All American: Why The Season 4 Finale Made No Sense
As All American heads into its 5th season, fans such as myself are left wondering how until they end this remarkable journey? The character that Spencer James is portraying does indeed make it to the NFL but that journey for viewers is left unclear. The Season 4 finale did not offer much in terms of storyline progression either.
Spencer and Olivia are at odds, yet again. Asher may have found a new father figure. JJ is still doing JJ things while shining on the field. Patience and Coop are having their Spencer and Olivia moment with their on/off-again relationship. Layla and Jordan are playing cat and mouse with their feelings and Grace is headed to Oakland for love. But there should be more happening, right?
The main issue with Season 4 was that everything moved at a snail’s pace. TV shows have a window of at least 5 seasons before the axe is dropped. And if that holds up for All American, we very well could be looking at the end of their run after Season 5. But what do the writers have in store?
Related: All American: The Timeline Issue That May Sink The Show
Season 5 ended with Wade confronting Olivia regarding the skeletons in Coach Garrett’s closet and everyone still enjoying their Freshman year. And that’s where things get a bit blurry.
The Homecoming Game just took place and the team ended Season 4 with a 7-0 record. Well, any real college football fan will know that a college season last at least 10 games and that’s without any Bowl Games involved. So, how will Season 5 begin?
Will we be forced to jump forward and take a trip back in time and witness how Wade and Olivia worked together? We will find out how the teams fared for the rest of the season? Will Grace already be in Oakland? Will Jordan and Layla finally have a relationship? But even that causes a problem as the same timelines must work for All American: Homecoming as well.
The writers can’t skip into the future without doing the same for that show. By all accounts, according to the pace of this show, Season 5 will begin right where Season 4 left off, meaning the kids will still be in their Freshman year with no real storyline growth for a show that might not see a Season 6. The writers are playing a dangerous game here.
We all want to see where the rest of the cast ends up, but in order for that to happen, they will need to speed up the process. We can’t keep having the same storylines each season and nothing is ever truly resolved.
Wade may not be a major character but his storyline plays a major part heading into Season 5. At the end of the finale, Jordan was hit with the news that he broke his throwing hand and will be out for a few months. But where does that leave the team? Will they have to turn to Wade who was a Heisman hopeful?
You see, there is no way they can leave these storylines on the cutting room floor and not be addressed. All this does is make matters worse in terms of progression. I’m pretty sure there is a plan in place but as a fan, I’m just hoping they don’t run out of time like many other shows have in the past. Everyone thinks a renewal is guaranteed until it isn’t. Let’s hope that All American avoids the same fate as those shows.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
