All American Episode 9 “Keep Ya Head Up” RECAP

All American Episode 9 © 2019 The CW Network LLC All Rights Reserved. Credit: Michael Desmond/The CW

The CW’s All American has returned from their hiatus with an episode filled with grief, betrayal, retaliation, manipulation, and heartbreak. Coop takes a turn for the worst and I don’t believe Spencer has enough will power to save her. Death could be Coop’s demise.

Player of The Year

This episode opens with Spencer taking an afternoon run but the whole time he’s distracted by Shawn’s death. Meanwhile, Jordan is still feeling anxious about his drug test results and it’s affecting his focus. So, Baker tells him to stop worrying about it. This is a slippery slope for everyone because Baker knows he’ll get fired and Jordan won’t be able to play football anymore if anyone found out. The best option is to lie to Jordan because Baker knows how much football means to him. Also, Jordan looks up to Baker and if he was told the truth he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Spencer eventually shows up at football practice but it’s over. Coach Baker looks concerned which implies that Spencer could’ve missed practice intentionally. Can you blame him? He’s overwhelmed and trying to process everything that happened. As Spencer joins the other players, Baker proudly announces that he has been crowned the Division Coach of the Year by the Local Sports section at the LA Tribune. Also, Spencer was given the title of Division Player of the Year. Everyone’s excited until Baker informs Spencer that he has to give a speech at the award ceremony and an interview with a reporter. Spencer is less than thrilled but Baker tries to convince him that it’s good exposure if he wants to go to the NFL. Baker even tries to uplift him more by saying, “You keep playing like this, you’ll be all American,” and hoping that he’ll be ready for their upcoming scrimmage.

It Isn’t Over

At Shawn’s memorial service in Crenshaw, everyone in attendance is distraught as the Pastor tries to uplift them. Coop still wants revenge because she feels that Shawn just wasn’t another thug on the street. He actually wanted to change his life around. She’s obsessed about retaliating and Patience is terrified. Meanwhile, Layla was waiting outside the whole time. I didn’t like that at all even if she chose to do that. I wish Spencer would stop playing games. If Layla is your girl then act like it. I liked Layla more during the homecoming dance because she had more confidence. Spencer is more ballsy than Asher but Layla can’t continue being this lost girl. It won’t last because Spencer carries everyone’s burdens and it will eventually hurt their relationship.

The next morning at the Baker’s house, Jordan couldn’t resist asking Coach Baker about the drug test again. Baker tells Jordan that he passed but Olivia suspected that Ripley had something to do with it. Who else gave Sconick the anonymous tip and she’s the cheerleader for the Malibu team!?! Baker didn’t agree because Jordan would’ve been the only one asked to take the drug test. Olivia advises Jordan to ask her anyway. When he does, Ripley gets defensive and tries to turn it back on Jordan for accusing her. All of the evidence points to her! If it’s not Ripley then it could be Asher.

Down On His Luck

Layla finds Asher at the restaurant shooting pool. She advises him to try to get back on the team but he’s afraid to go back. Actually, he doesn’t want to face the consequences of his actions. Layla encourages him to give himself a fresh start but Asher is not convinced because at this point he’s lost a lot. Basically, it’s tough love and Asher is looking for someone to save him other than himself.

The following day, Spencer gets a phone call from Patience urging him to talk to Coop because her behavior has been out of control. So, he doesn’t go to the scrimmage and he bails on the interview. When Spencer finally catches up to Coop, they argue, but luckily, he’s able to persuade her. Later that night, Tyrone tries to use Coop for a job but she refuses and even says that she’s done for good. Tyrone gets agitated but I sensed the feeling that he’s wasn’t done with her. He plays on Coop’s emotions and her vulnerabilities with his mind games. One minute he leaves her alone but she finds her way back.

Weight

Back at the Baker’s house, coach confronts Spencer about bailing on the reporter because he got trashed on social media for it but Spencer didn’t care. He tells Coach Baker he doesn’t trust him because he stole the coaching job from his father. This time Coach Baker refuses to ease up and for the first time, Spencer gets put in his place. I don’t think Coach Baker is insensitive but he recognizes that Spencer has started to lose motivation because he’s having a hard time processing his emotions. Like any loving parent, it concerns Baker to witness Spencer acting out this way.

After giving thought to Spencer’s advice, Coop tries to make amends with a rival gang member but her timing was off. It looked like the gang member was finishing a job and Coop noticed he had Shawn’s bag. The gang member tries to prevent Coop from saying something but it reignites her need to seek revenge. Honestly, I wasn’t sure of how to describe this but I think at that moment she realized how quickly Shawn was forgotten and it pissed her off.

This Is For Them

Finally, at the award ceremony, Coach Baker accepts his trophy and he gives a nice little speech. Then Spencer accepts his award but he uses his speech as a catalyst for those not given the same opportunities to fulfill their dreams. Afterward, Coach Baker opens up to Spencer about how he got the job and he had to fight for the position like everyone else. Spencer doesn’t really accept what he’s saying but Coach Baker admits that he wants his trust back.

During Shawn’s funeral, Patience is onstage singing and she has a phenomenal voice but Coop isn’t focused on her because she wants to rejoin the gang. Tyrone tells her that once she’s in it’s final but Coop has already made up her mind. Spencer walks in and Tyrone immediately approaches him. Spencer doesn’t welcome Tyrone’s company but Tyrone doesn’t really care. Instead, he tells Spencer that Shawn always had his back and didn’t allow the gang to mess with him. Shawn always told everyone that, “Spencer’s got somewhere better to be.” Spencer cried because he thought Shawn didn’t like him.

Misunderstanding

Back at the restaurant in Beverly Hills, Asher approaches Layla with a bouquet of flowers in hopes of starting over but he gets shot down. He clearly misunderstood what she was saying earlier in the episode. Besides she’s all into Spencer – he’s different, confident, protective – Asher would have to do something drastic to get her back. Later on that night in Crenshaw, Coop gets jumped to earn her spot in Tyrone’s gang. This is it for her. I don’t believe Spencer can save her now even if he does Tyrone will play mind games and force the worst possible scenarios.

What do you think about Coop joining Tyrone’s gang? How can Asher redeem himself? Will Layla and Spencer’s relationship last? Where’s Laura???

All American airs on The CW Wednesdays at 9e/8c.

2 Comments

  1. I think that the rival gang member was given Shawn’s old post.
    I would go as far as to believe that Tyrone asked the rival to kill Shawn, which could be why he had the bag of money. This could also drive Coop to join the gang in order to get answers after having the talk with Tyrone about the post.

  2. I think that the rival gang member was given Shawn’s old post.
    I would go as far as to believe that Tyrone asked the rival to kill Shawn, which could be why he had the bag of money. This could also drive Coop to join the gang in order to get answers after having the talk with Tyrone about the post.

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