All American Boss Warns Season 3's Trauma Will Change Every Character in Season 4

All American finished Season 3 with multiple cliffhangers that put several characters in mortal danger. The CW series returns on Monday and will pick up days after the night of the state championship football game between Beverly and Crenshaw, with questions still lingering about Coop (Bre-Z) surviving getting shot and how Layla (Greta Onieogou) will fare after being stuck in a car with an unstable Carrie (Anne Lore), let alone who actually won the game. 

"There isn't a character on the show that isn't changed in some way by the events of the Season 3 finale," All American showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll told TV Guide ahead of the episode, not dropping any hints about who does or doesn't survive the traumatic events. "We'll be looking at characters who are evolving and adjusting and making different decisions because of everything that happened." 

The trauma from the Season 3 finale will be a catalyst of change for the characters, as Caroll describes the theme of Season 4 as a "rebirth" for the teenagers. "It's almost like we're seeing a new version of them. They're not the same juniors that we met in Season 1," she said. "They're in the back half of their senior year. They're older. They've been through a lot and as a result, we're gonna see a slightly different version of them emerge after the [premiere]." 

It's not just what happens to Coop and Layla that is going to cause complications for this group of friends in Season 4. The results won't be as simple as who gets the ceremonious championship rings. The aftershocks of the game will be present for a good chunk of Season 4. 

"There will be the results of that state championship game that will be discussed frequently and actually have [a] ripple effect in plot points, in opportunities in people's lives, and the directions of people's lives throughout the first half of the season," Caroll teased. "We'll be feeling the effects of that for quite a while." 

And even though the seniors have played the last game of their official high school football careers -- aside from the All American game coming up -- football will remain an active part of the show as the team members grapple with scholarship offers, or lack thereof, and all that comes with that. 

"National Signing Day, combines, recruitment by colleges -- all of that is an active part a high school football player's life, especially elite high school football players. We're really going to be playing out the authentic sort of stories of what happens with college recruitment, the pressure these student-athletes are under, what happens when you don't have as many offers on the table as you're approaching signing day," Caroll explained. "Football will absolutely be at the very forefront of the storylines this season, and, I would argue, in a more intricate and nuanced way in terms of us getting into the nitty-gritty of student athletics, more so than we have before." 

All American Season 4 premieres Monday at 8/7c on The CW.