The CW’s All American celebrated a monumental milestone on Monday night (May 27) as the show reached 100 episodes, a huge accomplishment in the current ever-changing television landscape.
Titled “100%,” the episode was directed by series star Daniel Ezra, who plays Spencer James, and saw a nostalgic trip down memory lane as Spencer revisited all the football fields he’d ever played on. Some old friends also joined him along the way.
Speaking to Deadline, Ezra said showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll called him about directing the milestone episode, noting that it was a no-brainer decision.
“[Carroll] called me to say, ‘So this season we’re going to hit our 100th episode. We think it’s only fitting that you direct it.’ But she warned me, ‘It’s going to be a lot of work. There is no scenario where you’re going to be light in that episode,’” Ezra recalled.
Ezra, who had previously directed two episodes of the hit sports drama, said that if he didn’t say yes, he would have regretted it “forever.”
In the episode, Spencer worries about the looming NCAA championship game and decides to revisit his old Pee-Wee field, South Crenshaw High, and Beverly High. While there, he has enlightening conversations with his mom, his old Crenshaw buddy Chris (returning guest star Spence Moore II), Asher, Jordan, and Coop.
“All those fields mean something to me, just as an actor,” Ezra told Deadline. The return trips culminated in a visit to the Rose Bowl, where the show had shot in Season 1 under much tighter restrictions.
“We weren’t allowed on the field,” Ezra remembered of the Season 1 shoot. “To come back six years later to scout it and walk through the tunnel was a very, very poignant moment for me.”
The episode also sees Spencer trying to make sense of his recurring dreams from his fallen Crenshaw friend, Shawn Scott (Jay Reeves). Later, he understands why Shawn keeps visiting him, realizing his old friend wanted him to work through “whatever I had emotionally brewing underneath, so that I can be ready for whatever the future’s got waiting for me.”
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“We just started talking about ghosts of football fields past, [which] just kind of emerged as a theme even before we got into the writers room,” Carroll told Deadline about the decision to take a trip down memory lane.
Carroll continued, “A part of the whole fabric of the show is the fact that Shawn protected Spencer so that he could achieve this dream without Spencer realizing that. He put a halo of protection over him in the neighborhood to make sure that he was one of the ones that made it out. So, as he was approaching arguably the biggest game of his career to date, it only felt right that Shawn be part of that.”
In the end, the Golden Angeles won their big game, with Spencer scoring the game-winning touchdown.
All American premiered on The CW on October 10, 2018, and has run for six seasons. The currently airing sixth season was recently greenlit for two additional episodes, expanding the season from 13 to 15. There has been no word yet on whether there will be a Season 7.
All American, Mondays, 8/7c, The CW
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