All American's seventh season concluded on a big cliffhanger as to which team, the Chargers or the Eagles, would win the playoff game between South Crenshaw and Beverly Hills. However, what "Award Tour" did best was highlight the season's slow pacing and storyline issues that have been running rampant all season long. All American's new slew of storylines and characters may have had potential in theory, but its execution struggled to not only create a solid and fast-moving storyline for them, it also blundered in finding a way to balance them with the pre-existing series regulars, who were often moved to the side as a way to bring the show's newest additions, such as KJ, Khalil, Cassius, Amina, and Tori, into the spotlight. "Award Tour" tries its best to cumulate most of the main characters' biggest storylines into one episode, but it ultimately falls short given how the season as a whole was mapped out.
Jordan and Layla's marriage and relationship hold no significant part in the season finale. They appear together briefly, but for the most part, "Award Tour" places their dynamic on the back burner just as it has for most of the season. Instead, the finale places emphasis on their individual arcs. Jordan is forced to step up when Coach Bobby names Jordan as the person he wants to coach the team following an emergency appendicitis. While this decision ensures that Jordan and Cassius will be going head to head, it is not the organic storyline move it wants to be. Although Coach Bobby may have been slowly warming up to Jordan and seeing potential in him, naming Jordan as the playoff game's head coach is more of a storyline narrative excuse than anything. Coach Bobby had never shown that he truly believed Jordan to be the team's best chance over coaches who had been there longer. Had Coach Bobby and Jordan worked things out earlier in the season, then maybe this could have been a more genuine approach. Instead, this storyline, just like many others in "Award Tour," is rushed.
For most of the season, All American is more focused on mystery and shock value, which eventually results in not having enough time to play with the outcome of its own storyline. Keeping it a secret that the Jeremy family was actually related to the Baker family for so long became the plot's own undoing. By the time Cassius reveals the truth, it is already far too late in the season to actually be productive about it. All that is left is anger rather than the chance to move forward or see what these relationships could be. Jordan's continued irritation makes sense to a degree, but it could have been more emotionally devastating had Jordan's rage come from a sense of betrayal had Cassius befriended Jordan rather than constantly being tense with him. Instead, All American chooses to flip their attitudes, with Cassius now being the one attempting to be friendly and reach out while Jordan reacts in anger.
Layla's return to music has awakened parts of her that had been dormant for a while, which apparently includes missing the touring experience. Layla is extremely professionally successful, leading two different businesses. The idea that All American wants to bring back this element of Layla, that was a hands-on music producer who was present for her artists, could have been a fun plot line. It worked when Layla was working with Coop and Patience. Yet, Layla's focus on music appears on and off throughout the season, as her relationship with Elle comes and goes as a focal point. All American never actually shows the aftermath of Layla signing Elle in terms of how it works out or results in controversy. Instead, this plot line jumps ahead to seemingly determining that everything just worked out. Yet, after not touring in years, "Award Tour" now wants to claim that Layla misses that aspect of the job. It could have worked better had season seven actually devoted real time to Layla working as a music producer, seeing her working with Elle in the studio, and turning that into a storyline with more substance. Instead, Layla's storylines have mostly kept her in the Baker house or the cafe.
Coop follows a similar pattern, as All American was far more interested in showing Coop's growing relationship with her professor, Breonna, than it was in actually seeing Coop in the law school classes for which she submitted final exams in "Award Tour." In previous seasons, Coop played an active role by working with Laura. So, seeing Coop's connection to becoming a lawyer being only told through references to her grades is a big step down. Coop's relationship with Amina, which had been a central point all season, is also mostly not relevant in "Award Tour" either, even though Amina has a potentially life-changing decision to make.
Rather than going to Coop, when Amina needs advice about what to do about the many loose ends in her life, she goes to Layla. Caught between schools and realizing that her romantic feelings for Khalil may not be as present anymore, Amina looks to Layla for help. Layla's advice is sound and simple: for Amina to choose herself first and let the rest fall into place. It is good advice, but the plot line itself is another that was introduced far too late in the season to mean anything. Preach brings back news of this school only a few episodes prior, and whatever interview process Amina has to go through to get into this school is not shown on screen. Amina's interest in attending this institution is not even relevant prior to Preach referencing it a few episodes before the finale. Most of Amina's arc throughout season seven had primarily been about her feelings toward learning the truth about her mother and her relationships with KJ and Khalil.
Khalil and KJ's differing initial responses to Amina's news about potentially leaving are also very telling of their relationships with her and how they view her. In KJ's case, he is thrilled for Amina, making it clear immediately that he wants the best for her. In comparison, Khalil's reaction is immediately selfish, viewing Amina as what she means to him in comparison to thinking about what this opportunity could mean for her. Although Khalil has shown that he cares about Amina, and does later on apologize for his reaction and demonstrates his support of her, it is still worth noting as a fundamental difference in how Khalil and KJ each view their relationships with Amina. It also plays out in how they each view Tori as well.
Khalil has barely spent time with Tori. Yet, he has seen enough to state directly just how special a person she is. Meanwhile, KJ, who has spent all season interacting with Tori, needs a final push from Khalil in order to do something about it. "Award Tour" even plays off KJ's love triangle with Tori and Amina when his parents attempt to determine which of the girls has a better chance of getting through to KJ during his bad mood. In the end, it is Jordan who gets through to KJ while Marqui gets through to Khalil, which lights the spark for each team to start playing well, rather than each player constantly being brought down.
For as much emphasis as All American wants to place on Beverly and South Crenshaw's rivalry, that element of the storyline already feels burned out. KJ and Khalil's personal rivalry is seemingly gone, and Cassius has dropped his vendetta against the Bakers, leaving Jordan as the only one who is emotionally invested in this game as a rivalry move. That is not enough to keep up the stakes, and it does not help that All American has not expanded on either team. Yasi, who was a significant character in the season premiere, has been unimportant the rest of the season as Khalil takes over the quarterback position, even though he was never shown to learn the role. Meanwhile, the game itself concludes as the season's cliffhanger, as it is up to a potential season eight to determine the winner of the playoff game.
"Award Tour" is a culmination of bad timing and execution for storylines that deserved more time to breathe. So many characters and plot lines would have benefited from the main plot lines, such as the Jeremy family's connection to the Bakers, being revealed far earlier in the season. By waiting so long to move forward, most of season seven becomes a waiting game where the season finale is either a mix of rushed storylines or ultimately does not come across as being relevant in the first place. No one really moves forward as everyone remains caught in a standstill. The only way season seven actually works is as a foundation for a potential season eight, which would then force these characters, relationships, and storylines forward. If All American were to be canceled with the conclusion of season seven, this journey would be irrelevant, and the show would have been better off ending with season six.
Season seven, as a whole, waited too long to do anything significant, as its original leads get stuck and sidelined while its new additions run in circles, never quite advancing. "Award Tour" may work as a building point for whatever may come in a potential eighth season. However, if that is the case, season eight would need to drive the plot forward with these characters. As it stands, season seven is mostly a suggestion of how difficult a soft reboot of an established series can be. What season seven offered was not enough to satisfy longtime fans, who were hoping for Jordan, Layla, and Coop to be more relevant in the main plot, while also potentially hoping that the reveal of Olivia and Spencer having twin girls would be more than an offhand comment. While there are certainly loose ends that a potential season eight has available to jump into if the series is renewed, the execution needs to improve for the sake of all the characters involved.