S05.E01: Ludacrismas

[jewel21]

Quote

With everyone on holiday break, Spencer, decides to throw an epic Christmas party, with the help of JJ and Asher, as an excuse to bring him and Olivia closer. Jordan gets news about his hand, but he isn’t sure what to do. After weeks of research, Olivia and Billy think they may have a breakthrough on their investigation. Layla decides to take matters into her own hands to get her dad’s company back. Meanwhile, Coop feels replaced when Laura makes a change in the office, which makes Coop think about her future.

Airdate: 10/10/2022

[FnkyChkn34]

That was a pretty lackluster premiere.  Is Patience still on the show?

I don't know why, but I thought Jordan and Layla had decided to date.  I guess not?  I feel like they rewrote a few things from the end of last season, or else I just have a horrible memory...

[KWalkerInc]

Jordan and Layla did kiss in the season finale, but then she said they should just be friends or something like that and he tried to be all cute talking about how long he would wait for her to change her mind.  I don't pay too much attention to their storyline, because the writers seem to think it's a lot more important than I do with as long as it has dragged out.  The record label battle with Clay claiming he just wants a future, then deliberately messing with an artist to thwart Layla, is annoying also.  Of course, given what I've heard about real record executives in most episodes of Unsung, maybe it's a fairly accurate representation!

They already had ended their season with the cliffhanger about whether Spencer and Olivia would split, which--for better and worse--was decidedly less dramatic than Coop being shot the year before, so I don't know why it took an entire episode to make it official.  The writers had already made it clear for about 15 episodes that they intended to break them up, so I wasn't really moved even though I liked them as a couple.  All this stuff about setting her free for her happiness, blah blah blah.  At least neither of them said, "I miss my friend," but I suppose that could still be coming since this was only the season premiere.  And "This isn't the end of our story" as some sort of reassurance for their fans?  With the new network ownership probably cleaning house, I wouldn't be too confident even as the #1 rated show, because that isn't saying much.  Of course, a few episodes in, I was pretty certain from the ratings that the show would be cancelled in season 1 (but that was when the people in charge were much more forgiving).  Coop was interfering way too much, but I liked the line she muttered about "dumbasses."

I'm glad that Coop is continuing to pursue law, because the description made it sound like she would have the rug pulled out from under her as usual.  But because she got a GED, not a high school diploma, I'm surprised it looks like she will get into GAU.  I assumed that the school that Asher and, well, J.J. attend would have less rigorous admission standards.  I guess they want her to be on campus with Spencer though.

The big revelation about a bounty-gate was kind of a letdown.  It's bad and all, but I thought it would be more shocking.  For a minute, I thought they were saying Coach Garrett was somehow paying players on other teams to take a dive and fake being injured so that GAU could win the games.  I don't know quite how that would work, but sometimes I have a weird imagination.

There's was way too much unnecessary crossover stuff.  I watch All American: Homecoming, but I like to keep shows separate.  Instead, it continued into both shows, and the timeline left me wondering if they will even include the bowl game in this show.  If it's just an afterthought explained in some exposition, that's kind of lame.

I'm pretty sure Patience is still around.  She was just this week's "we can't afford to pay this person so here's an excuse about why they're off-camera."

[mojoween]

I am not going to watch Homecoming so I hope Simone’s longing look backwards was her final good-bye.

I love Coop.  Love her.  I see what Laura is saying and I know that Coop decided she wants to be on campus, but surely she could have worked something out so she could stay with Laura’s Law?

So Cam is going to be a regular now?  And did Grace and Dylan move away with Principal Whatshisface or nah?

[KWalkerInc]

Jordan talked to Simone on Homecoming.  He gave her a pep talk about her tennis and then they wished each other well with "whoever" they date, so hopefully she won't come back on here.  I liked when Keisha pointed out that L.A. is a big city and they don't necessarily have to hang out with the old gang just because they were in town for a few days.  Simone should listen.

I thought Coop was still going to help Laura, but was just taking school more seriously?  If Olivia can work and go to GAU, hopefully Coop can too.

Cam is a regular on Homecoming.  I think Grace is in an episode in a few weeks, but I forgot to look during the credits this week to see if she's still a regular (I doubt she is).  It's harder to pick up on that stuff when they just write everyone's names on the screen while other stuff is happening instead of a credits sequence like the old days.