‘All American‘ is a teen drama series that is loosely based on the life of former NFL footballer Spencer Paysinger. The series follows Spencer (Daniel Ezra), a high school football prodigy who moves to an elite school to achieve his dream of becoming a professional footballer. Spencer originally hails from a rough South Crenshaw neighborhood, and Shawn (Jay Reeves) is one of his close friends from the place. However, Shawn’s story takes a completely opposite direction to that of Spencer’s and ends in his shocking demise. If you are curious to find out what led to Shawn’s tragic death and who killed him, here’s everything you need to know!
Shawn Scott is a recurring character in the first season of ‘All American’ and is introduced in the pilot episode. He grew up in South Crenshaw alongside Spencer and Coop. After Spencer transfers to Beverly Hills High, Shawn and Coop become closer. His brother, Brandon, was a part of Tyrone’s gang, and after his death, Shawn becomes a member of the gang. He later becomes the father of a baby girl, Maya. Shawn is forced to sell drugs in order to take care of his daughter.
After a series of events, Shawn finds himself on Tyrone’s bad side. Shawn desires to leave his gangster lifestyle behind to provide for Maya. Despite Coop and Spencer’s warnings, he tells Tyrone about his wish to leave the gang. Shawn pays his debt to Tyronne and leaves. He excitedly calls Coop to tell her the news but is shot dead in front of his house.
At first, it seems like rival gang members killed Shawn as a part of revenge killings resulting from the ongoing disputes between the South Crenshaw gangs. Shawn’s death immensely affects Coop and Spencer. Spencer blames himself for not doing enough for his friend, and Coop decides to immerse herself in the gang’s activities to avenge Shawn’s death. It is later revealed that Shawn was actually killed by Tyrone. Shawn and Brandon’s mother, Ruth, later murders Tyrone as revenge for her sons’ death.
Shawn’s death amplifies the dangers of living in a rough neighborhood and helps us understand the world the characters inhabit. Through Shawn, we get a look at how young adults are drawn towards a life of crime and violence. Despite his best efforts to free himself of his past crimes and start a new life, Shawn ultimately falls prey to gang warfare. His death happens early in season 1 (episode 8), which furthers the emotional conflicts of main characters like Spencer and Coop while setting up a compelling mystery that drives the plot for a number of episodes.
‘All American‘ is a teen drama series that is loosely based on the life of former NFL footballer Spencer Paysinger. The series follows Spencer (Daniel Ezra), a high school football prodigy who moves to an elite school to achieve his dream of becoming a professional footballer. Spencer originally hails from a rough South Crenshaw neighborhood, and Shawn (Jay Reeves) is one of his close friends from the place. However, Shawn’s story takes a completely opposite direction to that of Spencer’s and ends in his shocking demise. If you are curious to find out what led to Shawn’s tragic death and who killed him, here’s everything you need to know!
Speaking of pressure, Asher’s made some mistakes recently. What’s next for him?You want to talk about someone who’s trying to figure himself out? His identity was so wrapped up in his money and being this rich Beverly Hills kid, and this star football player. His world got so rocked in the last year. So he’s still figuring out who this other Asher is, and it’s a slippery slope. Asher’s a complicated guy, and Asher can be his own worst enemy. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom in all aspects of your life before you really get that wake-up call, and that’s kind of what’s happening to Asher right now. But I will say that he does come out on the other side of it. I think the way he comes out on the other side of it will surprise people. And Asher is going to keep surprising people, including himself. But he is a character who is a little unpredictable because you never know when he’s going to get in his own way again.
Spoiler alert: This post contains plot details from the Dec. 12 episode of All American, “Homecoming.”
What does losing Shawn mean for Coop specifically? What’s next for her? I think Shawn’s death is one of the biggest things that happens to Coop this season and completely changes the trajectory of where she’s going in the back half of the season. I don’t think anyone is going to be able to guess the road that she goes down. But we’re definitely taking her on a ride. It’s part of her process of discovering who she is and who she wants to be, and that’s something that people along the way are going to challenge her about.
For me, his death really added stakes to the situation and made it that much more real. That’s what we’re going for. We’re trying to be as authentic as possible in telling these stories and not glorifying anything, but at the same time not sugarcoating anything. The truth of the matter is that does happen in the hood, and it’s one of those things where you have to figure out how you pick up and move on with your life. So we felt like we needed to tell that story and really see how our characters pick up and are changed by it. And actually it really will propel Spencer, I think, in a way that our audience isn’t expecting.
In its midseason finale, All American pulled out all the stops with a shocking death, a big game, and another layer of mystery surrounding Spencer’s father. EW spoke with showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll about the hour and what to expect when the show returns in 2019.
Spencer and especially Coop manage to make Shawn understand that another life for him is possible, he decides then to leave Crenshaw to settle at his cousin in Louisiana with Maya. He announces it to Tyrone. But a few minutes later, Shawn gets shot and dies of his injuries leaving his entourage in distress.
Shawn’s a kid who grew up with Spencer and Coop. His older brother, Brandon, was part of a gang, and trained Shawn at a very young age to do little things like steal things for him. When they were little, Shawn, Spencer and Coop were very close and hung out all the time.
After Shawn’s death, Spencer goes through a difficult time, feeling that he did not do what was necessary to help his childhood friend. Tyrone then confessed to him that Shawn was not angry with him, on the contrary, he forbade anyone to do harm to Spencer or to attract him into drug affairs because he felt that Spencer was going to do great things. Advertisement
At about the same time, Shawn became the father of Maya, whose mother fled shortly after the birth of her daughter, leaving Shawn to take care of her on his own. However, he continues to go to class but starts selling drugs in order to have money to take care of his daughter.
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