All American Can Capture the College Experience More Realistically Than Past Teen Dramas

One of The CW’s last remaining teen dramas is finally back, with a catch. All American Season 6 begins with a time jump, skipping ahead a year and three months after the events of the Season 5 finale.

The series centers on Spencer (Daniel Ezra), a star football player recruited from South L.A., and his friend group (aka “the vortex”) at Beverly Hills High. After high school graduation midway through Season 4, the show shifted its focus to life at Golden Angeles University, which most of the group conveniently attends together. The second half of Season 4 and Season 5 covered the ups and downs of freshman year as Spencer juggled college football, his on-and-off relationship with Olivia (Samantha Logan), and hardships like Coach Baker’s (Taye Diggs) unexpected death. The Season 6 time jump then skips over sophomore year entirely and picks up when Spencer and co. are college juniors.

Now, the stakes are higher as everyone navigates all kinds of new situations and challenges, from the pressures of the upcoming NFL draft to relationships. “The whole theme for this season is stepping into their futures,” showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll told Entertainment Weekly. “We’re dealing with a more mature version of Spencer and Olivia .… It’s a new, grown-up version of every character.”

While the new season is off to a promising start, it’s no secret that teen dramas often struggle to find their footing post-high school graduation. Characters moving away, attending separate universities, and embarking on different life paths present a huge logistical challenge, and it’s no wonder so many shows decide to just hit the fast forward button.

All American’s version of the time jump is a fresh twist that could very well pay off, allowing viewers to follow the characters through college without unnecessarily dragging things out or basically doing high school 2.0. The series has the chance to get the post-high school years right and deliver something special — but it should also avoid catapulting the characters into full-blown adulthood too soon.

Many classic teen dramas — The O.C., Dawson’s Creek, Beverly Hills, 90210 — tried to push straight through the college years, to varying degrees of success. Dawson’s Creek initially spread everyone out across the country, which felt reflective of real life, but also made it challenging to maintain the group dynamics. It wasn’t surprising when Dawson (James Van Der Beek) didn’t last long at USC; storylines simply flowed a lot easier when everyone was in Capeside.

One Tree Hill avoided this issue by just skipping over the college years entirely. However, the characters were also unrealistically successful right out of college — for instance, Brooke (Sophia Bush) was literally CEO of a fashion brand at 21. They were also mature beyond their years, with just about everyone married with kids before they were 25. Whether there’s a time jump or not, many teen shows get lost trying to bridge the gap between high school and full-on adulthood.

All American has the opportunity to capture the twentysomething experience more authentically than past teen dramas. Spencer may not be your average college student, given that he’s on track to (hopefully) get drafted into the NFL, but he’s still only a couple of years out of high school. The Season 6 premiere shows him and Olivia struggling to regain their footing after her program in London, which rings true since they’ve spent a lot of time apart. She explains that she needed to stay in London longer to figure out who she is outside of the vortex and Beverly Hills.

This makes total sense — no matter how much she and Spencer love each other, they’re still discovering who they are and what they want to do with their lives. It’s refreshing that Spencer understands this and supports Olivia instead of expecting her to base her entire future around him when they’re only 20.

That being said, Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) and Layla (Greta Onieogou) getting engaged during their freshman year of college in the Season 5 finale feels dangerously close to One Tree Hill territory. It’s not that they’re not a good couple or that it’s out of character, especially for Jordan, who’s still grieving the loss of his father. But it’s a bit ridiculous that Jordan has now been engaged twice (and briefly married once already), yet he’s not even old enough to legally buy a drink. Layla is also somehow already a super-successful music producer, which kind of makes sense given her dad’s connections, but also feels a little like Brooke being a CEO at 21. The couple’s storyline still has the potential to be interesting if the show doesn’t rush things, but they also seem like they’re well into their thirties rather than barely out of their teens.

Another plot that could go either way is Asher (Cody Christian) and Jaymee (Maya Horcher) navigating parenthood. They found out she’s pregnant in Season 5 (when they were about 19), and they welcomed a baby boy, AJ, a few months before the current season. While it’s disappointing that we didn’t really get to see how they handled the pregnancy and having a newborn, the Season 6 premiere does portray Asher having a hard time juggling the baby with his other responsibilities. Although he and Jaymee want to be good parents to their son, having a baby at such a young age is a lot to deal with. It would be great if the series continued to have them realistically struggle to adapt to parenthood rather than just getting the hang of it right away.

Ultimately, although there are a few shows about college, like Felicity, The Sex Lives of College Girls, and the All American spin-off Homecoming, that part of life is still not often depicted on TV. While that’s disappointing, it also makes sense that high school shows are far more popular, since college isn’t quite as universal of an experience. Still, being in your early twenties is a unique, often uncertain time filled with ups and downs, self-discovery, and big changes. With its time jump, All American has the chance to fully explore this stage in life and bring something fresh to the teen drama world.

New episodes of All American air Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

Kelly Martinez is a TV Reporter based in Los Angeles. Her previous work can be found at BuzzFeed and People Magazine, among other outlets. She enjoys reading, spending time with her cat, and explaining the plot of Riverdale to people.