Will the major cast exit ahead of All American Season 6 impact the show?

All American fans were shocked to hear about a cast exit ahead of the Season 6 premiere. How does this affect the show?

Hunter Clowdus shared that he wouldn’t be in the sixth season. There was a lot to unpack from his exit statement, particularly as he hinted about issues behind the scenes.

However, focus quickly moved to the All American Season 6 premiere, which saw a time jump of more than a year. A lot of focus was on Liv in Londonthe and how her extending her program would affect her relationship with Spencer.

The time jump could help prevent JJ’s exit impacting All American

By having a 15-month time jump in the series, the impact of JJ’s departure could end up being lessened. After all, we know that lives can change a lot in a year. Plans don’t always work out, and friendships can change. It doesn’t matter how much we say we will stay in each other’s lives, that doesn’t always happen.

The last we saw JJ, his friends gave him the intervention that he needed. He moved back to the beach house to focus on his mental health. That doesn’t mean he had to stay there.

The time jump allows for Hunter Clowdus’s exit to be one of those things mentioned but not heavily focused on.

A lack of focus on mental health

I did find the decision to take JJ out of the story disappointing. Mental health is a huge problem around the world. Men are less likely to talk about depression and suicidal thoughts. One intervention doesn’t change everything. There is always a chance of someone relapsing or closing in on themselves again. I would have loved to see All American focus on that. Give us a chance to see how JJ’s friends could have continued to stand by him or show us how our own problems can end up at the front of our lives and we forget about the things others are going through.

A lot of TV shows do have a problem with showcasing the realities of mental health, though. Bar the storyline that involved the death of the character, The Magicians has been one of the best shows to bring up that mental health issues and suicidal thoughts don’t just go away. They creep up on us, or they are always at the back of our minds and come up when tragedy strikes.

The series does have a chance to right a wrong through another character, though. Patience survived the stabbing and was rocked to find out that Miko had been released. She had a panic attack on stage when she was supposed to perform because of this. Now, writers, do Patience right in fully developing this and showing how panic attacks can happen due to all sorts of triggers.

All American airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.