After a struggling season seven, The CW Network has renewed All American for an eighth and final season. The renewal and expectation for the end closes out an era of teenage and young adult television that the network had become known for previously under its former leadership. All American's seventh season acted as a soft reboot of the show, bringing forward original series leads Jordan, Layla, and Coop with Preach in a recurring role, as the rest of the younger main cast was filled with new faces, such as KJ, Khalil, and Amina. Unfortunately, season seven was never quite able to reach its potential, making narrative and character choices that never quite fit the mold of what viewers had known All American to be. Season eight has the opportunity to fix that as the series draws to a final close.
Season six had delivered a beautiful final season for most of its main cast, and given season seven's cliffhanger ending, season eight now has to work to ensure that the remainder of its characters, original and new, have a conclusive, significant ending as well. For original series leads such as Layla, Jordan, and Coop, season eight has to use them more often in forefront roles. They are the connection to what All American had originally been, and the grounding anchor to the final seasons, especially without Spencer and Olivia around in series regular roles. Coop, Layla, and Jordan still have integral roles left to play in the final season of All American, and it would be wrong to once again push them to the side in favor of the show's newer additions. There are stories to be told with Khalil, KJ, Amina, and Cassius as well, especially regarding how Khalil, KJ, and Cassius could continue to merge into being members of the Baker family. However, season eight needs to be careful in how it splits its screen time. The new additions are a valuable piece of the puzzle, but season eight needs to figure out a way to create a stronger ensemble cast between its original and new characters than what it presented in season seven. With only one season left, there is no time to play the long game with some of these character relationships.
The renewal ensures that KJ, Khalil, Amina, Tori, and Cassius will have a stronger presence on All American's legacy than if the show had ended with season seven, which could have been more easily ignored as a write-off. Season eight has the chance to develop these characters and their relationships while finding ways to further explore their dynamics with the pre-existing characters. Season seven had not taken the opportunities, and season eight needs to in order to justify the final two seasons of the show. All American has the chance to undo the problems it created for itself in season seven, and push forward in a way that can give the characters and storylines in season eight a real, memorable goodbye.
All American needs to commit to exploring Layla and Jordan's relationship as a married couple taking in a young adult rather than having them appear in alternating episodes. Coop deserves the individual growth of exploring her time in law school rather than making her entire storyline about parenting Amina. Season eight needs to prevent itself from making Jordan's anger toward Cassius the central plot line of the entire season, as the animosity between the two of them was shown more than enough in season seven. Season eight needs to give itself a chance to feel like a real season of All American rather than a ghost of its former self. The CW Network's decision to renew the series for a final season gives the series a chance to work toward a real ending for all of its characters and develop a season of television that brings out the best of what this series was and could be. Leave the decisions that hindered the show in the past and move forward. This is not an opportunity that All American should waste.