2, Episode 4

Welp. Just when you think things might actually be going well for Spencer (Daniel Ezra) and his father, Corey (Chad L. Coleman), he does that thing again and leaves. We were all rooting for you, Corey. We really were.

In “They Reminisce Over You,” we learn that everything is not as it seems and I’m already mad that we are going to have to witness Spencer getting hurt again. Seeing him finally find a way to forgive his father for leaving all those years and start fresh only to have him leave again with no explanation is absolutely brutal. I mean, they were finally bonding over their rival basketball teams.

But is Corey sick again, is that it? If so, what exactly does he have? 

That phone call he got might have been some kind of unsettling news for him. I get it’s hard having to live up to the great NFL star Billy Baker (Taye Diggs), who happened to also have an affair with his wife, but giving up on a second chance of a healthy family dynamic like that was not the way to go. This whole time they made us think he was jealous of Billy because their old high school named their football field after Billy. Let’s hope it doesn’t become a back and forth thing, but it looks like Corey really upped and left again. It’s sad to watch, but I really wish he didn’t do this to his family like that. He knows how much he hurt Spencer, especially. This is going to have Spencer spiraling again and it will leave him utterly heartbroken. I’m not ready to see him break our hearts again and Daniel Ezra back at it with those heart-rendering tears.

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Heartbreak and more lies follow in this episode as we dig into Asher’s (Cody Christian) family dynamic and, yeah, his parents really suck. They have their secrets of their own and Asher is in the dark. We don’t know what it is and I’m not quite sure what to think of it. Asher’s character has been developing well and it’s only been 20 episodes so far. If this so called secret is out, I’m worried that it might ruin him even more than he already feels now with everything around him. He doesn’t deserve it. It’s like All American wants me to stress the heck out for my favorite guys.

It’s nice to see Olivia (Samantha Logan) be such a supportive friend to him. The way she goes in to hold his hand at the restaurant when his mother asks him to serve his father the divorce papers is a sweet moment between them. Be careful Olivia, Asher is slowly starting to fall in love with you and you don’t even know it. But I can’t say I don’t hate it. There is no denying they have great chemistry!

All American Season 2 is really gives us deeper storylines for the characters and I dig it. It works well because shows in their sophomore seasons generally tend to be a tricky one, unless you have your cards straight. I trust the writers know what they are doing with the plots this season, even though there are moments that anger us (like having Corey leave again, ugh).

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We finally have Olivia and Spencer aware that Layla (Greta Onieogou) is truly going through it, and she is depressed. It’s a scary thing to have to know that someone close to you is possibly hurting herself and won’t let anyone in. Layla shows all the signs and it wasn’t like Spencer was not going to stop worrying about her. Having Coop (Bre-Z) get close to her was not the smartest move, because Layla figured it out, but the guy really cares. However, when Olivia and Spencer find a way to get into Layla’s hotel room, that’s when sh*t hits the fan.

Layla’s depression isn’t an easy fix, just like it isn’t easy in reality. For a second, I thought they would find a way to wrap up Layla’s struggles but it seems like her arc is going to continue on for at least half a season because it looks likes the writers want to take us on this journey of healing for her and not close it out so soon, which is appreciative. This is the right way to do it and it respects mental illness storylines on TV shows to be depicted the right way.

Meanwhile, Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) is not having the best luck because this guy is only making matters worse for himself and now he just threw Billy under the bus. Like, dude, c’mon. The scene where he crashes the car with the girl inside with him was very dumb and such a teenage thing to do. I want to say, “Grow up, Jordan”, but who even tries to do that during that age? Maybe just grow some more common sense for now.

However, I wonder when he’ll start to get his act together. He’s trying to fix things with his dad, but at the same time this is making it very frustrating with his Laura (Monet Monzur) as well. I would like to see more screen time with Laura and how she’s coping with her family. We only see her when it comes to disciplining Jordan but would be nice to see her when she’s figuring it all out.

Additional thoughts.

Dillion (Jayln Hill) is back in this episode, getting canceled by a girl. But when are we going to find out his parentage? I need those answers and Corey dipped before getting it!

“You are grounded for as long as I am legally allowed to ground you.” Okay, this is a smart way of saying you’re still grounded until I say otherwise.

Grace (Karimah Westbrook) is getting back to that dating life, which is nice to see.

Stay up-to-date on All American Season 2 here.

Shadia Omer is an entertainment writer, pop culture enthusiast, and an aspiring TV writer. She’s based in San Diego, CA but will always rep being from Houston, TX instead. You can find her on Twitter tweeting about her favorite shows one tweet at a time at @shadiawrites.