All American: Homecoming: Will Damon Make Amends With His Birth Parents?
One of the main storylines in Season 1 of All American: Homecoming centers around Damon Sims (Peyton Alex Smith) and the secrecy surrounding his birth parents. Adopted into a good and what he thought, stable family, Sims learned the truth of his past while attending Bringston University in Atlanta, Georgia. If it wasn’t for the digging by his best friend JR (Sylvester Powell), Damon may still be wondering who he is and where he came from.
JR learned that his mother (Celine) had an affair and at that point, Damon and the viewers were led to believe that his adoptive father (Xavier) was really his birth father and that Celine was his birth mother. But the spiderweb just kept growing. Damon would learn that he and JR are more than half-brothers. The truth of the matter is, JR’s father (Jesse) and mother are actually Damon’s birth parents. That makes them full-blown brothers.
Now, with all that confusion out of the way, the bigger question is, can Damon forgive everyone involved and began to make amends?
Season 1 was a learning experience for Damon. What we also have to remember is that this is still a kid learning the truth about who he is and learning why his parents gave him up for adoption. But as stated in an earlier piece, Damon went off the rails a bit with his anger and was taking it out on the wrong people. JR did nothing to deserve the hate, all he wanted was a brother. But the way it was presented was as if the parents made a choice regarding the two sons.
For his character to grow, Damon needs this sitdown. While he and JR are in somewhat of a good place, their bond, friendship, and now brotherhood was tested and will probably continue through the new season. But on the other side of the coin, Damon has begun a new relationship with Thea, and something like this could derail that and drive him towards Simone. Then we also have to take into account his baseball career, if the focus is not there, he could lose everything he was worked for.
All American: Homecoming has done a great job in providing the scene of a positive college experience for young black kids, now it’s time to fill that family void. Damon Sims is seeking answers and in some regard, he’s still looking for the love from his birth parents.
Having them all sit down will not be an easy task. It was explained why he was given up but now comes the healing process. In some cases, we hear the story of parents giving kids up due to drug, or money issues but his case was a bit different. Not only was Damon left in the dark regarding the secret, so was his birth father.
Let’s not forget that Jesse believed that Damon was born out of deceit. He believed that his wife cheated on him and had Damon and yet, he tried his best to provide a home and love for a kid he thought wasn’t his. Jesse was told he couldn’t have more kids but that was not the case.
As angry as Damon is, imagine the shock that Jesse is going through learning the truth as well. He thought he gave Damon to his biological father when in essence, he gave up his own flesh and blood. How hard is that to come to terms with? He learned the truth the same way Damon and everyone else did.
Season 2 will have its tough moment for sure, but this has to be resolved. The same way that All American made Spencer resolve his issue with his father, this has to happen for Damon as well. All it takes is the first real sit down and we can go from there.
Season 2 of All American: Homecoming will begin October 9th at 9 p.m. on CW.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
