All-American: Homecoming Season 2 - Everything You Need To Know
If a show is successful, the odds are very high that a network will try to spin off a few of its minor characters into a whole new program of its own. Spin-offs have been a popular network ploy to keep a franchise fresh since the 1950s, when "The Honeymooners" became a fully-fledged half-hour sitcom after being featured as a segment on "The Jackie Gleason Show" (per MeTV). So it is with The CW's "All American: Homecoming," which has spun off successfully from the very popular drama "All American" after airing its initial episode as a backdoor pilot.
"All-American: Homecoming" focuses on the life of Simone Hicks (Geffri Maya), who served as Jordan Baker's (Michael Evans Behling) girlfriend from Season 2 to Season 4 of "All American." Simone and Jordan break up before Simone leaves California behind to head to the East Coast for college. Bringston University, a traditional HBCU, is an entirely new experience for Simone. She meets a phalanx of fellow freshmen with their own goals. Simone dreams of becoming a tennis star while working her way through her first year of college academically, and the series focuses on the highs and lows of college athletics versus the high school programs outlined in "All American."
The series worked so well that it was picked up by The CW for a 2nd season in May of 2022, just days before the show's penultimate Season 1 episode aired (per Deadline and IMDb) and beating the cancellation curse. The pickup announcement came as no big surprise, as Deadline reported that it's one of The CW's most-streamed series for the 2021-2022 season. Follow us as we tell you everything you need to know about the next step in Simone's journey.
When will Season 2 of All-American: Homecoming air?
Good news for everyone who wants to find out how Simone's sophomore year goes; it seems that The CW will not be holding "All American: Homecoming" for its 2022-2023 midseason slate. Instead, via Deadline, the show will partner up with "All American" and air from 9 to 10 p.m. EST every Monday during the fall and winter months. Both programs will debut their new seasons back-to-back on October 11, per TV Insider. That means the 2nd season should conclude sometime in April or May of 2023.
This is a switch-up for the drama, which took its first bow during February of 2022. It then aired until May of 2022 (per IMDb) as a mid-season replacement. That's definitely a show of confidence from the network and puts a lot of attention on the spin-off's future. Whether "All American: Homecoming" will live up to The CW's expectations or not remains to be seen.
Who will star in the Season 2 of All American: Homecoming?
As of press time, it appears that all of Season 1's regulars will be returning to "All American: Homecoming" for Season 2. That includes Geffri Maya as Simone; Mitchell Edwards as Cam Watkins, a fellow California transfer from Simone's past; Peyton Alex Smith as Damon Sims, a Chicago native whose baseball skills make him a big prospect for Bringston's athletic future; Kelly Jenrette as Simone's aunt, Amara Patterson, a journalism professor at Bringston; Sylvester Powell as Jesse Raymond, Jr., a member of Damon's baseball team; Camille Hyde as Thea Mays, Simone's rival on the tennis court and in social matters; and Netta Walker as party girl Keisha McCalla. You can also expect Cory Hardrict back as Coach Marcus Turner.
In even better news for fans of the show, per Deadline, Rhoyle Ivy King has been promoted to a series regular for Season 2 as Nathaniel Hardin, Simone and Keisha's friend, who happens to be genderfluid. Nathaniel is a stylist who's studying pre-law.
What will Season 2 of All American: Homecoming be about?
The rest of this article contains spoilers for the 1st season finale of "All American: Homecoming."
Several cliffhangers were left unresolved at the conclusion of the show's 1st season, so expect those loose ends to get tied up as "All American: Homecoming" covers Simone's sophomore year. During the Season 1 finale, Thea is left dealing with a torn rotator cuff, which serves as a big opportunity for Simone and forces Thea to leave an important tennis tournament. Simone's team then advances up the national ranks. But this leads to the bitter rivalry between Simone and Thea heating up, as Thea blames Simone for intentionally handing her a heavy racket which may have contributed to her injury. Just as damning is the fact that Simone and Thea continue to fight over Damon, who is Thea's boyfriend but seems very interested in Simone. Expect the twosome to keep fighting over him and keep beefing on the tennis court over the course of Season 2.
Elsewhere, Damon discovers that he shares a biological dad with his own rival, Jesse, which leads him to consider switching teams after Jesse Sr. shows up to temporarily coach Damon and Jesse Jr.'s team in the wake of the disappearance of Coach Marcus. Keisha starts raising funds for the school to prevent herself, Simone, and Nathaniel from being sent to separate places. Meanwhile, Amara is offered a plum job opportunity. Fans of the show will have to wait until October to find out how these events pan out for everyone