“No More Hiding” does not have a lot going for it, mostly because it acts entirely as a foundation for things to come, rather than allowing emotional responses to events to happen immediately. There is a lot going on here in terms of preparing for confrontation, but it avoids any of the repercussions, pushing them all off in an attempt to wait it out until all of the main characters are together. While holding off may allow the follow-up episode to be an exciting, explosive hour, it also means there is not much development happening during “No More Hiding” itself.
All American finally reveals the subject of Amina's controversial Dinsberg article. As it turns out, Amina was aiming to hold the school accountable for an incident on the campus that involved a fellow student being assaulted by ICE. This resulted in Amina's decision to write an article holding the school accountable for the events that transpired. However, instead of showing Amina's direct reaction to what occurred and exploring her life on campus, "No More Hiding" jumps ahead to focus on a school dance.
The flashbacks throughout this episode are the only pieces of Amina's time at Dinsberg that All American has offered, which also makes it hard to be fully invested in that part of the story anyway, especially seeing as the audience does not get to see the full story unfold, and the main events of Amina's season have mostly taken place in South Crenshaw and Beverly. At least throughout "No More Hiding," and the episodes that have aired prior to its release, there has been no time spent showing when Amina decided to write the article.
The timeline of the flashbacks only lets the viewers in after Amina has already started working on her piece. “No More Hiding” also completely skips over any reactions to the truth. Khalil apparently finds out the truth mostly off-screen; KJ already knows what is going on, and Tori gets a clipped version of the story. The only character who allegedly gets the longer version is another one of Amina's friends, who has so little screen time that it is difficult to be invested in her reaction anyway. The rest of the main characters, including Preach, are still completely in the dark about Amina's actions.
But, of course, that is not the only Dinsberg secret. The truth about KJ's visit to see Amina and what happened between them also gets revealed. One of the main takeaways is that KJ has still not told his girlfriend that he kissed someone else. KJ is more than aware of Tori's complicated feelings and suspicions toward KJ's relationship with Amina, and his refusal to tell her the truth creates a painful cheating storyline. Tori's suspicions finally start coming to light right in front of her, but KJ's inability to be honest leaves Tori staying in a relationship without all the facts.
But while Amina's story reveals the truth without consequences, Coop's plot relies entirely on dialogue. Various times throughout the season so far, even more so in “No More Hiding,” Coop has been asked if she was truly happy, with that question being directed toward her path in law. Coop keeps responding that she is, but being asked so many times by those closest to her begs the question of if that is actually true, especially when “No More Hiding” relies on Coop's word about what these lawyers she will be working with are like and does not allow the audience to see her interacting with them or hear their advice directly from the source.
They appear in an off-screen vacuum, which means that Coop's argument could mean one of two things: One, she genuinely is happy, and this internship could be, if anything, a great opportunity with benefits to learn how different lawyers think and attack problems. Even if Coop changes her path and does become more of a lawyer for the underdog, getting the experience to see how her future opposition could think if she were to ever go up against them in court is extremely beneficial. However, there is also the chance that Coop is lying to herself because she thinks she is supposed to be happy. But without access to seeing Coop in this internship directly, it makes it harder to truly determine if Coop's experience will work in her favor or if she is on the wrong path.
Layla's storyline connects with the underlying subplot so far that Layla has felt disconnected from Jordan and her life at home, finding herself functioning very well on tour. While Layla may be doing a phenomenal job, it also triggers her worries about what that could mean for her marriage to Jordan and if she could ruin a potential future family before it has the chance to start. Layla's history with her father is at the forefront of this plot line, as Layla finds herself worrying if she is meant to follow in her father's footsteps a little too closely. Layla grew up with a mostly absent father, who found comfort on the road, leaving Layla mostly lonely at home. So, when Layla confronts her father directly about her fears of turning into him, it allows Layla to directly deal with the source of her internal fears about her own future.
But while Layla may need to figure some of these things out for herself, the episode stops short of allowing her to address her concerns and fears with her husband. Jordan is not even in the episode at all, even though at least three storylines would benefit from him being there. In addition to Layla's concerns, one of the biggest plots of the episode questions the Beverly High football team's loyalty to Cassius after the principal informs them that Jordan Baker could be their next head coach.
While the players were firmly behind Cassius originally, the promise of Jordan Baker was enough to flip them, which does beg the question of how this will all turn out, and how KJ's relationships with his teammates will be impacted, if at all. Season 8 has not done anything else to improve showing KJ's relationships with his teammates, so trying to suggest a frustrated betrayal by them for siding against Cassius risks falling flat anyway.
The other main storyline that could have used Jordan's influence involved Khalil's relationship with his parents. Jordan's absence gives Layla the opportunity to reconnect with Khalil, a dynamic that needed to be front and center again as well. Yet, the decision to leave Jordan out when Khalil's parents confront him in the school locker room gym, where Jordan would likely be in his office not far away, seems out of place, especially as Jordan and Layla have been looking out for Khalil. Granted, even Khalil's reunion with his parents acts as one of the episode's cliffhangers, as the episode ends shortly after the three are reunited.
“No More Hiding” sacrifices itself narratively by making sure that nothing gets properly addressed. There are no real repercussions for anything because the story is clearly waiting for Coop's family dinner to actually have everything explode all at once. While that may make for an exciting future episode, it leaves “No More Hiding” in limbo. Although characters may have confronted their issues or demons, the aftermath of that is left entirely for the future to decide.
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