American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez Season 1 Episode 5 Review – The Man
In Episode 5 of American Sports Story, “The Man,” Aaron Hernandez’s early rookie days are unpacked, and his struggles with health and bad influences are explored.
Hernandez then gets his first encounter with fellow record-breaking tight end Rob Gronkowski and 7x Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady, Rob being fun and goofy, and Tom being focused and stern. Aaron gets a taste of that strictness when Brady doesn’t let him finish his shower and tells him to pick up the team’s pads. The star tight end also has an intense run in with coach Belichick where he tells his player that it isn’t his job to keep him out of trouble.
“Coach Myer said I need to stay on you. He said the second I let you out of my sight, you’re trouble. But, yeah, I’m not gonna do that,” Belichick said. “This is a man’s team. Be a man.”
As things move forward, Aaron reconnects with his high-school sweetheart Shayanna and even invites her to a team gathering where they meet Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his wife Myra. After leaving the party early, they gazed at the stars, and you could sense the profound connection between them. Shayanna and Aaron get vulnerable with each other and admit that they want to make their own ways in the world.
All Aaron’s hard work had him ready for the moment he had been waiting for, his first NFL game. The Patriots and the Cincinnati Bengals met, and the tight end’s first NFL catch was a 45-yard gain to get the Patriots to the 13-yard line.
Things start to take a turn for Aaron when signs point to something being medically wrong with him. During media day the bright flashes from the camera seem to bother him. A violent streak, which he has been carrying, begins to emerge, especially when he feels controlled by his head coach.
After an encounter with Belichick chastising him for giving other teams “bulletin board material,” Aaron slams his helmet into his locker and shakes with anger. He does the unthinkable when he gets involved with a drug dealer from back home named Sherrod. He is proven to be a dangerous influence and a threat to everything that Aaron had worked for.
Belichick puts Aaron in as a running back during a game against the Indianapolis Colts, and he gets buried on a 3rd down play leading to ringing in his head and dizziness he experiences in the locker room.
Aaron’s world starts to get wild when he runs back into his old trainer Chris. Although both Chris and Aaron are in relationships with women, that wouldn’t stop them from giving in to the attraction they had from day one. While Shayanna boasts about Aaron’s loyalty to her in front of the other Patriots wives, Aaron wakes up with Chris in his bed.
The medical and emotional issues Aaron experiences accelerate as the hits on him get more intense. As his vision weakens, his desire for violence grows stronger, especially after he learns that his mother was slashed in the face with a knife by Jeff Cummings.
With Aaron vulnerable, it’s the perfect opportunity for Sherrod to stick his claws even deeper into the Patriots tight end. Sherrod suggests that he ‘takes care’ of Jeff, leading to an altercation in a dark alley. Aaron punches Jeff to the ground and kicks him incessantly. He then whips out a gun and points it at Jeff’s head.
At the end of this dramatic episode, Aaron gets tackled hard in a game against the Denver Broncos leading him to be slow to get up. Even Shayanna notices it, but he insists he’s okay. This chain of events would lead to the most shocking moment of the series yet. On his ride back home, the tight end comes up to a stop sign. However, once the light turned green, Aaron didn’t move. He stood frozen, his mind overwhelmed by duplicated lights.
The series is saved by the acting of its lead actor Josh Andrés Rivera. He gives multiple compelling performances in this episode. Inaccuracies have been present in the portrayal of Hernandez’s life, but as it’s a Ryan Murphy production, dramatization is to be expected. Episode 6 and the rest of the series will continue to tell the rise and fall of the star Patriots tight end.
It will premiere October 15 on FX and stream on Hulu the next day.
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