"If Only You Knew" is the fourth episode of the first season of All American: Homecoming. It first aired on March 14, 2022.
Synopsis[]
MEMORIES - With Athletic Alumni weekend in full swing, Simone must juggle playing doubles with Thea, and trying to spend time with an unexpected guest. Damon's growing relationship with Simone hits a snag, so he focuses his efforts on the alumni game. Amara and Coach Marcus' past comes to the forefront when they run into an old classmate. Cam confides in Keisha about his plans to get back on the field. Meanwhile, JR is excited to spend time with his parents but learns of some shocking family news instead.[2]
Plot[]
Simone finishes her duties for the athletic alumni week as she's helping with the arrangements. Cam doesn't have to go tot he game but just the dinner. Keisha passes on the chance to go. Simone meets JR downstairs while Keisha and Damon joke.
Simone and JR talk about the baby photo, with neither one wanting to confront the adults in their lives during alumni week. Damon walks over and asks if everything is good. They each feign innocence then tag a bag of his chips.
JR tells the crew about the alumni games he went too as a kid, with Damon wanting to win the game. Cam calls baseball a fake sport that he can play even while injured. Damon argues that it's a premium sport. Cam was a baseball player until he "became a man" and chose "a mans sport", football. A girl overhears and Damon introduces himself, with her remarking her love for baseball. He tells her about the exhibition match so she gives him her number, introducing herself as Erica before leaving. Simone calls out Erica's act but Damon doesn't think it was an act. Keisha jokes that she's checking out something but it's not the game. A student tells Keisha the toilets are overflowing so she leaves, followed by JR who needs to clean his room, and Cam who just leaves. Damon and Simone work on their essay together.
Amara and Marcus talk during the morning alumni prep. He's suiting up for the alumni game. Candace, a track alumni, spots Amara and they hug, before she sees Marcus and hugs him too. She mistakes the pair for being back together, but Marcus quickly clarifies they're just friends before leaving.
Simone fell asleep on Damon's shoulder and he watches her sleep before trying to fall back asleep too. Keisha is showing Jordan to Simone's room when they find Simone and Damon on the couch.
Now in her dorm, Simone explains the situation to Jordan. She didn't know he was coming. He thought he'd fly out to surprise her. She assures him nothing happened and he believes her. He doesn't like Damon so she pretends to redo the entire surprise. She hugs him happily as it's a wonderful surprise. She likes his smile much better. She has tennis practice but offers to go to lunch with him. Nate is out of town so they have the entire room to themselves. Jordan, however, booked a room at the St. Regis. She gives him the gym card and leaves for practice.
JR and Damon talk about the situation that morning. Damon asks JR what was going on with him and Simone last night, and presses him for details, but JR calls him out for being possessive over someone who has a boyfriend. Marcus tells the team that he's not coaching as he's playing, but has elected JR as the interim coach. JR's father arrives along with the rest of the alumni. As everyone greets their parents, Damon watches.
Simone and Thea are paired up for the alumni matches tomorrow, as one of the donors specifically requested to play against Simone. Thea tells her to get water as she'll be there for a while.
Baseball practice starts with JR's father pitching to his son, all of which he hits perfectly. Jesse explains that JR's mom had to work last minute so they will meet her for dinner. Jesse calls Damon over to pitch, and JR watches as Damon tosses the Rison in the air the same way Jesse does. JR misses Damon's pitches. Jesse tells Damon he has potential to bring the team to greatness.
Cam visits Keisha thinking she's avoiding him, and she remarks that his sticky note apology is not good enough after what he did. He goes to leave again until she asks how he's doing with the diagnosis. He's fine as the scholarship is on hold and he's going through with surgery so he can play next season. She's confused as to when this happened as his risk of rupture was low. He would rather play football over any risk, and calls out her hatred for medicine. This is his decision, not hers.
JR asks Damon about his routine with the rosin bag and the hand tosses he does. Damon just does it because it's natural. JR notices Damon looking at his phone and mentions that Simone won't be texting him with Jordan in town. Damon defends himself as not waiting for Simone. JR wonders if Jordan will come to the dinner at Dr. Patterson's, with Damon telling him to shut up. JR continues to bust on Damon who leaves to do a paper. He reminds Damon about the 5pm practice before dinner, and invites him along to the game with his father. Once out of ear shot, Damon calls Erica.
Keisha and Simone talk about the changes in her plans with Jordan for the evening. Keisha asks if Cam has always been hard-headed which confuses Simone, since she thought they were just hooking up. She thinks Keisha is catching feelings, and Keisha mentions Simone's feelings for Damon. Simone assures her things are fine.
Jesse tells JR that he has to skip the game as the alumni crew is going to a bar instead. He suggests JR take on of his friends instead.
Simone and Jordan are at the alumni party when Damon and Erica arrive. They have an awkward conversation before separating. Damon sits with JR and the other guys. JR gets a text from his mom that she won't be there until the morning. Marcus arrives with a plate full of food, so JR asks about Tito's. Marcus doesn't know anything about the players hanging out there before the event. JR sees his father across the room and leaves until the HBCU slideshow starts, talking about the HBCU legacy at the university. Jordan notices Simone looking at Damon across the room.
Amara sees Ralph and calls him over to her table. She asks about the article she pitched him as the school might be in trouble, but she needs to do more research. He tells her to come by the office, which she calls a date, though he assures her that she'll know when he takes her on a date. Marcus sees them as he walks over, so Amara introduces them to one another. She offers to walk Ralph out. Jesse tells Marcus that he put Marcus's card in the slideshow. He asks what happened to his pro days, with Marcus reminding him of his injury.
Amara and Candace catch up as they reminisce about their pasts, including her relationship with Marcus. Jordan and Simone walk over, with Amara quickly asking Jordan about his school. Candace tells Simone about Amara's college days, including her semester off. Simone excuses herself to use the bathroom, with Jordan watching her go. Amara assures him that he has nothing to worry about. If they have trust and communication they can make it work. He remarks on Simone liking it at Bringston, knowing Amara is a big part of that. Amara mentions the panic attack and how it was the wake-up Simone needed, and Jordan visibly didn't know about that. He excuses himself.
Simone tells JR about the semester that Amara took off from college, thinking it was so she could give birth. JR isn't convinced as his father is acting weird. The way Jesse and Damon play are like mirror images of one another. Simone asks JR if he's ready for the possibility that he could be Damon's sibling, and he isn't sure. Jordan then pulls her aside.
Jordan confronts Simone about the panic attack she had. She didn't want to lean on him for every problem. She's trying to be an adult, after all. Jordan asks if she leaned on Damon, and she tries to explain that Damon just happened to be there. He asks what's going on between them and she promises it's nothing serious but she can't tell him yet. She asks him to trust her but he can't, so he decides to go back to the hotel - alone.
JR asks Damon about skipping practice and then showing up to the party with Erica. Damon dismisses him, with JR venting that Simone has a boyfriend and is unavailable to anyone. He almost lets it slip that Damon could be her cousin, but catches himself in time. Damon asks what he was going to say as he know JR is hiding something. Marcus appears to tell them at one of the alumni's is too hungover to play. They need a ninth player or they forfeit. Damon asks if they have to be an alum, which Marcus doesn't care about right now. Damon asks Cam to fill in during the alumni game since baseball is so easy for him. He plays to Cam's ego and the boy folds to the pressure.
Thea and Simone stretch as they warmup for the match. The alums arrive and one of them is Thea's grandmother. She greets both women, and she was impressed by Simone's clip. She wants to play against both because they're the best. Thea warns that se should take it seriously. Simone runs over to Jordan and he's excited to see her play, but promises they can talk later.
Both alumni games begin, with JR making snide comments to Jesse that throws him off his game. Thea and Simone fumble some of their returns. Damon waves all of JR's signals, and Jesse ultimately hits a home run. JR confronts Damon leading to a heated argument on the field. Simone and Thea collide on the court which makes the other team win. Jesse talks to JR after the game and JR confronts him about flaking last night. He wishes Jesse stayed in Macon instead of coming to the game.
The Lions prepare to play again. Damon apologizes to JR as he didn't have his back out there. He's been distracted lately. He doesn't know what's going on with JR and his father, but they have to talk it out. Damon can't talk to his father about anything, but JR can, which is a blessing. JR thanks him and jokes about blowing it as a coach. Damon thinks they can salvage the game together. Damon strikes out the next few players, with one player getting to first. Jesse is up at the plate and hits, but they manage to get him out in time.
Simone and Jordan walk together as she admits that she hasn't been completely honest with him about Damon. She thinks Amara might be Damon's birth mother. She didn't want to keep it from him but also doesn't know for sure yet. But if it's true, it isn't her secret to tell in the end. Damon doesn't even know she's looking into it. Jordan begins to laugh as he thought she was going to break up with him. She promises he can't get rid of her that easy, but asks him to keep it to himself. Jordan thinks she should tell Amara, likening the situation to her wanting to know where Shay was. He tells her to trust her heart. Jordan realizes that Damon might be her cousin, which makes him laugh.
Marcus sees Cam outside the school and thinks it's about him losing the game, but its not. Coach Mills cleared Cam to play and Marcus understands what Cam is going through. Cam misses playing as he played his whole life. Marcus tells him about his time in the minor leagues. He would have done anything to stay in the game, but he did some things that lost him everything because he didn't know when to walk away. He suggests figuring out what he'll do outside of sports.
Simone tells Amara her entire theory about how she thinks Amara is Damon's birth mother. She just assumed after everything that Amara was his mother. Amara begins to laugh then assures Simone that she is not Damon's birth mother. She suggests Simone sign up for creative writing classes. Simone is relieved that Damon isn't family. Amara asks about Jordan and things are good now. Simone leaves for a dinner date with him.
Simone and Jordan hang out in the dorm together. She's thinking about how lucky and dumb she is. She almost lost the best thing in her life. He assures her she isn't dumb, and Amara was right about making their relationship work if they try. She sits on his lap and assures him, cousin or not, Damon is her friend and she needs him to be okay with that. He decides he'll have to be. They love each other and share kisses.
Amara tracks down Marcus who admits that Ralph seems young for her. She needs to know what happened between them, as their relationship just ended after he left for the minors. He explains they were different people and wants to leave it in the past.
Cam visits Keisha to tell her that he's holding off on surgery for now. She's glad to hear he's waiting, but he's been an ass twice when she's been helpful. He apologizes as she's right. He did appreciate her help and advice, admitting that he was an ass. She asks if he wants to talk about it but he thought they just did. He asks if she wants to spend time with him more and they end up hugging on the couch.
Simone pulls Jordan in for a goodbye kiss and he promises to come back for the holidays. He leaves as Keisha spots them, calling her out for her violation of the rules. She's glad everything worked out, though, and didn't see the violation.
Damon and Simone talk in the lobby about his game. He missed having her around that weekend as he relies on her. She relies on him too, on their friendship. She asks him what's been going on and he couldn't help but think one of the alums is his birth parents. That weekend helped him make a decisions to search for his birth parents. She didn't know he was considering that, but he's realized that he can't deny his feelings anymore. He wants to know for himself. Erica arrives looking for Damon, and he leaves with her. Simone watches him leave, then texts JR about his discoveries.
Jesse visits JR as Jr needs the truth from him. Jesse sits down and admits that he didn't want to say anything until he and JR's mom could tell him together. They're getting divorced and he'll be moving out of the house. The Braves game was the only time the divorce attorney could meet. He knows JR has a lot of questions and he can't answer them all. JR gets Simone's text than angrily leaves the dorm.
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 "J.R." Raymond
- Camille Hyde as Thea Mays
- Mitchell Edwards as Cam Watkins
- Netta Walker as Keisha McCalla
Guest Starring[]
- Robert Bailey Jr. as Ralph Wells
- Joe Holt as Jesse Raymond Sr.
- Monique Green as Erica Howell
- Karan Kendrick as Candace
Special Guest Star[]
Co-Starring[]
- Ari Beverly Carter as Imani
- Monica Parks as Granny Mays
Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song "If Only You Knew", originally sung by Patti LaBelle.
Multimedia[]
Soundtrack[]
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Gallery[]
