American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez episode 6: Paranoia sets in (Review)

From the outside looking in, Aaron (Josh Andrés Rivera) couldn’t be happier. NFL dream? Achieved. Money? Plenty of it! A loving partner? Shayanna (portrayed by Jaylen Barron) is everything Aaron could ask for. Yet, Aaron is far from happy. And it’s easy to see why. In fact, his newfound fame and wealth has made his life worse. 

Spoilers ahead if you are not caught up on all six episodes of American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez. Go stream the latest episode on Hulu before reading on. 

Sports Story episode 6, titled “Herald Street,” breaks down the final straw for Aaron. In the episode prior, Shayanna grows suspicious of Aaron’s late nights. Little does she know, Aaron isn’t cheating with a woman, but with a man. We see Aaron struggle with his double life. And for a minute, I really thought he was going to confide in Shayanna, but he really couldn’t get himself to say anything. Instead, Aaron learns that he is going to be a dad. It’s bittersweet news because Aaron is not in a place where he can be a dad. 

Chris really thought he had a future with Aaron. He didn’t plan on hiding their relationship forever. Unfortunately for Chris, Aaron is not on the same page. He is a celebrity now, so he is almost never alone. Eyes are on Aaron everywhere he goes, so he just can’t risk being seen. Aaron’s anxiety and paranoia is at an all-time high. These feelings are not a good combination when you are already dealing with anger and CTE. 

Towards the middle of the episode, all of this mixed with alcohol really gets to Aaon. So when a man at the club accidentally spills a drink on him, Aaron takes it personally and even goes as far as to think the man and his friend, Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, are laughing at him. In reality, it truly was an accident, and no one was laughing at them. Aaron sees them outside of the club and follows them, shooting them both. 

Aaron stashes the car inside his cousin Tanya’s garage. Alexander 'Sherrod' Bradley (Roland Buck III), the only witness, promises not to say anything. He does appear to be loyal, but Aaron knows he can’t fully trust him. So he makes the mistake of shooting him, leaving Sherrod for dead. This is the scene that kickstarted the series, and the one episode 6 leads up to, but doesn’t show. Instead, it only teases what’s about to happen next. Hinting that Sports Story episode 7 is when Aaron will begin to be investigated for the murders.