Godspeed

**"Godspeed"** is the seventh episode of the first season of *All American: Homecoming*. It first aired on April 11, 2022.

## Synopsis

**IDENTITY** - When Simone is faced with her first college level tournament, she learns she has to conquer an unexpected bigger foe and gets some sage advice from Thea. Damon struggles with an assignment as it hits a little too close to home when it triggers some of his insecurities. As JR re-examines his identity, he gets advice from an unexpected source. Amara continues to fight her battle with President Allen and Bringston in her own way. Meanwhile, the gang rallies around Keisha as she tries to navigate her late mom's birthday on her own since her relationship with her father is strained.

## Plot

Damon and JR discuss the impending DNA results, which will take a week to come in. JR brushes off Damon’s request to hang out. In a video message, Damon wonders if he inherited his skills or worked his ass off like the best athletes. Meanwhile, Thea prepares the team for their upcoming tournament where they must impress Coach Loni. The girls find their list of opponents. Simone is playing Helena Davis, the number-2 player. Thea hopes Simone’s ready.

Simone vents about Thea to Nate who reminds her she’s a badass. Keisha is in a mood that has to do with Cam, at least partially. Her mother's birthday is coming up. In Filipino culture, the birthday of a dead person is a big deal. They go to the grave and celebrate them. Because of their busy schedules, Keisha and her dad can’t fly to Detroit. The pair aren’t even speaking. Keisha still has Simone and Nate but has to leave for a while. Simone and Nate strategize a research session to plan a traditional Filipino birthday celebration.

Keisha and Amara set up for the Black Woman in Journalism summit. Marcus volunteers his help but they’ve got it covered. Keisha leaves them alone. Marcus knows things have been weird as there’s a distance that he doesn’t like. Maybe by being friends they can become something more. She has to get back to work.

Simone and Damon study but her stomach feels off. He blames the Chinese food but she’s sticking by the 4.3 ratings. He’s doing a paper on nature vs. nurture and it’s raising questions about his biological family. His dad has Alzheimer's and can’t help, which Simone didn't know. She suggests her interview people so he decides on a mini-documentary style piece. She has to go for practice but offers to be in his interview. She thinks JR can help him and makes him listen. Them being brothers would change everything so they should talk about what it could mean.

JR is stressing over the Founders Day Barbeque party as their OG brothers are rolling through. Coach Shaw returns as he was a member of KEK. JR thought he would sit this one out, given everything that happened, but She questions when he would do that. They should leave the animosity on the diamond. JR wouldn’t know how it was going as he quit. Shaw is shocked Marcus let him quit.

Zeke and Amara argue as he thought they agreed she would keep a low profile by canceling the Summit. He can cut her classes, people can tag her door, and slander her name online, but they can’t stop her from engaging with students. He can stop her as it’s on school grounds. He revokes her permission to use the hall of the HBCU Alumni. The summit is tomorrow and they can’t find a new venue in time. That’s the point as she needs to lay low. Keisha and Simone disagree with the choice. Simone has an idea for a venue.

Simone knew Loni would be okay with her using the tennis courts to promote black female empowerment. Damon and his friends helping with the set-up was Coach Marcus’s doing. As they say goodbye, for now, Damon intervenes to share words of encouragement with Simone. She heads to the court for warmups and reads a text from Jordan - he’s proud of her and loves her. Another player approaches to mock her for being the almost Queen of the Court. She’s gonna wipe the court with her.

Helena and Simone face off and she fumbles the returns while Buffalo players heckle her. She remembers Nate’s words of a bad bitch psyching her out but she’s a textbook bad bitch. She needs to show them who she is.

Damon visits JR at the KEK house to interview him and learn things about his parents. JR counters that he needs to chill. They’re his parents, not Damon’s, they don’t even know if they’re brothers or not. It’s just for a class and JR who started the “we might be brothers” campaign. If he didn’t want a brother he shouldn’t have come looking for one. Shaw asks if things are okay so Damon leaves the reunion.

Helana is winning 5-3 and Simone earns a foot foul from the ref. The Buffaloes would never show their face on the court again if that happened. She snaps at them to shut up, throwing her racket, earning a racket abuse point penalty.

Amara and Yara start their summit and discuss how to rise above. Simultaneously, Coach Shaw preaches about being better through his team and making things better. JR calls him out on the paper scheme. Shaw thinks it’s just the same tools white people have used to keep them down. They needed to win tournaments to get money because money is power and opportunities. Everything he did was so that the boys could have the athletic success they could achieve. Their legacy was fine until that reporter ruined everything. Yara remarks the worse part is all the way people try to silence them or punish them for speaking the truth. Amara is taking the heal or exposing the baseball scandal. She loves the university as it’s given her so much personally and professionally but, as a black woman, she isn’t given the same opportunities or respect. Just because she’s having a touching moment doesn’t mean it’s always going to be that way. They have to do the work to soldier on.

Damon interviews Thea about her being swayed more by experiences or genetics. She thinks about experiences. She worked hard to be the best on the court but doesn’t know how she sees herself outside the court. She’s trying to figure that out because she’s afraid to discover herself without a racket. Simone arrives so he enlists her for his interview. He asks what influences her more genetics or nature, but she doesn’t know. She lost her match today and showed her ass on the court, so she doesn’t know what happened or if recognizes herself in that. She apologizes and then rushes off without her tennis rackets.

JR tells Coach Shaw about his parents and situation. He misses baseball because he needs it. Shaw had JR on the bench because he knew he wouldn’t go pro or sustain him. He should focus on the brotherhood instead.

Simone is running on the treadmill when Thea approaches to discuss her poor match. She has to be mentally prepared for the matches by working with her anxiety. Thea mediates before her matches while Becca chants the ABCs. They all have their own thing and Simone needs to figure out hers.

Marcus finds Zeke eating junk food in the cafeteria to commemorate his wife, Aurora’s, birthday. Shaw approaches as he’s looking to run into old friends. He knows the stresses of first-year coaches and snidely comments on Marcus losing players. Marcus tells Zeke he’s got it handled, otherwise, his funding and team are at stake.

Cam sits or Damon’s interview but rambles about football instead of answering the question. He explains that he comes from a family of singers but had to work for football and to leave South LA. Knowing his family tree doesn’t complete him, though Damon notes that nature is the gift while nurture is knowing what to do with it. He should take singing seriously to find that missing piece.

Simone matches with a new player for her match. She performs well but keeps psyching herself out. Thea holds up a sign reading “zone=love”. Simone remembers playing tennis as a kid and the joy it brought her. Simone wins her match and thanks Thea for helping her off the court.

Keisha gives her interview to Damon as she’s in the culture camp. She talks about her childhood and growing up in a mixed household, and the consequences her mother faced for marrying Zeke, who was a military brat. She has traits from both that make up who she is today. She advises him to focus on the parts her does know about and the family he does have.

JR’s brotherhood members tell him to go back to baseball as he’s miserable without it. He has to try and fight for his spot if that’s what he still wants.

Nate and Simone surprise Keisha with a celebration at Amara’s house for Keisha’s mom. They decked out the place for a traditional celebration. She thinks it’s incredible and hugs everyone, including Damon and Amara who are in attendance. Zeke arrives saying they should be together today. Everyone gathers for dinner while Keisha and Zeke reminisce about her mom. He thought staying on their path of medicine and career would lessen the pain but it hasn’t. He’s going to try and be on board with her dance career. Damon talks to Simone about her coming in fifth in the tournament. He got what he needed from his video even though things with JR didn’t go well.

Keisha finds Cam in BU to apologize for standing him up and ghosting him. Her mom died when she was nine and it was her birthday today. For the first time, she’s realizing the effect that loss has on her and her father. She’s afraid to experience the pain of losing a great love that she pushes away any chance of having one herself. She has things to work on before she can get into a relationship. She doesn’t expect him to wait but also doesn’t want to lose a friend. He’ll make an exception to his sidepiece rule for her.

Damon sits for the interview as he debates nature versus nurture. Marcus dwells on Shaw’s words and then takes some pills for a mental mood disorder. Simone runs on the treadmill, JR stares at the childhood photo, while Damon comes to terms with the pieces of himself that he does know. He introduces himself to the camera.

Amara and Zeke clean up from dinner. He hasn’t been Keisha’s favorite person as the trustees have been riding him, but she refuses to talk business. He watches her video from the summit which has been edited and taken out of context. Someone has to handle this mess.

JR visits Damon to apologize for how he acted about the video and a lot of things. Baseball is important to him and he feels like a piece is missing without it. He’s going to fight to get it back. Family is also important to him and that’s why he wanted to find a brother and is hopeful that he has found one in Damon. Their phones alert with their DNA results which confirm they aren’t brothers.

## Cast

### Starring

* Geffri Maya as Simone Hicks
* Peyton Alex Smith as Damon Sims
* Cory Hardrict as Coach Marcus Turner
* Kelly Jenrette as Amara Patterson
* Sylvester Powell as Jessie Raymond
* Netta Walker as Keisha McCalla
* Camille Hyde as Thea Mays
* Mitchell Edwards as Cam Watkins

## Trivia

* This episode's title originated from the song "Godspeed", originally sung by Frank Ocean.

## References

1. ↑ *All American: Homecoming*: Season One Ratings
2. ↑ Episodes - ALL AMERICAN: HOMECOMING on The CW | Stvplus.com