“Welcome home.”
Those were the two words that All American star Bre-Z used to describe the CW series’ upcoming sixth season. New episodes are right around the corner, with the Season 6 premiere set for April 1, and audiences will pick up with the characters more than a year after they last saw them.
Season 5 ended on a bit of tumultuous note for many of the characters. Spencer (Daniel Ezra) and Olivia (Samantha Logan) were finally able to reconnect just as Liv was leaving to spend what everyone thought would be three months in London for an internship. Turns out, it was a bit longer than that.
Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) proposed to Layla (Greta Onieogou). Asher (Cody Christian) began preparing to have a baby. Patience (Chelsea Tavares) was stabbed outside the Baker home, unaware that Coop (Bre-Z) was on her way there to confess she still had feelings she wanted to explore. And, on top of all of that, everyone was still mourning the loss of Coach Billy Baker (Taye Diggs).
Now, Bre-Z teases, it’s time for the characters to return to their roots.
“When I think of Season 6, I think of home,” she said. “We’ve experienced life, but we’re getting back to home base.”
Deadline spoke with most of the cast members ahead of the Season 6 debut. Here’s what to expect from them this season:
Spencer James
“Spencer is very hyper-focused on the NFL now. His NFL dreams are almost like in touching distance now. In high school, it was like a fantasy. And then now he’s in college, it’s kind of become real. He’s focused on rebuilding this GAU team, but it’s a little closer now,” Ezra said of his character.
Spencer James has had his sights set on the NFL since day one. But now, that dream is closer than it has ever been. But it isn’t the only thing on Spencer’s plate this season. He’s got quite a bit to navigate, between tensions in his friendship with Jordan to his new, second-chance relationship with Olivia.
He called Spencer and Jordan’s narrative “one of my favorite storylines” in Season 6.
“They both love that team. Their approach to what happens beyond the team is very different. There’s million ways to it. College players have to face that choice. Do you do the whole four years? Do you jump to the NFL?” he explained. “Spencer and Jordan are on very different paths. Those paths cut across, and then they separate, and they’re crossing, and they separate. It kind of causes tension, because they are on the same team, and they also want to win a championship. You’re definitely gonna see them butt heads, but you’re gonna see that brotherhood returning.”
As for Spencer and Liv?
“They’re still gonna make mistakes, but the one thing that they know is that they love each other,” he said. “We know where they’re going together. How do we navigate that? In such dynamic professions, as we plan, what happens when our objectives don’t align?”
Olivia Baker
Logan had a bit more to say about how Spencer and Olivia will come together over the course of Season 6, explaining that “we’re going to see them really show up for each other and just be in love.”
“I mean, it’s All American, you have to have a little bit of drama. We don’t give people exactly what they want right away. So there is going to be some playful fun in there and fans might want to pull out their hair a little bit, but it’s good. It makes for good TV,” she joked.
Much of their growth actually extends from their time apart, not just emotionally but physically. Olivia’s time in London has given her the opportunity to gain some independence and experience a life outside of Los Angeles.
“When we see her come back, we see her in this new light. She almost seems like herself again. I think her time in London was crucial for her growth and for coming into her own as a young adult,” Logan said. “We’re gonna see her a little more contained and more thoughtful. She’s had a lot going on, just over the course of the show. And so she’s very layered, but I think this is the most mature we’ve ever seen her. She’s gonna jump through some hoops, and she’s gonna hit some some potholes, but she is going to triumph and just really show that she’s come a long way. She’s learned a lot.”
Jordan Baker
Oh, Jordan Baker. Or, as Behling calls him, the show’s “certified lover boy.” While Spencer has his sights set on the NFL, Jordan might be focused on other endeavors. You know, like getting married.
“I don’t think he is going to try to go to the draft this year,” Behling said. “I think he’s just going to enjoy college life, enjoy being engaged man, and focus on his relationship. And if the NFL still comes knocking, he’ll give it another shot.”
That path won’t be linear, though. They are still young adults, after all.
“Jordan can be a very petty person. So whenever something occurs between him and his coach, at a certain point, he almost wants to go to the NFL just to spite his coach. And then Spencer talks him off the ledge,” Behling explained.
Layla Keating
Like everyone else, Layla has a lot going on this season between turning Slauson Cafe into her new lounge space, running her record label, and planning a wedding. While she’ll certainly endure her own struggles this season, expect to see Layla — and everyone else in the Vortex for that matter — continue to show up for friends as well.
“They all grew up together, which is a huge part of how they’re able to continue to support each other. They’re also growing together. A lot of the struggles that we see them go through this season are things that we started exploring earlier on,” Onieogou teased. “So they have a lot of experience being there for each other. You have to find new ways to support each other because all of those things change and develop and they become more complicated as you get older. But yeah, they’re a solid group of friends. So they continue to step up to the plate.”
Layla’s friendship with Olivia has probably seen more strife than most of the friendships on this series, though maybe Spencer and Coop give them a run for their money at times. Onieogou promises that the female friendships, especially between Layla and Olivia, will shine in a bright way.
“One of the things I love most about the show is that all of our female friendships are so strong and so dynamic. Obviously, they can get messy, especially where the boys are involved. But they also they have something very deep and very special on their own,” she said. “I love that we’ve always been able to portray that on our show, especially with Layla and Olivia. Obviously, they’ve been through a lot. But I think at the end of the day, they’re still right there for each other.”
Coop
Coop is more dialed in than ever on her law career, especially because it means helping Patience get justice as well.
“I think she’s found something again to believe in after losing the hope of her ability to perform and be a musician. She’s really focused in a school in her aspirations to be a lawyer. I love that,” Bre-Z said, adding that she and Patience are “trying to find their groove again after just feeling like they needed some separation.”
“Patience’s stabbing undoubtedly made Coop lean in more,” she continued. “Coop is just on a mission to figure things out and just assist her in her healing as much as possible.”
But, Patience isn’t the only person that Coop is going to be reconnecting with this season. Even as they continue to dovetail apart, Spencer and Coop will be rediscovering the foundations of their friendship as well.
“My favorite part about Season 6 is that it brings us back to our ground level. Spencer and Coop are where we started,” she said. “The love and passion for one another, the desire to see each other succeed, be that shoulder, those eyes…being that partner for him, that accountability partner for each other. All of us, chasing a dream, we all get to the point, even at that closest mark, where we start doubting it.”
Preach
Kareem J. Grimes told Deadline that viewers should expect to see Preach “really settle in as a teacher” in Season 6. He’ll also be focused on continuing Billy’s legacy in a big way, considering all that Billy did to help get him his job at South Crenshaw.
“Preach is actually taking that role very seriously, as far as knowing that this was kind of like the last thing that Billy was able to do before he passed, to be able to get Preach a job as a teacher,” Grimes said. “He’s very loyal, and he is making sure that he takes what Billy has taught him and left him with to improve. Everything that Preach is doing this season is a tribute to Billy…There’s unfinished work that needs to be done. He’s gonna make sure he does it in Billy’s honor.”
Laura Baker
“We’ve all had time to mourn and move on, and I think we get to find them happier place, thriving,” Monet Mazur told Deadline. “The kids are doing really well. [Laura] started teaching, and now I’m a professor. I think I’m finding my way in life without my husband.”
She’s also getting to watch her kids thrive as they step into the next chapters of their life. While we won’t get to see Laura’s reaction to Jordan’s new engagement on screen, Mazur says she thinks there was likely less cause for concern than the last time Jordan got down on one knee.
“I think that…[Laura has] known Layla her whole life,” she said. “That was maybe something everyone kind of always knew might happen, that it was sort of a natural, comfortable progression. I’m sure, after the loss of her husband, any sort of loving union is a joyous thing. So it was a good reaction.”
Grace James
As always, Grace James is “still supporting the boys,” Karimah Westbrook said.
“There’s a lot of changes within the family, so I think for my character I’m just adjusting and finding the strength to let go, because i’m going to be an empty nester soon,” she added.
With Spencer on his way to the NFL, Grace will likely have some mixed emotions about her oldest son flying the coop and potentially leaving Los Angeles.
“I’ll be visiting a lot probably,” she laughed. “I’ll definitely be excited, because that was a lifelong dream of his to go to the NFL. I think with any parent, just the idea that your child is getting older and making their own decisions, you have to learn to step back.”
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