Spencer doesn’t get the concept of downtime, does he?

The dream of most teens became his nightmare on All American Season 4 Episode 9.

He and his buds Jordan and Asher hanging out at J.J.’s beach house in the summer after graduation didn’t sit well with Spencer.

Doing so was simple enough for J.J., of course, and lonely Jordan and mopey Asher.

It just seemed so unproductive to Spencer, someone who is used to working so hard to improve himself for the upcoming season.

At least he found something useful to do, thanks to the NCAA declaring that college athletes now own their likenesses and could endorse products for money.

An All American such as Spencer has options. The trick was finding a product that felt right to him.

Spencer connected with the nice man with the basic gym, who could only pay him with a membership and a T-shirt. That will undoubtedly cover those incidentals at college, won’t it?

Then J.J. hooked him up with Angry Hippo energy drink, swill so horrible that he couldn’t muster any enthusiasm when recording endorsements for it. But the $10,000 could sure come in handy for a boy from Crenshaw.

But those damn standards kept getting in Spencer’s way. How could he put his good name on something he didn’t believe in?

He couldn’t even enjoy the party that Angry Hippo threw on a yacht in his honor, looking longingly to escape this obligation.

It didn’t help that he met Wade Waters, the ghost of endorsements future, a former college star who washed out but still endorses Angry Hippo.

After a short time observing who he could become if he weren’t careful, Spencer dumped Angry Hippo and went back to working out at the crappy gym where the owner valued him.

The other eye-opening event for Spencer was when the four housemates got drubbed at beach volleyball by a quartet of considerably old players who knew how to play the sport and weren’t only using their natural talents.

That was all the warning signs he needed to fear that they were losing their edge and needed to get back to work. And, looking to the next episode’s trailer, it appears that he was right.

Just back from newspaper camp, Olivia got back to crusading to help out Coop and Patience, who really stepped in it.

Broken, unemployed Coop, whose mother was driving her crazy, agreed to move in together with Patience at her suggestion.

The trouble was finding a place that they could afford, and that would readily accept a young, black, gay couple, laws be damned.

So they jumped when they found a place that looked nice and was affordable online. Only they’d been catfished, signing a lease sight unseen only to be sharing a dump with another couple.

Enter Olivia, who confronted the unscrupulous landlord and threatened him with exposure of his unethical practices. She got them out of their lease but still planned to write about the landlord regardless.

Then she turned around and welcomed Coop and Patience to the Baker home since she was lonely living there alone.

That’s because Billy and Laura were doing the right thing moving in to help the cantankerous but recuperating G.W.

You have to feel bad for Laura, who had to deal with both of the moody Baker men. That’s why it was hilarious when she sent both combatants to their rooms.

G.W. moving to Florida was the right move for all involved. They needed a break from one  another, although it’s likely that G.W. will wear out his welcome down there as well.

Now, what happens to G.W.’s house? When Billy and Laura move back to Beverly, might Coop and Patience end up at G.W.’s? That would be a win-win situation.

Also still trying to find her way was Layla.

It was a beautiful gift for J.P. to give Layla all of her mother’s masters. A remastered collection would be the perfect way for Layla to cement her mother’s legacy.

But the masters brought up all kinds of emotions that Layla had successfully pushed down.

And those exploded when Clay did the nice thing of remixing one of the songs to make it relevant today. Layla wanted no one else to present her mother’s work to the world.

At least the myth that she and Clay were work friends was exploded as they brought their feelings for each other out into the open. It will be intriguing to see how their relationship develops next.

Then there was Asher, who discovered that life is hard when you’re broke and have no direction in life.

His sounding board, Jamie, has mainly disappeared thanks to his outburst at her on All American Season 4 Episode 8. He’s also learning how little work pays as he strives to repay Jacob for his college loan.

Maybe he found his new calling at the party, giving gambling advice to those such as Wade, who have more dollars than sense. There’s undoubtedly a growing market for those who can capably handicap games.

To revisit senior year, watch All American online.

Was this episode enough of the offseason for you?

Is Spencer too conscientious for his own good?

Now that Coop has a place to stay, will she find a new direction in life?

Comment below.

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