All American boss previews aftermath of that shocking death and how fan-favorites will process grief
WARNING: This post contains spoilers from Monday's episode of All American, "Time."
After Billy Baker's (Taye Diggs) shocking death, his loved ones have a lot to process.
This season of All American will continue by exploring the aftermath of Billy's death, beginning with his funeral in next week's episode. "[Billy] is not a character you say goodbye to easily, so we're going to see our favorite Beverly Hills and South Crenshaw teams really process what losing Billy means," showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll tells EW.
Troy Harvey/The CW Daniel Ezra as Spencer James and Greta Onieogou as Layla Keating
Several of Billy's loved ones — including Laura (Monét Mazur), Olivia (Samantha Logan), and Jordan Baker (Michael Evans Behling) — will have episodes dedicated to their specific journeys with grief in the coming weeks.
"Each of their grief stories is very different and gets centered. In each of their episodes, we give them their moment to process and say goodbye to Billy as we start to get a sense of what his legacy means for each of them," Carroll explains. Framing it this way felt authentic to the writers because each member of the family will process Billy's death differently. "[Laura] outlived her soulmate, and what does life look like for her now without the person that she giggled with in the morning, she had to bounce ideas off or, and could lay her head on his chest and hear [his] heartbeat?" Carroll says.
For Asher Adams (Cody Christian), surviving the crash while dealing with the revelation that he'll be a father gives him a lot to contend with. "No one understands more than Asher right now how fleeting life is," Carroll says. "Without Billy, Asher does not make it to coaching at Coastal California and he doesn't grow into the man who could embrace the news that he's going to be a teen dad, because the Asher we met in season 1 would not have processed it the same way." It's time for Asher to take all of Billy's advice and put it into action.
Troy Harvey/The CW Samantha Logan as Olivia Baker and Monet Mazur as Laura Baker
Losing his second father figure will not be easy for Spencer James (Daniel Ezra) — especially with the way their relationship left off. "Yes, his dad was taken from him too soon, but there was nothing left unsaid and in this situation, with Billy, [Spencer] declined his call. It's not that he missed it, but he actively hit decline and he's going to have to contend with that," Carroll says. Having grieved Corey, Spencer knows how deep Olivia and Jordan's pain is, and in his typical fashion will try to be there for them before taking care of himself. "We're really going to see this nonlinear grief pattern with Spencer. He steps up to be there for the people who need him, but one of those people is himself," Carroll explains.
Carroll is excited for All American fans to see what's to come. "These are the episodes of TV that we are most proud of. When I tell you every single member of the writing staff, cast, and crew brought their special sauce to this," she says. "The reason the theme for the season was always 'rising from the ashes' is because they will have to rise from this and look to a brighter future."
All American airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
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