All American Season 2 | Episode 11 “Tha Crossroads” Review

If I’ve ever had even a smidge of doubt in my love for All American, episode 2×11, “Tha Crossroads”, just reaffirmed why I love this show so much. It’s the best episode of the season, maybe even the series. The raw emotion every actor portrays as Spencer lays in the hospital, with a bullet lodged in his shoulder, will bring you to tears. The levity of Spencer’s condition and decision, while a predictable storyline, is still felt. Why? Because we’ve fallen in love with Spencer James. Why? Because even when he’s barely been admitted to the hospital, his first concern is protecting his family and community. That’s who Spencer James is, and that is one of the many reasons why everyone loves him.

Nurse Joy

“If we don’t fight for each other, who’s going to?” This is what Nurse Joy tells Spencer when he thanks her for standing up for him in the hospital. She’s the real MVP of the night. The moment Spencer rolls into the hospital on the gurney, Nurse Joy has his back. When the doctor and another nurse try to profile Spencer as just another gang member who needs a tox screen first and not immediately call for a blood transfusion because it’d be a “waste” of the rare type, Nurse Joy demands they treat Spencer like any Beverly Hills patient. She then allows his “sisters”, Olivia and Coop, into the room at Spencer’s request, even though only immediate family is supposed to be let in. To get Olivia, though, Nurse Joy also has to defend her to a cop questioning her without her parents present, suggesting that the shooting was a drug deal gone wrong once he learns Olivia is a recovering addict.  So, yes, Nurse Joy is the MVP of the episode, and when the neurosurgeon came in saying how much her family loves Spencer James and brags on his academics, Nurse Joy gets to have her “I told you so” moment with the other nurse and doctor. Yes ma’am!

Retaliation

Even while lying in the hospital bed with a bullet in his shoulder, Spencer has only one concern: the retaliation that is bound to happen in Crenshaw. This is the most Spencer James thing he could possibly do. Everyone knows that Tyrone did this, and Flip has warned that the James family and Coop are off limits, so Spencer knows that Flip is going to retaliate. He can’t have a gang war happen in his name. He’s not about to let people die for him. However, Flip’s not about to let Tyrone get away with this. So, Coop offers an alternative: she kills Tyrone instead. That way it’s personal and not bloods killing bloods. Flip gives her 24 hours.

However, Preach finds out about what’s going on and immediately finds Coop at Spencer’s house, knowing what she’s about to do once he sees she’s not wearing her ‘Coop’ necklace. We normally see Preach as this hard guy who doesn’t let his emotion show, but in convincing Coop to let him kill Tyrone, he gets teary-eyed. He confesses that killing someone changes you, and he doesn’t want it to change her. I’m not gonna lie, this got me a little. Their relationship has grown so much. Even though he said he was done with her a few weeks back, Preach is still looking out for her like a big brother. I love it.

Unfortunately, Tyrone always seems to be one step ahead of the game. When Preach shows up at the park to “take a walk” with him, Tyrone already has his own plan set in motion. The cops show up and take Preach off to jail for possession, and since it’s his third strike, he won’t be getting out so soon. Tyrone then sends Coop a video of Preach getting arrested before saying, “you’re next.” At the end of the episode, he drives off, seemingly leaving town, but we all know he won’t stay gone. Tyrone is like the Dan Scott (One Tree Hill) or Gerard Argent (Teen Wolf) of All American. The villain. The antagonist. He won’t stay gone. They never do.

The Decision

It’s never been a question of if Spencer would return to football, it’s been a question of when and how because, let’s be honest, All American isn’t All American without Spencer James playing football. So, in “Tha Crossroads”, Spencer is faced with the ultimate one: leave the bullet and lose football forever or have a risky surgery and eventually play again. We all knew which path he would choose. Even though the idea of playing again after Corey died was daunting, that field is where Spencer feels closest to his father. It’s not just a game. It’s his legacy.

Still, the risk of the surgery is high. If all goes well, then Spencer will have full range of motion again. If something goes wrong, then it could leave his whole side paralyzed. The writers try to worry us with his first attempt at a hand squeeze, but alas, he pulls through on the second attempt. It will take some recovery, but Spencer will play football again come next season. You wait and see.

Notable Mentions

• Ding dong Cliff the booster is gone! Cliff, the scummy Beverly booster, attempts to get Billy fired again by holding a board meeting while Billy makes being at the hospital for Spencer a priority. Not so fast, Mr. Booster. When Jordan hears the news from Simone, he steps up big time by rallying the team. The reason Billy makes such a great coach is that he puts his players first, which is exactly what he’s doing with Spencer. The principal knows that, and calls Cliff out for his utter disregard for one of the players and takes him off the booster board immediately.
• Grace questions her parenting skills while Spencer’s in surgery, wondering where she went wrong when everything she did was to protect her sons from violence, and yet Spencer still got shot. She wonders if that’s just how it is for them and their community. At the end of the episode, Billy shows her how wrong she is by showing her the group of people crowded outside the hospital in support of Spencer.
• Everyone deserves all the awards for this episode, but Daniel Ezra and Samantha Logan once again blew me away with their raw emotion.
• I know I’m flip-floppy when it comes to ships on this show, but one thing holds true: the chemistry between Spencer and Olivia is undeniable and this will only tighten that bond between them. The way they yelled for each other as he was being rolled away. “Thanks for saving my life.” “Anytime.” They say as they lay in the hospital bed together. UGH! Major Lucas Scott and Peyton Sawyer (One Tree Hill) feels there, y’all. I can’t deal.
• “It’s love that lifts us out of the dark. So when people put their lies on you, attack you, try to take you out… remember to let the love from those around you carry you through. Because the truth is, ignorance and hate hold hands. They try to blind you, smother us. They try to destroy the light of hope. But our love can consume the darkness and drive out the hate. And yea, that love might not change everyone. You might still run into conscious and unconscious bias, microaggressions, outright racism, hate, but it’s in those moments we got to hold on to those that shine their light on us. We gotta hold on to those that give us life and love to the fullest. Because it’s that love that binds us as a people, as a community. It’s what helps us come back stronger and better than ever.” – Spencer James

All American airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW!