S06.E01: Things Done Changed

[KWalkerInc]

SEASON PREMIERE

ALL AMERICAN

"Things Done Changed" - (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) (TV-PG, DLV) (HDTV)

SEASON PREMIERE - It's the start of a new school year and Spencer (Daniel Ezra) and Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) are officially eligible to enter the NFL draft, placing Spencer at the center of the media spotlight. Olivia (Samantha Logan) returns to LA after being changed by her time in London. Layla (Greta Onieogou) plans for the opening of her new lounge which will feature Patience's (Chelsea Tavares) first performance since being stabbed. Elsewhere, Asher (Cody Christian) and Jaymee (guest star Miya Horcher) navigate their new lives as parents to baby AJ. Bre-Z, Monet Mazur and Karimah Westbrook also star (#601). The episode was directed by Nikhil Paniz and written by Nkechi Okoro Carroll. Original airdate 4/1/2024.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Well, at least we know the beach hangout is affordable since Spence is no doubt raking in NIL cash.

I'm not understanding (except to create draaaaaama on a TV show) how it is that dreamy gazillionaire has no significant others, or super pretty companions.  

The transformation of Asher's boss was a bit much.  It was fine that the "ring ceremony" meeting was warm and fuzzy.  The issue is we did not see him bark a single time, about anything.  He did object to the fuss being made over the baby in the meeting room, but old coach would have lost it when they all but ignored his wish.

Credit to TPTB for introducing the jealousy angle in Jordan.  Then, the 180 which was well explained, and reaffirmed.  The Spence reversal hinted at in the preview has very real potential.

The Miko arc seemed to be based on little.  The evidence is still massive and Patience is admired and liked by the likely jury pool.  Of course, she'll get bail.  Ugh.

Nice to have the show back.

[Artsda]

I wasn't expecting to see Kamar de los Reyes. It was so sad to see him so sick, you could clearly see and hear the difference with his health. 

 

[KWalkerInc]

I just wanted to cry every time Coach Montes appeared as it was so clear how sick Mr. de los Reyes was.  He must have been working pretty much up to when he died.

I was actually a little surprised by the time jump, though I shouldn't have been with the whole "it will only be three months" thing they kept having Spencer and  Olivia say at the end of the season finale.  At least this has Spencer being close to NFL draft-eligible make sense, as when I read that part before the episode aired I thought the writers were making up their own rules or had forgotten how many years he had been in college.  I now don't know what year it is supposed to be in their universe, but that's usually true anyway--I could really only tell when Spencer was visiting the grave of a dead character and they had years on the headstone.

I did appreciate a number of things about this episode, starting with the fact that they didn't try to create suspense about whether Patience survived (even the press release didn't try to play coy).  It is very stupid that they will probably have Miko get away with stabbing her just because there is no video evidence and that the news program was playing up a "she said-she said" thing, like the victim's statement doesn't matter.  It is kind of like the release of Tyrone I was complaining about recently in that episode's thread, when they just decided to ignore the confession Coop risked her life to get on tape.  This is one of many reasons why Laura is right to not work for the DA's office anymore.

I'm also glad they decided not to break up Spencer and Olivia in a second straight season premiere, though they're probably building up toward that eventually.  But if he decided to go to the NFL and gets enough money, they can have several residences and fly back and forth.  (And if his career ended up cut short like many, maybe he'd be willing to just live in London.) Of course the evil president and the boosters have put someone in who can drive Spencer and Jordan apart.  (Which is a little weird if their goal is for the team to win a championship, but maybe they intend for the boosters to be clueless.)

I still don't care too much about Jordan and Layla, but it's smart that they decided on a long engagement (after they just threw in the proposal in the finale so they could have drama ahead of time about who would propose).  It was nice that she and Patience were able to work things out without the misunderstanding going on forever.

I'm also glad Jaymee survived giving birth and I hope she will continue to be okay even though I predicted her demise several seasons ago.

[TVForever]

14 hours ago, Artsda said:

I wasn't expecting to see Kamar de los Reyes. It was so sad to see him so sick, you could clearly see and hear the difference with his health. 

 

 

8 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

I just wanted to cry every time Coach Montes appeared as it was so clear how sick Mr. de los Reyes was.  He must have been working pretty much up to when he died.

I

It was heartbreaking seeing him, knowing now what was going on. Otherwise, I would have just assumed the years had caught up to him.

God Bless. I wonder how he'll be written out of the story.

[mojoween]

That didn’t even look like Kamar.  Bless him for trying to work as long as he could.

The time jump was laaaaaaame.  Lame lame lame.  Also lame?  A throwaway about JJ living it up in Thailand with all of this hair.

Baby AJ is so very cute.  His father is still so very annoying.

Has Ryan been on before?  Or are we supposed to just be like “Layla bought a nightclub and he’s her partner okay cool.”

[KWalkerInc]

Ryan hadn't been on before.  Someone (maybe Jordan to Spencer, though it makes more sense if he said it to Olivia, who hadn't been around, I don't remember) gave some exposition about how Ryan is really rich and provided Layla with financial backing.  According to Coop, the club is in the place where the cafe they hung out used to be, because they couldn't have them just be at the new place to support Layla with the cafe still existing off-camera?

[luckyroll3]

On 4/2/2024 at 5:27 AM, KWalkerInc said:

At least this has Spencer being close to NFL draft-eligible make sense, as when I read that part before the episode aired I thought the writers were making up their own rules or had forgotten how many years he had been in college.  I now don't know what year it is supposed to be in their universe, but that's usually true anyway--I could really only tell when Spencer was visiting the grave of a dead character and they had years on the headstone.

Most of the timeline made no sense. Supposedly Jordan and Spencer are Juniors, which, if it's a year since we last saw them, works. However, the team was supposedly suspended for a year, but Spencer has all these impressive stats from his sophomore season?????

1 hour ago, KWalkerInc said:

According to Coop, the club is in the place where the cafe they hung out used to be, because they couldn't have them just be at the new place to support Layla with the cafe still existing off-camera?

But they just had to continue the trope of a 20 year old owning and running a club, uhm, I mean lounge. At least it's not the "Cafe After Dark".

And of course Mikko will get off. These TV shows act like people weren't able to be convicted of crimes before doorbell cameras. 

[sweetandsour]

I wasn't expecting to see Kamar, either.  I actually thought another thing they would use the time jump for was having a new head coach at Coastal California.  Then I saw him and at first glance, I thought they did a similar CGI thing they did with Adan Canto on "The Cleaning Lady."  (Oh man, RIP to both of these beloved gentlemen.)

But then he kept speaking and they kept showing him not from a distance and I was like, "no, that is Kamar," and I got so sad.

They didn't seem to have a dedication card at the end, so I assume (without checking imdb) that he will appear again at least once more, then find some way to write him out.  I will brace myself.  If they recast the character, I think they could pop David Fumero in there (as Coach Mr. Montes is Asher's most significant relationship outside of the vortex), but I haven't heard anything about recasting.

Otherwise, I was kind of underwhelmed with the premiere, but I also don't think the show is consistently successful executing big drama (lives on the line, etc.) or needs it.  Nice to see Coop rapping again!

[KWalkerInc]

22 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

However, the team was supposedly suspended for a year, but Spencer has all these impressive stats from his sophomore season?????

I think the team's only punishment was that they couldn't go to a bowl game for a year.  The reporter (or whoever was doing a voiceover) said they were 7-6 and would have gone to a bowl if they had been eligible.  At least I think that was the record they gave.  That seems like a game too many for a team that only played regular season.

[luckyroll3]

6 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

I think the team's only punishment was that they couldn't go to a bowl game for a year.  The reporter (or whoever was doing a voiceover) said they were 7-6 and would have gone to a bowl if they had been eligible.  At least I think that was the record they gave.  That seems like a game too many for a team that only played regular season.

Ah, that kinda makes sense then. Except for the number of games. Most college teams aren't playing more than 11-12 games a season

8 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

Then I saw him and at first glance, I thought they did a similar CGI thing they did with Adan Canto on "The Cleaning Lady."  (Oh man, RIP to both of these beloved gentlemen.)

Oh damn, I hadn't realized that he had also passed away. We were the same age. Seeing how sick Kamar looked was rough. I almost couldn't watch all his scenes. Very similar to the change we saw with Chadwick Boseman near the end. Cancer is a bitch!

 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

On 4/3/2024 at 7:03 AM, luckyroll3 said:

But they just had to continue the trope of a 20 year old owning and running a club, uhm, I mean lounge. At least it's not the "Cafe After Dark".

At least they did not name it the Peach Pit.