All American Boss Explains Why [Spoiler] Didn't Appear In The Final Season: 'Honestly, Our Hands Were Tied'

The very last episode of "All American" looked a lot like the very first episode of "All American," thanks to the welcome returns of some familiar faces. (Even Billy Baker, making a cameo from the afterlife.)

But even though the CW drama brought back several original cast members during Season 8 — including Daniel Ezra (Spencer), Samantha Logan (Olivia), and Chelsea Tavares (Patience), all of whom had departed as series regulars two seasons prior — Cody Christian notably did not appear in the swan song as Spencer and Jordan's longtime friend Asher Adams.

"Honestly, our hands were tied with budget for bringing people back, and timeline and coordinating everyone's schedules, and how much storyline we could fit into the show," showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll tells TVLine of Christian's absence from Season 8. "It was one of those things where it just didn't line up, and I knew he was off doing other things."

Carroll continues: "We thought, 'Who, on this timeline, can we bring back that we can afford to bring back, that has to be here for the [birth of the] Baker twins?' If budget hadn't been a concern, I would have said, 'Look, let's shoot for as many days as we need and bring back as many of the OGs as we can.'"

Cody Christian made his debut as Asher back in the "All American" pilot, though Asher's relationship with Daniel Ezra's Spencer was antagonistic at the time. The two later became pals and key members of the self-described "Vortex" friend group, while Asher's football career pivoted from playing to coaching after he learned of a heart condition that made it dangerous for him to participate in the sport. Last we saw Asher at the end of Season 6, he and girlfriend Jaymee were raising their son, AJ, together, and we learned that they'd relocated to New York for Asher's next coaching gig.

As for the rest of the "All American" crew, the show ended on a heartwarming note for just about everybody. Spencer and Olivia safely welcomed their twins, and after a six-year time jump, Spencer retired from the NFL as a three-time Super Bowl champion; Jordan and Layla had a little girl of their own, and Jordan received the NFL's High School Head Coach of the Year award for his work at South Crenshaw; and Coop was officially sworn in as a full-fledged lawyer by Laura Baker. (Read more about how those happy endings came to be.)

TVLine readers gave the "All American" series finale an average grade of "A."