S07.E03: Ante Up

[KWalkerInc]

When South Crenshaw's latest addition remains sidelined, Jordan and Coach Bobby clash over his next steps; the Eagles' devastating loss leads to finger-pointing from KJ; Cassius brings KJ to a South Crenshaw game.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Miss me with the possible when you can't deliver.  All-time line.  Speaks to the show itself, eh?

Coach Bobby was entirely correct about Jordan's insubordination.  I was surprised he didn't call time out when he saw Khalil entering the game.  He's got a long way to go if he wants to be a good football coach.   A loooooong way.  But, he's the boss and if he is not followed, they're no good (Takes me back to a big scene in The Caine Mutiny).

The retconning of Jordan as a weak, ignorant, and unsuccessful football dude is just too much.  I'll stop writing about it, but it's a massive and unnecessary contrivance.

It is unpossible that the Crips would not be putting hard and intense pressure on Khalil to forget about this student and athlete stuff.  They simply can't abide being second choice less their reputation and internal morale (such as it is) suffers.  This dynamic would add a lot to Khalil's arc as he really is being rather heroic.  Then again, Crips issues would not allow for the Amina crush.  Coop would sit on her super hard.

Bobby was also spot on with his observation about Billy Baker's disregard for base realities.  What Jordan does not get, however, is that his dad would not praise him for being right.  The ends do not, and can not, justify the means.  Fighting internally for Khalil?  That's the best of Billy.  Good on Jordan for realz.  

Not buying KJ's 180 on accepting team over self.  I could see him doing it for show, but a true tectonic shift in a life in one day?  Puhlease.

Tori rules.  

Interesting to see that Beverly's scoreboard is green, just like Crenshaw's.  I do like the thinking behind putting the final score and brutal article on the wall, though.

[KWalkerInc]

I also thought Coach Bobby would call timeout and take Khalil back out of the game.  Jordan just kept pointing out that it led them to the win and didn't seem to care that he undermined the coach and probably could have been fired.  (They might need him more at Beverly but Cassius doesn't like him either and would likely see him as a distraction.)  At least Layla noted that Jordan went too far.  I would understand Jordan's attitude changes more if they tied it to the fact that he couldn't go to the NFL because of his concussions, but he doesn't seem bothered by that.  He probably should have left college the previous year--but they didn't want to distract from Spencer's storyline--and it would have also made sense if he were mad at himself for not taking the opportunity when he had it.  They never really gave an explanation for Jordan staying.  He had his arm in a sling before Spencer went to the combine, but they didn't say it prevented him from going pro as it was more like Michael was actually injured in real life that week (they gave a dumb explanation about playing with Asher's baby for Jordan, I think.).

I don't think Coach Bobby is Jordan's uncle, especially with Jordan coming right out and speculating about it so quickly.  This story doesn't seem like it will be that interesting.

Yasi can be irritating, but I think a lot of players would be annoyed by someone joining the team when they didn't have to go through daily doubles or anything.  Maybe South Crenshaw has talent but a small student population if they needed an extra practice body that badly.  And I guess as long as Khalil is in class now, they don't have any policies about being ineligible for previous absences.

I think (per Amina) they're claiming that Khalil isn't really a Crip.  He just is the son of one and (more alarmingly) hangs out with a bunch of them.  They definitely should have Preach (when around) and Coop be more concerned about Amina's crush because of his background even if they like him.  That would make more sense for a conflict with her than having them breathe down her neck constantly without too much provocation.  I hope Coop will eventually accept that she is NOT the real reason that Amina doesn't have a mother.  Mo was intelligent and accomplished some good, but she was also a psycho obsessed with destroying Coop to avenge her horrible brother (who was never sympathetic in any way).  Mo is to blame for her own demise.

Are KJ and Cassius really going to live in a hotel room for the entire school year?  That seems expensive (but not for the show as it's probably one of the cheaper sets!).  I'm surprised he wasn't already down on the offensive line before they even played a game, rather than being shocked and then turning on them.  I guess he was so cocky he thought they'd be fine.  Even though the Oakland school didn't need him after all, it's weird that his parents never considered him staying with his mom where he was established, especially if it could affect his future with colleges and all.  If Cassius were different, I could have seen a storyline where he thought he needed his son the "star QB" to succeed and insisted on bringing him, but he doesn't seem like he'd be like that.  (Although he did make a speech to him before the first day of school that kind of suggested that.)

When Tori was in her cheerleading outfit, I was confused and thought that they'd suddenly had her recover since last week.  But then they explained she could cheer but not do competitions (so like all the cheerleaders when I was in school).  She is good at handling KJ's moods, even though he likes Amina.  (I think the writers are purposely having no one be interested in the person who likes them so that they don't have to deal with any more couples' storylines--aside from Jordan & Layla, of course.)

The actor who plays KJ is also recurring on The Equalizer, and I did not know this until I read it in an article a couple weeks ago.  I was like, "I watch TWO live-action shows and couldn't recognize that the same person was in both?!"  That is sad.

Edited Tuesday at 10:57 AM by KWalkerInc
Jordan's uncle speculation.

[mojoween]

Tori said “seriously?” and my phone said “mm-hm” so I’m not feeling confident about the robot uprising.

KJ did not get stuffed into enough lockers when he was younger.  My enjoyment of this show comes to a SCREECHING halt whenever his whiny entitled ass appears onscreen.

Amina wore that to school?!?!

I don’t know how Layla can manage the club with her full-time job as Jordan Wrangler.