Move On

**"Move On"** is the tenth episode of the first season of *All American: Homecoming*. It first aired on May 2, 2022.

## Synopsis

**MAKING A DIFFERENCE** - Excited about service week, Simone channels all her volunteer efforts into her mentee and gets an idea for a bigger project and get assistance from some unexpected allies. Damon's quest to learn his father's connection to Celine has some surprising revelations. Keisha and Cam get into a conformation making Keisha realize she needs to continue to focus on self-improvement. Still reeling from what happened, Thea decides to confront her fears. Meanwhile, Amara learns who is out to get her, but doesn't seem to get any support from the administration, rather she does get support from someone surprising.

## Plot

Damon works out in the gym as he recalls his possible brotherhood with JR and his father. Simone sets-up breakfast when Amara arrives with Simone's mom, who came to find out information about Veronica. Amara refuses to be pulled into the drama and will just tell Zeke about the incident so he can deal with it. She doesn't need anyone interfering and they promise to be meddle-free. Simone talks with her mom in private and assures her mom that she's fine.

JR talks with his mom, Celine, who feels free after the divorce. Damon walks pass and JR introduces him. They joke around about baseball before JR has to leave. However, Damon has questions about her time at Bringston that she agrees to answer. He asks if she's visited a specific a café and admits that his adoptive father, Xavier Wilson, went there. Her demeanor changes as she thought his surname was Sims, but it's only that as his adoptive mom though her maiden name would sound better for branding purposes. She remarks that it's a good name. She quickly leaves for a meeting.

Simone talks to Thea who is being dismissive of her. She smiles at Damon the leaves. Simone asks Damon if something happened with Thea at the party, but it's not his place to say. President Zeke begins the speech about service week to the athletes. Keisha is the event organizer. Keisha and her dad talk outside as they discuss therapy. She brushes off the topic of therapy and snags Simone to pretend they have plans. Keisha remarks her aura is off and guesses it's about Damon, remarking they need to co-exist. They suddenly turn around as Keisha is avoiding her ex Lisa. Simone teases her about co-existing.

JR talks with a group when a woman shows up, Aqueelah, and the tension is thick. Thea is leaving when Kevin comes up to her and she has flashbacks to the party. He tries to schmooze her but she panics and leaves.

Jerika takes over tennis practice so Simone texts Thea to ask if she needs her. Thea sits in the corner of her coaches office, alone. Simone introduce herself to Mya who skips pleasantries. Inside, Keisha sees Cam standing alone and they catch up. Cam's been busy with everything and she seems jealous of his relationship with Gabby. If she's uninterested in them being together then she can't have any input.

Damon calls JR who is avoiding him. He goes into Marcus's office and asks to sit out but doesn't elaborate. Marcus gives him one day but no more. Marcus snaps out at Lowe about the athlete logs, threatening to get someone who can do the job better.

Amara confronts Zeke about Veronica leaking her mugshot. She's an important part of the institution and is reluctant. He tells her to save the speech so he can deal with it.

Amara and Mya play together until her racket strings break. Restringing a racquet is too expensive for her to replace. She hates coming to Bringston as it's a reminder she can't afford to compete at this level.

Thea sits on a bench when Aqueelah arrives. She asks how far Kevin got and Thea says he didn't as Damon stopped him. Aqueelah and Kevin were friends until they went to a party. She had a few drinks and woke up the next day without any clothes on in his bed. He said that he had fun. She tried to bury it but the rumors spread and JR dumped her because he thought she cheated on him. When her memories resurfaced, she realized Kevin wasn't drinking. She couldn't tell anyone and by the time she was ready to talk she couldn't. She's glad Thea is okay, and the girl lashes out that she is - no thanks to her.

Amara teaches her class when Veronica arrives. She doesn't falter and dimisses the class early. Veronica sarcastically claps for her. She heard from Zeke and got a stern warning. She didn't intervenes when Amara corrupted Jada with her antics, but is tiring of her militant ways. Tina confronts Veronica but Amara is fine on her own. Veronica wants to see her suffer like Jada did. Tina threatens that while Amara doesn't play dirty, Tina does. Veronica warns that big changes are coming to the university. Amara no longer wants to drop the fight - she's going to give one.

JR teaches a dance routine in the dorms. Damon calls JR aside to talk but he hasn't got his voicemails. Damon explains the situation but JR is reluctant as his mom's in a good place. The DNA test says they aren't brothers so they should put it aside. Damon accuses of him running away from things. JR counters by saying that the adoption obsession drove Simone away already. He gets that Damon needs answers, but asks that he leaves JR and his mom out of it.

Cam asks Keisha if she's seen his high schooler mentee as he's lost him. They start to argue until Zeke intervenes as the boy is flirting with sorority girls about being the new star quarterback. Cam heads off and Zeke tries to talk with Keisha about the situation. He gives her a free therapy session that she can't reschedule. He nearly lost her mother when they started dating because he was afraid of commitment. She relates to the statement. Her therapists wants her to dig into past relationships and analyze what went wrong, and she's not ready for that. She can't get to the good stuff without working through the bad.

Simone finds Thea on the floor by Damon's dorm, rather emotional. Simone wants to help her by Thea insists she's fine. She was fine until Kevin said hi. Something almost happened to her because another girl hadn't spoken up, and now she is, not speaking up. Simone tries to be there for her but Thea lashes out as Simone wasn't there for her at the party.

Simone heads to class and sits next to Damon, saying that Thea needs to talk to her. He tries to give her a call but she doesn't answer. Cam teases Simone for having a bad mentee session. She wants to find a way to help the mentees with their financial situation.

The group meets to talk about helping the financial situation. Tina offers to help by calling a CEO friend. As the girls clean up, Tina and Simone talk about Amara and then Simone. She admits that everything is messed up with her right now. She feels torn between Damon and Jordan and doesn't want anyone to get hurt. Relationships are complicated, all of them, and what she needs is a reset. She wants her to come home for Fall but Simone says the time isn't right. Tina's client agreed to hear her out about bringing resources to Bringston.

Simone and Damon pitch their cause the prospective investor, trying to win her over by aligning their values. If they can signup 25 athletes they can sponsor them financially. When the meeting is over, Simone praises Damon for his last-minute save. He starts talking about how hard is life is right now, but stops when he sees her. They decide to divvy up the athletic sign-ups.

Thea watches the girls practice as she struggles with her emotions. She calls President Allan's office. She then finds Aqueelah to apologize. She spent all morning at the courts watching the girls practice and kept thinking about how they're just like them - dreaming, studying, and thinking about what happens when they encounter someone like Kevin. She's made an appointment to report Zeke and asks Aqueelah for her support there. The girl thinks they'll lose and refuses. Thea tells her the place and time just in case. She hopes she can speak her truth one day.

Marcus works on three electronics when Amara comes inside and teases him that it's manically looking for something. He snaps out at her but apologizes that he's frustrated. She's here to talk about Veronica and how Zeke has a personal attachment to Veronica, especially since she isn't a donor.

JR's mom comes by to see him. He apologizes for Damon ambushing her as he doesn't want that to weaken her strength or newfound peace. He vents that they had a falling out as Damon thinks he's weak and runs at conflict. His mom holds his hands and thinks it's time they both stopped running. She tells him to have a seat as they need to talk.

Simone talks to Mya and gives her the pamphlet for the financial support. Mya doesn't want to get excited as she knows it won't come through all the way. She gives it back.

Keisha talks to Lisa who is initially uninterested in hearing what she has to say. Keisha sits and acknowledges that she kind of sucked as a girlfriend, though Lisa thinks she sabotaged their relationship and gaslighted her into thinking they were less serious than they were. Keisha doesn't think her therapist was right about talking to her exes, after all. Lisa's surprised she's in therapy and asks about her motivations, or who they were. Keisha thought her fear of commitment was out of fear of losing a soulmate like her dad. But she doesn't think she's good enough, but Lisa already knows as she's a psych major. She advises her that no one is going to convince her she's worthy of love - that's for her to figure out. Keisha thanks her, and Lisa tells her she'll be a badass girlfriend when she lets go of her baggage.

Simone cheers Mya on at the tennis course and hugs her after. Tina thinks it's a shame she's wasting her potential by letting her pride get in the way, as pride keeps her from stepping into her power. Simone does think she's good enough to play at a college level, but needs coaching, tools, and money to get there. Mya asks for the brochure.

Damon finds Simone back at the dorms and asks about the match. She got her and 12 other girls to signup, so they have a total of 30 kids. She thanks him again for his help. He remarks that they make a good team. He's sticking around for Fall break and asks her for a coffee as something casual, but she's heading back to LA for the break. He nervously says that's good and that he'll see her around. At the last minute, he asks if it was a mistake that she came to Chicago. She denies it as she wanted to support him. He thinks it would be easier on everyone to stop looking for his birth parents. She knows he doesn't mean it but he's solemn as he boards the elevator, telling her to have a good flight.

Thea prepares for her meeting with Principal Allan and finds Aqueelah is waiting outside. She couldn't sleep as Thea was right. The girls are ready and hold hands as they walk into the building.

Marcus is packing his office when he finds a file tracking the Fall semester. It's the file he yelled at the assistant coach for losing. The coach enters and is heading out, but apologizes again for the mix-up. Marcus tell him not to worry about it.

Damon works out in the gym when Thea finds. She thanks him for all the calls and texts checking up on her and apologizes for being MIA. He knows she's dealing with the whole situation and thinks it's great she put him one blast. He shows her a post of Kevin with the word "cancelled" written over his face. Thea didn't do the post but went to President Allan about it. He's launching an investigation as other girls might have been affected. He's proud of her and she thanks him again for having her back that night and ever since. She asks if he's okay as she only works out that hard when something's messy with her head. He doesn't want to bore her but she assures him that he won't. She offers to go talk or just sit in silence. He knows she's been through a lot and wants to make sure he's reading the situation right - if it's a date or friends grabbing a meal. She asks if it can be both and he agrees, but wants to shower first. He gets a text from JR so she tells him to handle that first then come find her.

Simone, Keisha, and Cam chat in the hall. He's heading out for the Fall and when he's gone, Simone questions Keisha on the look. She pulls out her phone and decides to make a call to her therapist. She's changed her mind about not wanting to work with her anymore, as she wants to be in a healthy relationship. She hugs Simone tightly.

That night, in the frat house, Damon visits JR whose mom is in the room. He asks what it's about. JR's mom apologizes to Damon as she owes him an explanation, too. She hands him a baby photo - the same one that started the potential brotherhood scandal. She hadn't heard Xavier's name in years. They met at the café and it was a hard time for her, and he was there for her. She had an affair and got pregnant. She thinks he's the baby in the photo, her son, and JR's brother.

## Cast

### Starring

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

### Guest Starring

* Leonard Roberts as President Zeke Allen
* Erica Tazel as Veronica Skinner
* Shelli Boone as Tina Hicks
* Crystal Lee Brown as Celine
* Renee Harrison as Aqueelah
* Jayna Pierre as Mya

### Co-Starring

* Erin Coker as Lana Jones
* Lesette Latimer as Jerika
* Kareem Lewis as Kevin Richardson
* Jazlyn Martin as Lisa
* Anton Peeples as Coach Lowe

## Trivia

* This episode's title originated from the song "Move On", originally sung by Lil Tjay.

## References

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