All-American Season One Episode One

         When I first saw the trailer for this show a couple of years ago it immediately caught my attention because of the football aspect of it. But I never really took the time to watch it. However, I have finally decided to catch up on the two seasons it has.

                                    

     Spencer James, played by Daniel Ezra, is a very smart young man who plays football for Crenshaw High school. Not only is he smart, but he is a gifted football player who works hard to perfect his craft. At the beginning of the episode, Spencer is approached by Beverly Hills High's football coach Billy Baker who is played by Taye Diggs. He also used to play for Crenshaw back in his heyday. 

    Coach Baker present Spencer with the opportunity of playing football for Beverly next season in order to give him an opportunity to better reaching his dreams. While the deal sounds great Spencer isn't too quick to accept it. Doing this would require him to leave both friends and family as well as his Crenshaw teammates. 

    Spencer is torn by having to make this decision. His mother and little brother believe that this is the best option for him while he wants to be there for his best friend Coop, who struggles with gangs and her own life.  It is also made apparent that Spencer struggles with the abandonment of his father at a young age. But despite these problems, Spencer decides to take the deal. 

    On his first day, Spencer struggles to fit into this new lifestyle but eventually hits his groove when he hits the field with his new team. Not only that he also hits his groove with the girls as well. Catching the interest of Coach Bakers daughter Olivia and his new teammate Asher's girlfriend Layla. Towards the end of this episode, the Beverly High found out that Spencer does not officially live in Beverly Hills and is forced to move in with Coach Baker and his family. 

    In my opinion, this episode does a great job jump starting this new series. The episode proves to be fun and comedic at times. It also does a great job of establishing the characters and what kind of roles they will play in the following episodes. Although, a lot of things seem to happen very fast in the episode. One moment Spencer is torn about the decisions he has to make and not much later he is being drugged at a party by his new teammates before he has to play a game in front of scouts. I also had a few problems with the football scenes in the episode. While watching it was all too obvious just how scripted they were. While it is hard to capture how unpredictable the game of football is, the scenes just didn't seem creative. 

    The highlight was Daniel Ezra who played Spencer. Ezra showed just much range he has as an actor. He definitely showed his talent when it came to the heavier scenes. During the scenes about his dad and with his friend Coop. I could feel the pain and sorrow he was conveying. Daniel Ezra as Spencer James definitely has me excited for the rest of the show.