It took nearly all season, but All American finally allowed Jordan and Layla to sit down and directly confront the disconnect they have faced since reuniting after six months apart. "Find Your Way Back" sees Olivia, on bed rest from the hospital, send Layla and Jordan on a quest to find a blanket she left at the Baker house. But rather than finding the blanket, Jordan and Layla discuss the issues they have been holding back. For the first time in a while, Layla and Jordan are left alone without the distractions of anything or anyone else to prevent them from dealing with their problems.
Since Jordan became Layla's rock in season 4, the two had leaned on each other to be open and vulnerable in ways they were not with others. Their relationship was built from a place of trust, seeing each other as strong and capable of carrying heavier emotional weight. However, season 8 has basically ignored that part of their relationship. The final season, rather than leaning into the best parts of Layla and Jordan's relationship and allowing them to truly act as a united front, has made them more separated than ever. Season 8 unnecessarily creates one last obstacle for the two, and "Find Your Way Back" finally gets Jordan and Layla back in sync by letting them voice their struggles and insecurities.
Layla finally admits she stopped leaning on Jordan due to the strain of feeling that Jordan did not need her. This resulted in Layla regressing to handling everything herself, just as she had when she was growing up. "Find Your Way Back" emphasizes the beginning, highs, and lows of Jordan and Layla's relationship, from the moment they first started getting closer in senior year when Jordan offered himself as an ear to listen to Layla with the promise that he would not break, to their fight in Layla's recording studio, to their wedding. The flashbacks emphasize just how far they have come since they were in high school and how every high and every low has led right to this moment, with Layla admitting that she is ready to have a child.
"Find Your Way Back" puts an end to a storyline that never should have existed in the first place, mostly because the season is so scattered storyline-wise that it never feels like it actually got the growth or attention it deserved if All American was going to commit to it. The season has constantly been choppy, so the emotional investment and narrative development of Layla and Jordan's disconnect never feels as genuine as it should, especially when one or both are missing from episodes throughout the season.
The pacing of every episode taking place throughout the one week also hurts this storyline. There is simultaneously so much happening and nothing happening all at once that it seems nearly impossible for Jordan and Layla to have not confronted any issue they had for such a long time, episode-count-wise, even though everything has happened within the span of a few days. In the history of their relationship, Layla and Jordan's disputes have been handled fairly quickly or over a longer period of time but with the screen time needed to give them the attention they deserved. If Jordan and Layla were going to have issues in season 8, they deserved for those problems to be properly explored and for each character to have a developed emotional reaction to what was happening between them. But it never gets there.
In season 8, Jordan and Layla's disconnect is such an afterthought that it appears to be Layla's main plot, while Jordan is completely unaware that there is any issue at all following the second episode of the season, "There Is No Competition." Jordan only becomes aware of how much Layla has kept from him after Olivia is brought to the hospital, which is completely out of character for Layla and Jordan's relationship. If Jordan and Layla were going to have issues throughout the season and come out the other side, strongly reconnected, then season 8 should have committed to spending the entire season showing how Layla and Jordan try and fail to truly get back on the same page until they finally get back in sync.
Instead, their brief disconnect never holds the stakes it should. It seemed inevitable that the two would work things out no matter what, but the refusal to spend real screen time showing them work through their issues and instead putting everything into one episode prevents a strong emotional climax. It was never a matter of if Jordan and Layla would work things out. It was always a matter of when, but the season's trouble with pacing just stretched it out too far without enough time spent on it to truly have the "finally" moment it deserved for who are, in seasons 7 and 8, All American's leading and anchoring couple.
Season 8's troubled pacing also hits hard in other storylines in "Find Your Way Back." Toward the conclusion of the episode, Preach is finally released from prison and returns home to see Coop and Amina. His return should be triumphant, but the utter lack of attention that was spent on showing anyone actively trying to get him out of jail since he got detained prevented Preach, Amina, and Coop's reunion from being the emotional moment it should have been.
Coop has certainly been trying, but her attempts were never the central focus of the plot. It also does not help that it had been about five episodes since Preach was arrested. While in the timeline of the show, that is only a few days; that is still several episodes where the focus and urgency have shifted. Since the conclusion of "Best Friends," the main concern has been with Olivia and the twins, while the sense of urgency has been all about finding Spencer, who still has yet to answer his phone or be found.
Olivia believes that Spencer will arrive in time for the birth of the twins. She seems completely unfazed that Spencer has not turned up and more than confident that he will arrive. While she may be right, it may help the nerves of those around her if she were to tell them if she knew anything about why Spencer may not be reachable at the moment, to at least help them narrow down his whereabouts. Yet, it does not seem that Olivia is any more aware of where Spencer could be than anyone else. No one is in a rush to tell Olivia that they have not found Spencer yet, but it seems practically inevitable that All American is setting up Spencer for a race to the finish for a just-in-time arrival at the hospital.
But this is also perhaps the plot that All American has handled the worst. One episode without Spencer answering builds urgency and excitement, setting up the question of where he is and if he will arrive in time. But this has gone on too long. Rather than thrill and emotional investment, it just shifts to frustration and annoyance. If Spencer was not going to show up until potentially the series finale, then Olivia should not have gone into labor so early. Putting so much focus on wondering where Spencer is prevents anything in the show from moving forward, because All American becomes just about waiting for Spencer to arrive.
Allowing Jordan and Layla's relationship to be the most important plot of "Find Your Way Back" helps make sure that they are strongly united as the series prepares to jump into its final episodes. It gives them their ending, in a way, before getting to the finale. Jordan will pass on the Beverly High head coach job and choose instead to remain at South Crenshaw High, where he may eventually take on the role of head coach. Jordan recognizes how tied he is to South Crenshaw and how much the community helped turn him into the man he is today. Layla is selling her record label, stepping away from a position that takes her so far away from home so often.
Instead, Layla will continue to work, but on her terms, in the parts of the job she loves most, which is working with the artists in the studio. This decision also sets up Layla to have a more constant presence at home in preparation for Jordan and Layla's decision to have children. Jordan even confronts the doctor one last time, explaining that if it comes down to it that an emergency decision needs to be made, Jordan and Layla will handle that together, but the doctor's only job is to be focused on saving Olivia and the twins. "Find Your Way Back" is an episode dedicated to giving closure and understanding of where Jordan and Layla will end up as the series concludes, while celebrating and recognizing their journey.
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