After a tough year under the shadow of an immense loss, the vortex is ready for summer break and looking towards the future. With grief comes healing and although Billy will always be a part of their lives, everyone is finally feeling ready to move forward with a clear head and no regrets. While the episode appeared to end on a positive note for everyone, it almost seemed too good to be true and indeed, it was. The final scene was a complete shock and for a group that just got out from under the dark shadow of grief, the impact is sure to leave everyone reeling in more ways than one.
Clearly J.J. is back to his old self again, stirring the proverbial pot right from the beginning of the episode. He finds an engagement ring in the back of one of the cupboards at the beach house and confronts Jordan, Spencer and Asher with it. They all play it cool and provide absolutely no clues to viewers, as to which one of them is planning on popping the question. Unfortunately, J.J. leaves the ring box open on the counter, and Jaymee assumes that Asher has left it there for her. She heads to get advice from Layla, and confides that she doesn’t want to get married because of its archaic connotations.
The episode featured everyone struggling with their feelings, providing little to viewers as to who could be thinking of proposing. The obvious guess would be Asher, but the show is all about drama and there is no way that it would end up being that predictable.
Spencer is clearly struggling with Olivia’s impending departure to London, England for the summer, despite his incessant denials to his friends and family members. Dillon’s new girlfriend, Nikki, joined the James family breakfast and although she has her quirks, she provided Spencer with some sound advice. She told him that he should be honest about his feelings for Olivia. Spencer has planned a special day for Olivia, but first, he presents her with an incredibly touching gift from him and Grace, a quilt made from pieces of Billy’s uniforms and t-shirts.
After an outing to Beverly High complete with sushi, their first meal together, Spencer takes Olivia to the beach house, where a surprise party awaits complete with the entire vortex crew.
Meanwhile, The Bakers try to keep their tradition of having breakfast together once a month alive, but staring at the empty chair at the table where Billy should be seated, proves to be too much for Jordan. He ends up at Crenshaw high and runs into Preach, who offers a listening ear, but Jordan brushes him off. He opens up to Layla and tells her that he has been missing his dad a lot lately. Throughout the episode, it was clear that Jordan was struggling and while at first it seemed like perhaps he was just missing his dad, it became obvious that there was more at stake when he picked a ridiculous fight with Layla after she tackled him during a game of beach football. He decided to take Preach up on his offer and met up with him for coffee. Preach shared words of wisdom with Jordan, courtesy of Billy Baker. He told Jordan that life is fleeting, and he shouldn’t waste it fighting with the people that he loves.
Patience gets on Coop’s case about not making things right with Skye. She tells Coop that if she loves Skye, she should forgive her and move past her indiscretion. Coop takes Patience’s advice and meets up with Skye, but although she forgives her, she isn’t interested in re-kindling their relationship. She still has feelings for Patience and it wasn’t until she saw her kissing Skye that she realized it. Coop makes a deal with Spencer and tells him that she will talk to Patience about her feelings, if he talks to Olivia about his. Spencer is stubborn and always puts the happiness of others before his own. As much as he wants to tell Olivia about his feelings, he knows it will make her want to stay and that is the last thing he wants. He broke up with her the first time because he didn’t want to stand in the way of her chasing her dreams, he isn’t likely to stand in her way again.
As everyone gathered around a bonfire on the beach, sharing kind words about Olivia, Spencer decided to share a private goodbye with her after everyone left. In true Spencer fashion, he put Olivia’s happiness first, and allowed her to leave before telling her how he truly felt. Jordan tells Spencer that he lives everyday regretting all of the things that he never got to say to his father, and shares Preach’s words of wisdom about not living with regrets. Spencer races to the airport and catches Olivia, just before she boards her flight. The two expressed their love for one another and after sharing a passionate kiss, Olivia embarked on her summer adventure. The two have spent so much time apart, that three months is nothing in comparison to forever. This moment between the two is everything that Spelivia fans have been waiting for all season long. It was raw, intense and filled with so much more meaning after everything the two have been through. Now, more than ever, they know that they need to be together. The best part about it, is that Spencer still encouraged Olivia to go to London. They can be together and still continue working towards their individual dreams in life, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Realizing that is truly a full circle moment, and their relationship will be that much stronger for it.
After that heartwarming moment, the question of the ring still lingered. Who was planning on proposing?
Asher was upset when his father was less than impressed with the baby news, going so far as to tell Asher that having the baby is a mistake, and insinuating that Asher was a mistake, too. Asher made it clear to his father that if he wants to be in the baby’s life, he has to try harder to be a better man than he was when Asher was growing up. Jaymee told Asher that she loves him, but doesn’t feel that they need to be married to spend forever together and he agreed. He confirmed that the ring wasn’t his. The two also found out the gender of their baby, Jaymee is having a boy. Asher is a good man with a great head on his shoulders, despite his parents being poor role-models. He is going to be a great father to his son, much better than his father was to him.
So if it wasn’t Spencer or Asher’s ring, that leaves Jordan. The reason he was acting so strangely and picking fights with Layla is because he was nervous about proposing. He proposed to Layla on the beach, and although she is taken aback, she does not hesitate to say yes. When Jordan falls for someone, he falls hard and gets swept away by his emotions. Jordan has been down the marriage road before with Simone, so it feels way too fast for him to be heading down that road again with Layla. Although Jordan wears his heart on his sleeve, Layla is more rational and level-headed. She would not have agreed to marry Jordan, if she didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do. Regardless, hopefully the two stay engaged for a while and don’t rush down the aisle too quickly.
Just as viewers were basking in the glow of everyone’s happy endings, the final scene happened, promising to rock everyone to their core. Coop received a text from Spencer, telling her that he made good on his side of the bet, now it was her turn. The next scene was Patience answering the door, to whom viewers assumed was Coop, except it wasn’t, it was Miko and before Patience could react, Miko stabbed her right in the abdomen. The final scene had Patience pulling the knife out while sitting in a pool of her own blood, shocked by what just happened. Everyone is still fragile from losing Billy and if Patience dies, it could bring so many of the vortex members back to their breaking point, especially Layla and Coop.
It is going to be a long summer hiatus for viewers, hopefully the WGA is given the fair deal that they deserve, so the break isn't made even longer. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts, All American fans! What did you think of the episode? Are you pumped that Spelivia finally got back together? Will Patience survive and if she doesn’t, how will it affect the others? Share your thoughts below and follow me on Twitter @MiddleofCanada.
