A month after senior year homecoming, Spencer is awaiting for the South Crenshaw High disciplinary meeting which will decide whether he will be expelled or not for covering up the Chargers' prank against Beverly High. Spencer still refuses to out the perpetrators, despite the risk to his future. Meanwhile, Billy attempts to take care of Willie as he recovers from his heart attack, Olivia decides which college to pick, Layla continues her path to become a music producer without a college education, Asher is given an opportunity to enter a football mentoring program at Coastal California University, and Coop chooses to reveal the truth about the circumstances behind Monique's death to Amina.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Asher is annoyed that Jaymee seemingly guilt trips Jacob to pay for his mentoring fee, as he hates being pitied at.
- Good Stepmother: Despite not being his stepfather yet, Jacob offers to pay a hefty fee for Asher to enter a mentoring program at Coastal California. Asher initially thinks that it was thanks to Jaymee's guilt trip, but it turns out he did it willingly.
- Graduate from the Story: Spencer, Olivia, Jordan, Layla, Asher, J.J., and Patience graduate from high school. While Spencer is not allowed to attend the graduation walk with his friends for lying about the homecoming prank, his friends and family instead organize a private walk just for him near the beach.
- Higher Education Is for Women: Inverted. All of the boys graduate from high school and have plans to enter college. By contrast, Layla graduates but plans to take a gap year, while Coop, who wants to focus on music full time, quit school months ago in favor of taking a GED.
- High-School Sweethearts: Olivia ultimately decides to pick Golden Angeles as her university of choice, though she denies that she does it for Spencer.
- I Am Spartacus: Spencer's friends from both South Crenshaw and Beverly all break into the disciplinary meeting to defend him by saying that they all did the prank. Olivia calls it the "Flashmob Spartacus."
- Secret Test of Character: During their table meeting, Amara warns Olivia that modern journalism is awash with fake news, and she should consider pursuing other venues instead. When Olivia decides that she will become a journalist despite all the challenges, Amara congratulates her, stating that that she merely wanted to test her resolve.
- Taking the Heat:
- Carter chooses to let himself get fired so Spencer can graduate.
- Coop lies to Amina about Monique's real killer, as she doesn't want to strain her relationship with Preach
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