It should have been simple to throw Grace a surprise graduation party.
But social justice issues kept intruding on All American Season 3 Episode 13.
To start with, Grace blew off her college graduation because she didn’t want to take away from all the drama going on in Spencer’s life.
While she meant well, Spencer really could have used the distraction. Or, as he put it, a little black joy would have done him a world of good.
Spencer realized that himself when he drafted Olivia into his little project. He didn’t need her help. He just wanted to get her mind on something besides “Justice for Tamika.”
That’s not to belittle Olivia’s commitment. It was Spencer’s way to inject a little more balance in both of their lives.
And leaving behind the volatile topic of police brutality toward blacks wasn’t easy, especially after Spencer’s speech to his team and Olivia’s effort to release the police body-cam footage were mentioned on the news.
Apparently forgetting that she was lucky to be let off being grounded to help Spencer, Olvia’s reaction was to use their newfound notoriety to push harder against the police.
That was especially so after the cops who shot Tamika were fired.
Laura had to spell out for Olivia that her actions had made prosecuting the cops for Tamika’s murder even harder and that Olivia had no say in Laura’s official duties. What Laura didn’t say was that she was lucky to still have her job in recall-happy California.
As Olivia and Spencer walked down the street, she quickly discovered that her minor celebrity wasn’t the boon that she thought it was, that in Donald Trump’s America, not everyone had her fervor for social justice. That was why Spencer continually had to get her refocused on something pleasant, planning Grace’s party.
Still, hate reared its lucky head with someone throwing a brick through the window bearing a Tamika poster at the cafe where Spencer works.
Since that was where Spencer was planning to hold the party, he had to pivot quickly. Fortunately, Asher was there to bail him out.
It was hardly a totally selfless act on Asher’s part. He was scheduled to have dinner with his mother and her chef fiance. So Asher volunteered to ask about moving the party to Jacob’s restaurant, largely so he wouldn’t have to be alone with his future stepfather.
Asher doesn’t seem to know what he wants lately, except to get a scholarship from a major football school. I hate to break it to Asher, but that’s a pipe dream. Most football powers aren’t looking for an undersized white wide receiver/defensive back.
He was apparently on Team Dad now that they’ve reconciled, so he was resistant to his mother getting remarried to someone else.
He wanted to be with Vanessa but didn’t want to hurt J.J.’s feelings. Why he would possibly be concerned about Olivia’s feelings is beyond me since she left him for Spencer after stringing him along.
Fortunately, Vanessa let him off the hook for choosing football over her, even though she must understand how slim his chances are.
It was great that the party went well since Grace deserves to be in the spotlight.
She managed to get Billy’s scrimmage back on track by talking truth to both Billy and Carter. She was even working on getting Coop to reconcile with Spencer.
It was hilarious how Dillon deferred to speechifying Spencer, who gave a touching tribute to Grace.
The big surprise was that South Crenshaw’s football season wasn’t over yet despite what they thought. Thanks for Spencer’s speech going viral; apparently, schools all over the state forfeited games. So everyone was still in the hunt for the playoffs.
That only makes sense for a series that ostensively centers around football. The football season can’t be over with a third of the TV season still to go.
Kudos to Billy for making that scrimmage happen so that his players would have a chance to catch college scouts’ eyes. Jordan deserves no credit for going behind his coach’s back to make the scrimmage happen, even if he did have the best of intentions.
It would have been great to see some of that scrimmage, but its purpose had been rendered moot by the continued season.
Coop and Layla appear to be headed for trouble, thanks to Preach inserting himself between them.
Preach’s heart is in the right place when it comes to Coop. He has always supported her efforts to launch a rap career.
But while he’s always been a good friend to her, Layla was correct that alone didn’t qualify him to run her merchandising.
Plus, how compromised is he after Mo seduced him on All American Season 3 Episode 12?
Layla will be facing another challenge now that her former rehab roommate has moved in.
Layla’s head has been in a good space while she has been focusing on her music label. But with a visitor just out of rehab and feeling slighted over not being invited to Grace’s party, might she be tempted to relapse?
Speaking of relapses, what is being targeted by the police going to do for Olivia’s recovery?
It should be reassuring that Laura was there when she needed her. But Olivia has been fragile this season, so who knows?
To revisit Grace’s wisdom, watch All American online.
What would this series do without Mama Grace dispensing truth?
How has All American handled social justice this season?
Which character is headed for the most trouble?
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Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.