All American’s Cody Christian Explains That Shocking Return: [Spoiler] Will ‘Pleasantly Surprise Some People’

The following post contains spoilers for Season 6, Episode 3 of All American.

He’s ba-aaack!

Monday’s episode of All American brought the highly surprising return of Wade Waters (Christian James), former quarterback for the Golden Angeles Condors. Last seen in the Season 4 finale, Wade had a memorably contentious relationship with Spencer, Jordan and Olivia, though he was also the player who tipped Olivia off about the Condors’ Bountygate scandal.

Wade was a senior at GAU last we saw him more than a season ago, and All American has since leapt forward by another year and change; in other words, it’s been quite a while since Wade was anywhere near college football. But after the Coastal California Manta Rays lost their starting quarterback to a torn Achilles during Monday’s episode, assistant coach Asher was desperate to find a viable replacement, eventually landing on Wade after sufficient agonizing — and Asher’s portrayer, Cody Christian, says the twist was a “total surprise” to him as he read the Episode 3 script.

“I think enough time has passed where the audience has made peace with what he’s done to the group and, in many ways, has probably forgotten about Wade. So it was definitely a shock to me,” Christian tells TVLine. “But I think the storyline we have planned, of bringing him back into the circle, is going to pleasantly surprise some people.”

In fact, Christian sees Asher’s decision to recruit Wade as a sign of Asher’s maturity in Season 6, noting that the choice was made with “apprehension” and “a lot of heaviness on his conscience before the trigger was officially pulled.”

“[Asher] has had more than one, more than two coaches in his life that have looked past all the bulls—t and seen the good in him,” Christian continues. “There’s an opportunity being presented to hopefully do the same with Wade, but we’ll see if time has actually affected this man and made him grow… [Asher’s] not necessarily there to be a best friend to Wade, by any means. He’s doing his job.”

But Wade’s appearance at the end of Monday’s episode was fleeting; the reactions from the Manta Rays, as well as the rest of The Vortex, have been left for Episode 4 and beyond, though Christian hints that the fallout may not feature as many fireworks as viewers are expecting.

“In this season, compared to the last, whatever fallout we’re speaking of is probably not as devastating as it once would have been,” he teases. “That’s a testament to the characters and where they’re at with their maturity and growth… That’s not to say it won’t ruffle some feathers. But everyone has grown and can see beyond that.”

How do you feel about having Wade Waters back, All American fans? Drop your reactions in a comment below.