New Netflix show leaves students with mixed emotions
All American, a Netflix/CW show that first aired October 10th, 2018. This show is all about drama and is based on the true story of Spencer Paysinger and his life . A young football star by the name of Spencer James faces many obstacles at an early age. All the way into his teenage years. James' father has left him and his family when he was around seven. All he had was his mother Grace and his little brother Dillon. I feel that Spencer is a very caring person and will help you out in the real world to inspire you to do good things.
James spent his whole life in Crenshaw playing football as star wide out at South Crenshaw High. He was the talk of the town and everybody appreciated James.
Billy Baker, a man who coached Varsity football at Beverly Hills High. Grace asked Billy to take James in and give him a better future for football and to keep him away from danger in Crenshaw. Once James found out, he accepted, but he had to go back to Crenshaw to see his family and Coop. Coop was his very best friend. The fact Grace did this shows how caring she is and how she can make decisions under pressure.
After months of James being in Beverly, things go South. Coop joins a gang that Shawn (Coop and Spencer’s old friend) was affiliated with. Shawn ends up dead and this opens James' perspective on life. He begins to work his hardest to provide for him, his Mom and his brother.
At the playoff game that decided who plays in the championship game, James' father (Corey James) showed up in the bleachers. This threw his game off and they barely one. Later his father is standing in his house wanting to talk. After a while Spencer lets him back in his life.
About a month passes and Beverly High is in the championship game against Crenshaw. At this point Crenshaw has a very blunt hatred towards James. During halftime in the locker room, Corey spoke to James and said “I know you’re upset, but just be a kid and go play football.” As Corey walks away after the talk, James looks down and his voice cracks as he says “Dad?” and he comes back and hugs James' as he cry's in his arms. Corey having the ability to talk to his son, man to man, is heartwarming for any viewer. After this, Spencer is fired up for the second half. All that built up anger over his dad can finally be released. At the end Beverly and Crenshaw are tied with no time left on the clock. Crenshaw is set to take a field goal attempt to when the game. As the set up, we see that James has a killer instinct in his eyes… The ball snaps and James flies in and swats the ball. Then he proceeds to grab it and run for the game winning touchdown. As he’s running we see flashbacks of his first touchdown that his dad was not there for but he was this time. All the emotion of his childhood, we can feel as he is running for the game winning touchdown.
After the game James celebrates with his dad and has offers for college football. His life is finally working out the way it should. As the last scene plays the whole family is celebrating and Corey brings Grace into the kitchen and ask a very serious question which is a great lead into a second season.
Corey asked “ Is Dillon my son or Billy Baker’s?” This is very disappointing to anyone watching the show, to see that Grace can send James away and keep the biggest secret of all from both her children. James, I feel, has been through so much pain in his life and this would break him. This leads to a great opener for the second season.
5/5 SWORDS