Winter be Bingeing 26' - All American - Season Eight/Series Finale

The eighth and final season of All American picks up six months after the football cliffhanger at the end of last season and will span just one week in our favourite Beverly and Crenshaw crew’s life. A week that will have them wondering if everything they’ve been through over the course of their lives has prepared them for this moment. A week that will ultimately reunite old with the new, friend with enemy, and alter the course of each of their futures forever.

All American has just streamed its 132nd episode on Stan or The CW back in the USA.

With hunky Daniel Ezra returning for the series finale. Which we really needed. As he was only a guest for seasons seven and eight, the series could have easily ended back at the end of season six. 

SPOILER - even Billy Baker (Taye Diggs) made a cameo at the tail end of the fairly well done finale.

With new cast members  Osy Ikhile, Alexis Chikaeze, Nathaniel Logan McIntyre and Antonio J. Bell becoming regulars at the end of season six. It left a void following Ezra and others departing.

Bre-Z, Greta Onieogou, Michael Evans Behling stuck around for the long haul, after a mass departure at the end of the sixth season. Which truly did have a perfect series finale style ending.

So it was a tall order for this season, this last ever episode.

Which the season's golden moment focused on the issue of ICE agents and their work in the US right now. It was powerful. In my eyes, it saved the season.

At it's origin, All American is inspired by the life of professional American football player Spencer Paysinger and follows the lives of a group of people from both Crenshaw and Beverly Hills after teen Spencer James (Ezra), a rising star football player from Crenshaw whose dream is to make it to the NFL, is recruited by coach Billy Baker (Diggs) to play for his high school team in Beverly Hills.

The series was met with positive reviews from both critics and audiences, with praise being aimed in particular at the football sequences and performances of Ezra, Christian and Diggs. However, it initially got weak television ratings on its broadcast network, but was a sleeper hit when released on Netflix, which helped both to boost its linear ratings and prevent its cancellation, allowing it to stay on air and run for several seasons.

All American has never shone like Friday Night Lights, nor won any awards. However, the show has provided light entertainment since 2018.

It got me through COVID. At times (like the ICE story, this season) it tackled big issues. It is fitting this is the Winter be Bingeing 26' finale. Hopefully tomorrow I will have my RATED post for all series across the last quarter.

The CW has now lost its last original series. It really is in one way an end of an era.

Perfect timing as network TV in the US comes back from a summer break. All American streams all 132 episodes on Stan right now. I think Binge still hosts the (semi) short-lived spin-off All American: Homecoming.

See you in Q4! Wow how is it the end of 2026 already! Fuck!