Olivia found a way to come out on the other side of her grief.
For others, it was not so much the case on All American Season 5 Episode 13.
After the memorial service on All American Season 5 Episode 12, Olivia stared at the liquor bottle she had found in Billy’s desk drawer in his football office.
She took it home and has been communing with it for the next two weeks. That probably wasn’t the wisest keepsake of her father for her to grab. She was holding onto her sobriety but just barely.
Then Olivia reached her breaking point and smartly woke up Jordan and Layla to hang out with her and to keep her from drinking.
At least Olivia recognized that she needed help to maintain her sobriety. She used what Alcoholics Anonymous had taught her and called in her “village” because she would need them during this particularly tough patch.
Fortunately, Nurse Joy, her sponsor, was a part of her village. Joy realized that having members of her “village” safeguard Olivia wasn’t what she ultimately needed. Olivia had to dig deep and determine why that particular moment, weeks after Billy’s death, had put her on the edge.
The only problem was that Olivia wasn’t sure how to accomplish that.
These various shifts did allow for some emotional moments. Laura admitted to Olivia that she has been crying in the shower daily so that Olivia and Jordan wouldn’t hear her. Hearing that her mother wasn’t handling grief as well as she appeared to be seemed to encourage Olivia because she wasn’t alone.
Then there was the heartwarming scene where Coop and Olivia talked about the most important person in their lives — Spencer — and how they had learned to share him.
Of course, only Spencer could find the answers Olivia sought.
Once again, he stupidly stood up Alicia to help Olivia, volunteering to drive her to her A.A. meeting when Asher was late for his shift.
On the way, he smartly stopped at a pop-up carnival, which she recalled was one of Billy’s favorite things.
Spencer got Olivia to forget and to have fun, if only for a little while. Then, when they went up on the Ferris wheel, he encouraged her to talk with Billy in the quiet at the top of the ride.
Olivia got her answer — that she couldn’t handle the silence. There wasn’t much silence when her father was around.
Also, talking with Jordan afterward, Olivia naturally came up with a way to help others in a similar position, talking about what she was experiencing on her resurrected podcast. Spencer should have hung around for that. He could have used some of Olivia’s advice.
Spencer wasn’t coping well at all. Instead of embracing his grief as the Bakers had done, he ignored it, pretending that life goes on as before, even though Billy was gone.
Spencer was sticking to his routine, getting ready for the next GAU season instead of taking the time he needed to grieve. This choice meant he was snapping at everyone around him.
He blew up at Coach Kenny just because Kenny hadn’t jumped over Billy’s corpse to go after the GAU head coaching job.
Even as poorly as Spencer had been treating her, Alicia attempted to be there for him, taking his mind off Billy’s death. It was hard to blame her for taking a step back while he dealt with some of the turmoil in his life that he was disregarding.
The last straw was his coming down on Coach Kenny for checking in on him and then giving notice that he intended to transfer to a football factory elsewhere.
He’ll back off that impulsive decision in the end, but how many episodes will that take?
Jordan seemed to be handling things better than either Olivia or Spencer, largely thanks to Layla’s unwavering support.
Still, there was his hangup about that package. For some reason, he seemed to believe that opening that box would accelerate his forgetting about Billy.
It’s good that he and Layla opened it when they did. That way, the family could bond over Billy’s favorite jambalaya instead of having spoiled meat.
Laura was a rock for everybody while quietly dealing with her grief.
She was there for her kids and others suffering because of Billy’s death.
A prime example was her concern for Jabari. She was at the school when he attacked another student, and she eavesdropped on Preach’s lecture to Jabari.
Then she encouraged Jabari to tell her about Billy’s final moments because she knew he needed to get that out of his system. It was crushing for her to hear, but at least Olivia was there for her afterward.
Asher, another passenger on that fateful bus ride, was also affected.
He was overly protective of Jaymee and their unborn child because he learned that life could be short.
Jaymee got him to understand that he had PTSD and needed professional help to deal with it.
This episode was beneficial, showing the many ways that people can deal with their grief.
To revisit Billy’s death, watch All American online.
Will Olivia come out stronger for her struggles?
Who is going to get Spencer back on the right track?
How will Jordan break down?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.