S06.E03: Business Is Business

[KWalkerInc]

New changes on the field create tension between Spencer and Jordan at the worst possible time; while working on her latest project, Olivia deals with the emotional fallout of digging too deep into the past; Asher loses one of his star players.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Really good ep.  That it was football-field centered is no coincidence that this is true.

The practice reps were fascinating.  Jordan was making some really excellent throws.  He actually looked the part of a pretty fine QB.  Spence being allowed to switch to CB was insane and would never have happened (coaches were not at all ignorant over the brewing enmity/anger for Jordan) but I loved seeing Spence out of his element and getting beat.  Then, he made a great read and made the interception.  It wasn't his athleticism that put him in position.  It was his acumen - his football IQ, even at a foreign position.  A lockdown CB in the NFL gets a bag.  For real.

The "business is business" agent did Spence a huge favor.  He came with the most precious commodity in "the business" - the truth.  Watch the NFL Draft which is coming up very soon.  You'll see many teams refusing to see what their lying eyes tell them.  Why?  Numbers.  Analytics.  Safety and justification for the executives. 

If Spence actually made the position switch, or even if he "experimented" as a CB, his value would freaking soar.

Any ep that has scenes that reach below the surface level with Karimah Westbrook is an excellent one.  She really brought it and the moment she had with Daniel was special.

The Peach Pit (club) can go away, along with the Jordan relationship arc.  So, too, can Olivia.  She is the all-time expert at stirring things up.  Spencer insisting that they are a great couple because first, "we are always there for each other" was perhaps the most unintentionally laugh-out-loud line in the show's history.  We'll always have London.  lol.

The Deion arc shows promise.  I just hope he proves to be a far tougher nut to crack than previous ones.  The harshness of his intro was most welcome.  Don't lightly wave off whatever life-long issues brought Deion to that place.  Please.

[KWalkerInc]

I also prefer the episodes that have more football in them, and it was nice that this episode wasn't quite so spread around with the storylines as it usually is.  It's true that it was preposterous for Spencer to switch to defense in the middle of practice.  Even if they are still short on scholarships, he would be the last person they would risk.  They are probably planning on a position switch for Spencer in the future.  I believe the real Spencer was a defensive player, so they could be going for more "realism," ha ha.  (I always laugh now when "Based on a true story" appears on the screen at the beginning.)  It was obvious that Eric would end up as his potential agent before he even spoke in his first scene, as he just had a very earnest look on his face.

Olivia is lucky that Grace is very classy and didn't get angry at her comment (that part of the scene was not very believable even with Olivia's tendency to get in trouble).  Of course, being Spencer's girlfriend and the daughter of the woman who was cheated on probably helped in that case.  At least it did lead to some reflection for Grace about Billy.

When Asher was looking for a quarterback, I kept expecting Chris or Darnell but wondering why they would be controversial.  I totally forgot about Wade (and still didn't remember his name until Spencer said it in the previews).  And though I remembered some stuff (the swatting, him getting punched by Jordan after negative posts about Olivia, Jordan not getting to go to Vegas because he played well after Wade was suspended for skipping practice; and of course directing Olivia toward the bounty scandal), I couldn't remember why Olivia was after him in the first place.  I'm still not sure of specifics after googling this.  I know Olivia prattled on about NIL for the entire season, so I probably zoned out.  At least Billy's legacy is a more interesting topic.

It looks like Coach Montes likely won't be seen again (though there hasn't been a dedication card at the end), but will still be alive offscreen with everyone wanting to do well to honor the character and actor.

Asher's heart condition suddenly comes up again and the doctor is concerned about stress, which suddenly comes with the team.  Between this and Jaymee's lupus, I hope there won't be a future storyline where AJ (Asher Jr?) loses both parents and has to be raised by Jordan and Layla as godparents or something.  Ryan's well-meaning advice about adjusting medication, which he clearly means with the help of a doctor, will probably somehow lead to Layla deciding to just take less or none at all on her own.  I hope not, because she should be smarter than that.  Whatever happens, I hope she will tell Jordan to shut up about the stupid wedding.  Maybe Mac (his new surrogate father?) will get him to do so.  But Mac thinks that no QB can be successful when married in college (they were waiting until after anyway), but my alma mater did very well for two years with an older QB who has been married for a while.  Just not against Washington.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I, too, have the same reaction to the "true story" graphic.

They did place such a card for DuJuan Johnson at the end of the previous ep.  It does not appear that he had any role in the production of the series, though.

The "insider" ESPN article on Belichick is a perfect example of what I mentioned above as to how and why the best available do not get taken by so many teams.  The Atlanta executives involved, all of them, did not list him as a Top 3 candidate.  Why?  Turf.  They know darn well that coach would take over the whole operation and they wanted no part of that.  The owner stupidly accepted this and went along.  Then again, he's a gazillionaire and I am not.