The following post contains spoilers for the “All American” final season premiere.
It’s going to be a very long week for the “All American” crew.
After more than a year off the air, the CW drama has returned for its eighth and final season — a swan song that will stretch one week in the characters’ lives across 13 episodes. And if Monday’s two-episode premiere was any indication, the next seven days will be some of the show’s most eventful ever, especially for Alexis Chikaeze’s Amina.
During the premiere, Amina — who’s been upstate at the Dinsburg boarding school — unexpectedly comes home to Crenshaw, ostensibly for “Dead Week,” the week before finals at Dinsburg when all classes are canceled so students can study for their exams. But it’s painfully obvious that Amina is really home for personal reasons, and only KJ (Nathaniel Logan McIntyre) knows what’s going on with her, as evidenced by a late-night conversation they have in the premiere’s closing minutes.
“So, I’m guessing that no news wasn’t good news?” KJ asks Amina. “Dinsburg found out?”
“KJ, it’s bad. It’s really bad,” she tearfully replies. “And I don’t know what I’m gonna do, and the minute my dad finds out, I’m done.” KJ wraps her in a hug as she cries, and… roll credits!
Showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll is, of course, reluctant to share specifics about Amina’s predicament, which will unfold in upcoming episodes. The best she can do right now is tease that Amina’s secret “will end up spilling over and affecting almost everyone’s lives,” she shares with TVLine, adding with a laugh, “And that’s all I can say about that!”
But Carroll can at least confirm our suspicions that Amina and KJ — who, you’ll recall, are not dating; KJ is with Tori (Lauryn Hardy) — have deepened their friendship in the last six months, largely due to Amina’s current dilemma. According to the EP, upcoming flashbacks will fill in the gap between Seasons 7 and 8, “and we’ll actually realize, ‘Oh, this is how they became so close,'” she says.
“In the process of [growing their friendship], there’s been a lot of secret-keeping from others — especially Tori, who is KJ’s girlfriend — and the other close friendships in their lives,” Carroll hints. “That starts to feel like betrayal. So there will be a lot of drama and fallout from just how close KJ and Amina have become, considering she is upstate.”