This week of All American: Homecoming caught me by surprise. Not by what happened in the episode, but the fact that I actually enjoyed it. In past weeks, watching the show has felt like a chore, but this week I enjoyed watching the show from start to finish. I feel that the story lines meshed well, we received answers to so many important questions, and most importantly, the show seemed less like an after school specialand more like it did in the first two seasons. I hope that we can expect this in future episodes. But here is my recap of episode 5 of All American: Homecoming.
Simone drops the bomb
Since I feel like this is the most important storyline, we’re going to talk about it first. In this episode, it was confirmed that Simone does, in fact, have breast cancer. I honestly I was hoping for just a scare, maybe, and not actual cancer, but either way, I felt really bad for Simone this episode. Although breast cancer is not always a death sentence, the journey can be very scary. She’s only 21, so the fact that she’s going through this is very sad to see, but I’m hoping she ends up cancer-free by the last episode.
Although Simone has her moments sometimes, she is the textbook definition of the strong friend. The friend who puts their pain aside to help those around them. We definitely got to see that in this episode. Even with her going through her cancer battle, Simone made it her mission to be there for her friends, from playing tennis with Thea to helping Keisha with the fashion show. While being the strong friend has its advantages, it can also come with some disadvantages. Strong friends often continue to put their feelings and issues to the side until things become too much.
Simone promised Keisha to help her with the fashion show, and we see her struggle to keep up with the change in choreography. Telling anyone, especially your friends and family, that you’re ill can be extremely difficult. That’s why a lot of people choose to keep that type of news to themselves. Keisha doesn’t know about Simone’s illness and continues to push her to the brink of quitting the show. Once Simone quits, like always, Keisha blows up and gets mad at Simone.
It seems like JR has some type of radar that goes off when his friends are going through something. Although she tries to dismiss it, he gets Simone to open up, and she tells him about her cancer diagnosis. I feel that the writers made a great choice by making JR the first person Simoneto tells because JR has gone through his own health battles as both a child and an adult, and he knows exactly how she feels.
At the end of the episode, Simone finally tells everyone about her diagnosis. She didn’t want to ruin their homecoming experience. I thought it was sweet that Simone invited Lando to share her news, especially after the last episode. Even though he’s with Eva, we can see him and Simone moving back to where they once were. All of her friends were shocked by the news and reacted as one would expect when you tell your friends you have cancer, but Lando, from what I picked up, took the news hard. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. Later, at a party, we see the both of them talk about what she just shared. Lando apologizes for his delayed response and says the news triggered him, but when asked how, he doesn’t answer. He shares that he has family members who beat cancer despite what doctors and tests have said. They seal this sweet moment with a hug, and it’s caught by Eva, but I’ll save that for another recap.
Stomp the yard
If you go to an HBCU, then you know how real org beef can get. “Who runs the yard?” “Whose org was technically first?” “Who throws the best parties?” In this episode, we got a preview of what Greek beef can potentially look like on campus. Lando’s girlfriend Eva’s brother, Tyree, is the president of a rival fraternity on campus and makes it extremely clear that he doesn’t like Lando. As the episode progresses, we see that Tyree’s issue isn’t with Lando personally, but with the fraternity he’s in.
As the fashion show approaches, we learn that Rho Nu Epsilon decides to throw a party on the same night as the KEK fashion show to spite them since their parties are ones not to miss. Lando tries to reason with Tyree by meeting with him at one of their on-campus events, but it does not go well. After a heated discussion, Lando and Tyree nearly came to blows in the middle of the event.
In the part of the episode where Lando asks JR for help, I didn’t particularly care for because feel like there was no reason for Lando and his line brothers to treat him that way in earlier episodes. If I’m being quite honest, Lando would not even be in KEK if it weren’t for JR putting himself on the line to save the chapter. They say he’s a “bad look” for the fraternity, but he’s the one that literally saved them from expulsion.
JR informed Lando that the beef between the two fraternities stems from a party 15 years ago. While both fraternities got into trouble, Rho Nu Epsilon received a harsher punishment than KEK, which led to the belief that it only happened that way because the president at the time was a member of KEK. Once Lando learns this new information, he returns to Tyree, seeking that they end the feud and join forces for an even bigger party after the fashion show; Tyree and the rest of Rho Nu agree.
I will say that I enjoyed Lando having a larger part in this episode. Martin Bobb-Semple does a great job as Lando, so I was excited to see him have more screen time. It is sad that the show is coming to an end because I would have loved to see him grow more in this character.
The beginning of the end
I don’t know, guys, but I think that Keisha and JR ship is getting ready to sail. So much happened in this episode between Cam and Keisha, and I am, but I’m not looking forward to seeing how the writers shape their breakup because I know it’s coming. It was one thing for us to see what’s happening between JR and Keisha, but Cam has officially seen it, so this train is on the move.
Homecoming is always a stressful time for Keisha; she’s the one who choreographs the fashion show every year. We saw in the last episode that Keisha had an issue with Cam and KEK being a part of the show. Cam learns that Keisha changes the show’s choreography after talking to JR. In this moment, Cam doesn’t think anything is happening between JR and Keisha, but we see things start to change later in the episode.
Remember back in episode two or three, we see Keisha get that text from an unsaved number after Cam confronts her about going MIA? Well, we finally learned what she’s been up to. Now, I wasn’t too crazy about this storyline, but it’s better than others I’ve seen this season. We learn that Keisha has been sneaking off to this secret dance battle ring and goes by the alias “New New.” Also, shout out to the writers for the ATL reference! Cam and Simone tracked Keisha to the ring after they were concerned about her whereabouts. Cam confronts Keisha about why she kept it from him, and she explains that she just wanted something for herself. I understood Keisha and why she would want to keep this to herself because, when it comes to dance, Cam does try to make Keisha’s problems his problems. He expects her to handle them the way he would. But then the two, of course, make up, and it’s all good, so we think.
The fashion show was a success, and everyone heads to the KEK and Rho Nu party. Now this part I did not see coming, JR knew about Keisha and the dance ring! I was shocked to learn that she told JR before she told Simone or Nate. Cam sees Keisha and JR talking at the party and begins to get suspicious. Now for whatever reason, Cam decides to look up Keisha’s dance ring during the party and sees that JR has been to one of her battles. Can anyone see say messy?
I see the directions the writers are trying to go in with this storyline, but I’m going to be sad when they end two relationships that I’ve actually enjoyed. Now that Cam has this feeling about JR and Keisha, I wonder how he’s going to handle it. Not only is JR Cam’s prophyte; he’s also his friend. I don’t have a good feeling about how this is going to end.
What to look forward to
Although a lot happened during this episode, going forward, I think we can expect to get some answers to the loose ends of this episode. Based on the previews, I think that JR is going to say something to Keisha about his feelings for her (if there are any). I really enjoyed this episode, and hopefully future episodes will continue to follow suit.
Season 3 of All American: Homecoming airs on The CW on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST.
