American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez episode 4 sticks to fiction over facts (Recap and review)

Aaron Hernandez joins the New England Patriots in American Sports Story episode 4. But more than anything, this episode is about Aaron's relationship with his older brother DJ. Not caught up on the sports drama? Stream the episode on Hulu before reading ahead. 

Spoiler alert! Please note there are spoilers below as we’ll be diving into American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez episode 4. 

The episode kicks off with DJ (Ean Castellanos) and Aaron (Josh Andrés Rivera) as young kids. After a game with his friends, DJ goes inside his house to find Aaron to see if his little brother wants to join the next game. The house is quiet and Aaron’s room is suspiciously locked. DJ knocks and tries to open the door. Aaron and DJ’s uncle Robert exits the room. He tells DJ that he was just giving Aaron his birthday money and leaves. 

Clearly, something more happened behind closed doors. Aaron is sitting on the bed looking down. DJ asks Aaron if he is okay, but his little brother rushes out of the room, shoving DJ on his way out. 

Now, it’s true that Aaron claimed to have been molested as a child. As several sources have confirmed, Aaron shared this with his attorneys and a few others. However, Aaron never revealed who it was that sexually abused him. Insinuating that it was Aaron’s uncle who committed this crime is part of the fiction added to the series for dramatic purposes. Still, it works well with the story Stu Zicherman put together for Sports Story. 

American Sports Story episode 4 is, at the center of it all, about brothers Aaron and DJ. Even as a little kid, DJ knew something was not right when his uncle stepped out of Aaron’s room. But he’s a child, what was he supposed to do? 

A tale of two brothers

In present time, DJ becomes Aaron’s right-hand man. DJ may be jealous of Aaron’s success and promising career, but he is loyal to a fault. Despite it all, DJ has his little brother’s best interest in mind and he is ready to guide Aaron through it all. So when DJ pursues Aaron to train with agent Brian Murphy (Thomas Sadoski) at Laguna Hills, California, Aaron agrees. 

Murphy promises to help train Aaron to make a good impression at the NFL drafts. And he does a pretty amazing job! Part of his lessons include controlling his anger and how to respond to any question with humility and calm – something we know Aaron can use some practice on. 

While in California, Aaron meets his physical therapist, Chris (Jake Cannavale), and is immediately attracted to him. It’s not clear if the feeling is mutual. That is, until Chris invites himself into Aaron’s hotel room. 

During all this time, though DJ’s focus has truly been on Aaron, he does ask Murphy for help in finding a job. Ideally, DJ wants to be considered as a practice squad quarterback. Unfortunately, Murphy suggests that DJ would make a better coach.  

It’s NFL draft time! 

Ahead of the big day, Aaron takes the Wonderlic Personnel Test, which all NFL player hopefuls are required to do. Some of the questions on this test include whether Aaron feels he can easily trust others and if he enjoys spending time with family. When the results come in, Murphy is not happy. Aaron scored a one out of 10 in social maturity. Murphy is upset, but shrugs it off saying that Murphy is only 20-years-old. 

This is yet another hint towards the fact that Aaron Hernandez was not ready to leave high school, much less join the big leagues. Aaron needed help, and those around him failed him miserably. Instead of looking out for him, Aaron was pushed to his limits all because of greed. Well, that’s the way Sports Story portrays it to be. 

The one good person in Aaron’s corner is his older brother DJ. The two fight when Aaron isn’t drafted after the first few rounds, blaming his brother for insisting he train with Murphy. DJ gets mad and yells back at Aaron to take responsibility and stop blaming others. DJ also yells that it should be him with all of these opportunities, and not Aaron. Then, Aaron accuses DJ of not protecting him as a big brother should. We get flashbacks of young Aaron and his uncle Robert. The two leave after they are separated by their cousin Tanya (Lindsay Mendez). 

If Aaron and DJ were acquaintances, they may not have spoken again after that explosive fight. Or, at least, not for some time. However, Aaron and DJ are brothers and will be there for each other no matter what. So when DJ hears Aaron’s name on the TV during the fourth round of the NFL draft, he jumps up overjoyed and rushes out the door to go congratulate his brother. Before DJ can get in his car, Aaron is seen running across the neighborhood ready to greet him. The brothers hug as they celebrate. It’s like their fight just hours ago never happened. 

Sports Story is about to change gears so I hope you enjoyed this episode about the deep bond between Aaron and DJ because events are about to get intense! American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez episode 5 premieres on FX next Tuesday, Oct. 8, and streams the following day on Hulu.