Rather than building on the momentum of Jordan and Layla's detective work to uncover the true identity of Billy's half-brother, All American ignores Layla and Jordan entirely, not even featuring them in the episode. The creative decision is a bold one, as instead, the storyline relies on two main plot threads, where one re-focuses on Coop's journey in law school, while the other relies on a night school lockdown volunteer event and Amina's campaign for student government. At this point, All American has decided to be two completely different shows, and the stories between the original characters and the new additions barely intersect. In fact, this could have been the perfect opportunity to force everyone together, seeing as they would have been stuck inside South Crenshaw High School anyway. Instead, everyone mostly remains in their separate corners.
Finally, Coop's plotline is gaining traction, but it is doing so in a way that may end up being more trouble rather than academically thriving. Coop's professor is more than willing to engage in Coop's academic interest, and Coop herself has found a teacher she finds interesting enough to form a bond with. However, things may have crossed the line the moment the professor pulled out a bottle of alcohol. As Preach later recognized, even though the professor and Coop are both grown adults, a teacher sharing a bottle of alcohol with a student may be a step too far and something for Coop to keep an eye on. Still, All American made an effort to devote more time to Coop's storyline as she works toward being a lawyer, which is an attribute to the series that the previous few episodes of season seven have been severely lacking.
As for the episode's other main plot, All American finally manages to get Amina, KJ, Khalil, and Tori in the same space. Khalil and KJ are predictably oppositional, while the episode also teases a potential budding friendship between Khalil and Tori, even if the episode overall is not interested in developing it beyond a few scenes. Instead, Khalil's biggest conflict is in the form of his father, who continues to put Khalil in situations he would rather not be a part of. Khalil's relationship with his father is a testament to the struggles Khalil must face outside of school and football, as well as recognizing how his father's connections to danger is something Khalil would rather not replicate in his own future. Unfortunately, however, this episode is a huge missed opportunity to encourage Jordan, Layla, Coop, and Preach to interact with the show's new characters.
Preach and Cassius share a brief moment on screen together, but it quickly ends so that Preach can confront Khalil. Some insight into Preach and Khalil's dynamic is welcome, but there are still so many relationships that could be offered more development. The growing love square between KJ, Amina, Khalil, and Tori does get more screen time as things finally start moving forward, even if it is in a far more complicated manner. Still, there are lost chances to see Amina interact with Tori or spend more time developing the dynamics between Khalil and KJ, who seem to come to the shared mutual understanding that they each care for Amina.
All American made some significant strides forward in Coop's storyline but struggled in a lot of other places, especially as Jordan and Layla are not present to help move the story forward. Refusing to encourage merging all the characters together to allow them to interact only creates more division among the characters and creates a sense of multiple shows happening at once rather than a united ensemble cast. Until All American figures out how to blend the two separate worlds of storylines, season seven will continue to remain unbalanced and struggling to have emotionally impactful arcs that can resonate with every character. Season seven may have a lot of story left to tell, but the thing it needs to do the most is figure out a way to connect its original characters with the new generation.