The Television Critics Association wrapped up its 2024 Winter Press Tour today with its final destination: The CW. All American executive producers Nkechi Okoro Carroll and Jamie Turner joined cast members Daniel Ezra (Spencer James), Samantha Logan (Olivia Baker), Michael Evans Behling (Jordan Baker), Greta Onieogou (Layla Keating), and Bre-Z (Tamia “Coop” Cooper) for a panel discussion about Season 6, which premieres in April.
The cast and creatives discussed upcoming storylines, what makes the All American universe work so well, and what the future might have in store for fan-favorite couples Spencer and Olivia (dubbed “Spelivia”) and Jordan and Layla (“Jordayla”). The Nerds of Color was able to attend the panel in Pasadena, CA. Here’s what we learned!
Although The CW has undergone significant changes since Nexstar Media Group acquired the network, showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll emphasized that the rebranding has not changed the core of All American. She said her “vision” for the show “has not changed since Season 1” and that she’s been “so supported in executing that vision.”
The CW is also home to the spinoff All American: Homecoming, which will return for its third season sometime in 2024. “What’s so beautiful about it is that the characters exist in both worlds,” Okoro Caroll said. “It’s like the multiverse in my brain.”
When asked what impact [SPOILER] Billy Baker’s (Taye Diggs) shocking death would have going forward, Okoro Caroll said the upcoming season would be less focused on the characters’ grief and more on them trying to live their lives to the fullest in the aftermath of the loss. “Losing a father figure like that is something that you never really get over,” she noted.
As far as relationships go, fans can expect interesting developments for both Spencer and Olivia, who rekindled their romance at the end of Season 5, and newly engaged couple Jordan and Layla.
Daniel Ezra spoke about how spending time apart has changed Spencer and Olivia both as individuals and as a couple. “What we’re going to kick off with is both of them realizing just how much they changed, just how different they are,” he said. “What this new version of Spencer and Olivia looks like … [It’s] very exciting. There’s some really powerful stuff to play with.”
“We’ve been wanting to see Spencer and Olivia together for a long time, and it seemed that there was always something getting in the way,” Samantha Logan chimed in. “We see them this season really just coming together [as] new versions of themselves. … I think ultimately, we are going to see the relationship transform … in a really beautiful way.”
Michael Evans Behling teased that this season will see Jordan “kind of push the envelope” with Layla. “That’s going to cause a little bit of a battle,” he said, while also emphasizing that there’s still a “lot of love” between the two of them. “He’s a certified lover boy, and he loves this girl just a tremendous amount.”
“I think as with any couple, when you’re starting to pass that honeymoon phase, there are things that naturally arise that you have to work through,” Greta Onieogou added. “Last season, it was so beautiful getting to see them come together, and build that relationship. And I think this year, we get to see a little bit more of, ‘Okay, what does it mean to have been together for a certain amount of time? What does it mean when your fiancé is an athlete, and you have a business, and you’re trying to manage all of these things, and we’re also planning a wedding?'”
When asked why Jordan — who’s already technically been married once — chose to propose to Layla at their young age, Okoro Caroll said he’s simply a “hopeless romantic” at heart. “The way he falls, he falls hard. It’s like zero to a thousand,” she explained. “With his father passing and … The way Layla showed up for him. There was already so much love there, but going through that [and] what they went through with Layla and her mental health crisis … It’s like, what else is life going to throw at them that they can’t handle together?”
When it comes to Patience [Chelsea Tavares] and Coop, Bre-Z said her character is “very effected” by Patience’s stabbing and that she “will continue to be [very effected] until she can make it make sense in her mind.”
“You know, I think we’ve seen enough from the beginning of this series up until now, how passionate Coop has been about everyone that she cares about,” Bre-Z continued. “And Patience is no different.”
As far as the future of All American goes? Okoro Caroll doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon, even joking that she’d happily continue into “All American: Grandparents.”
“The beauty of the All American universe … Is that it is such a rounded, personal story,” she said. “It’s not just about Spencer, but about all of them. It can just keep going and keep moving through life with them.”
All American Season 6 premieres on The CW in April.
