Episode 3 recap by Aaron Hernandez

Accordingly American sports history, Aaron Hernandez struggled with two life-threatening vices throughout his young life – two addictions that threatened his college football career and might have prevented him from ever playing in the NFL. If these two insatiable urges had been conquered, Aaron might have lived a healthy, balanced life free of shame and violence. The first is marijuana. The other is sex with men.

I'm just kidding, sort of. There is no risk of this show being fully booked Refrigerator madnessand his portrayal of Hernandez's sexuality did not descend into homophobia. But there's still something simplistic about the way the show pares Hernandez's baggage down to just a few key themes.

“Pray the Gay Away” begins with the Florida Gators' big win in the 2009 BCS National Championship against Oklahoma, a moment that solidifies Aaron's fame on campus but also exposes him to a lot of additional scrutiny and pressure. Of course, that doesn't stop him from engaging in behavior that could get him into trouble. He smokes weed before every workout and avoids mandatory drug tests with a “whizzinator” – a realistic fake cock that straps to his leg and emits preheated, clean urine. Urban Meyer has become increasingly frustrated with the behavior of himself and other players, to the point that the stress and increasingly long work hours are beginning to take a toll on his physical health.

Because time passes so quickly, the series hasn't spent much time on Aaron's relationships with women. Shayanna is out of the picture for now; Aaron has another girlfriend at UF and she doesn't like his weed habit. She's also unaware that he's supposedly the football player who wanders through the shelves in the library bathroom stalls and meets up with guys. Here we see Aaron's famous paranoia kick in, especially when his teammates start speculating about who the gay player might be. He hits aggressively in practice, especially when Meyer briefly swaps him for new QB recruit Jordan Reed.

Aaron Hernandez seems intent on showcasing every meticulous moment of its title character could have changed and taken a different path than the one he took. Here, author Chelsey Lora calls Tim Tebow's mentorship a possible wake-up call; When Tim sees Aaron repeatedly failing Meyer's exams and shirking responsibility, he invites him to a church service. Tim speaks to the congregation that evening before offering further personal wisdom to Aaron, discussing the need to accept Jesus Christ into one's life to combat doubt and the temptation to sin.

Old Aaron may scoff at some of these ideas, but he's currently at a point where he could actually ruin his future if he doesn't stay on the right path. A montage shows his temporary transformation into a good Christian boy, deleting all gay porn from his computer and flushing his weed down the toilet. It goes without saying that these two “vices” and their effects are completely different – ​​Aaron probably is shouldn't I'll take drugs before training, but he probably will should Be more honest with yourself about his sexuality rather than trying to suppress it – but in his eyes, both are preventing him from being the best player he can be.

The hard work initially pays off. The Gators are on an incredible winning streak heading into the SEC championship game against Alabama, which will occur once everyone returns from Thanksgiving break. Meyer even tells Aaron that he is impressed with his growth. But Aaron's trip home to Bristol inevitably leads to a relapse, initially triggered by his anger at Jeff (cousin Tanya's ex-husband) for trying to take his father's place at home with Terri. When Bo later offers him a joint at Tanya's, the temptation to ease his fear is too great.

Back to chain-smoking and smoking joints in the car with Dennis SanSoucie like he used to, Aaron has suffered a “relapse,” both to weed and to men. But Dennis rejects his advances. He marries a woman he met in the Marines and just hopes to blend in without attracting attention. Aaron accuses him of trying to “look like that,” but both men act like it.

Back on campus, Aaron comments on Tim in the chapel, admitting that he messed up at home and wondering if he's destined to sin. Perhaps Aaron's problem is impatience with himself; He takes every setback harshly and fails to truly internalize Tim's wisdom about how faith, like everything, takes practice. In fact, Tim's attempt to get Aaron to focus while letting go of the pressure accomplishes neither. After an undefeated regular season, he finds himself in doubt for the SEC championship, ruining Tim's chance at a national title his senior year.

The loss also deeply affects Meyer, who has a panic attack disguised as a heart attack and realizes that he needs a clean slate with new students. So when Aaron announces his intention to stay here through senior year, Meyer is no longer angry or disappointed in him; He simply doesn't have a place on the team next year. In the coach's eyes, this decision is not a punishment or even tough love. This is a mutually beneficial move: Meyer can start over and Aaron can declare for the NFL Draft and reach new heights in the pros. If the Gators couldn't fix him, maybe another lucky team will. And in the meantime, Meyer will just sweep all the off-field stuff under the rug.

These last two episodes have created an interesting little mini-arc for Meyer. Tony Yazbeck plays him as a noble and somewhat empathetic character who does his best to win championships and make everyone happy, while also struggling with fears compounded by the constant bad publicity for his wayward surrogate sons. But he is also complicit in the poor behavior of players like Aaron, putting his own career ahead of what is truly best for the children. He pretends to be a tough guy but doles out minimal consequences, tacitly encouraging the troublemakers to keep quiet about their indiscretions rather than abandoning them altogether.

“The kid is going to end up in the Hall of Fame or in prison,” Meyer remarks as Aaron accepts the John Mackey Award. It's another eye-roll-worthy line that leans too heavily on the obvious foreshadowing of Aaron's ultimate fate. Like last week's episodes, American sports history Things get pretty interesting when you focus on the way college football teams operate, focusing on the people (usually men) who keep this ecosystem running with as little outside control as possible. But when it spends too much time boiling the main character's demons down to sexual preferences — and an admittedly destructive weed habit — it starts to feel like an after-school special.

• The show hasn't forgotten Aaron's CTE; Director Paris Barclay shows some harrowing shots from Aaron's perspective with pulsating flashes of white and red light after a tackle. But I feel like the show is downplaying this a bit as a central part of Hernandez's story, at least at this point.

• I kind of laughed at the fact that Aaron across the room had just opened some gay porn on his computer.