Abbott Elementary: A Golden Ticket
In its fourth season, Abbott Elementary finds itself in an interesting position where the cast and crew are clearly operating like a well-oiled machine, churning out great episodes week after week, yet the threat of monotony looms on the horizon. This might just be a projection from my inner critic — hey, I gotta find something to talk about other than how great the show is — but it can be a real problem for long-running sitcoms. However, outside of some of Barbara’s story lines this season, my anxieties surrounding Abbott becoming redundant mostly stem from my fear that a good thing can’t last forever, so maybe it’s less of a threat and more a mirage of my own making. Plus, tonight’s episode proves once again that the creators and actors know precisely what they’re doing, showing how sometimes a small change in dynamic can make a show feel more alive than ever.
With the show currently in a state of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” there’s still the pressure to keep things fresh and exciting. Most shows last around three or four seasons, with this average lifespan dwindling by the day in the age of streaming. By that logic, Abbott is already nearing “over the hill” in TV years, but it still feels like we’re only getting started, especially since Ava’s firing sent shockwaves through the show’s universe. Firing Ava was a brilliant move, as it switches things up just enough to keep us on our toes while remaining true to the comedy formula Abbott has refined over the seasons. It also supports the idea that in sitcoms, strong, fully formed characters are more reliable anchors for an episode than meticulous storylines. While the plots are often great, Abbott shines because of how much we love the teachers and community, which were obviously crafted with a lot of thought and care. Ava’s dethronement is a huge blow, but not big enough to disrupt the magic. In fact, it actually enhances the character development of the staff, tossing Gregory into a role he’s been eyeing for years, putting Janine’s strategic problem-solving to the test, and forcing Ava to confront her ego and admit she wants her job back.
The annual open house is the perfect situation to show how far our characters have come. Like last week, Gregory is feeling the biggest reverberations from Ava’s absence. As interim principal, he’s responsible for speaking with the parents about any and everything, which proves to be a much harder task than handling the car-wash fundraiser the rest of the staff planned to help recoup the resources they lost after the district found out about the clandestine Girard Creek arrangement. Gregory may have spent the last four years learning to balance his militant desire for structure with soft skills like compassion and empathy, but he’s still a bundle of nerves at his core. He’s especially out of his league when Daia and Melissa inform him that there’s no way to prepare for the litany of questions the parents will throw at him. This is like telling a dog he can’t sniff other dogs’ butts at the park — it’s unnatural and almost cruel.
Gregory’s first obstacle is a softball question — a parent wants to know what exactly a “Garden Goofball” is — but a few blasts from the past soon present themselves as a bigger problem. First, his ex-fling Amber arrives with a chip on her shoulder from their dud of a relationship and snarkily brings up how dating Janine is a power imbalance. Gregory tries to slink away (Daia’s impersonation was too good), but Amber recognizes the stealthy walk as that of the delivery driver who was too chicken to deliver a pizza to her door, instead leaving it on the sidewalk. Quick on his feet, Gregory says he avoided her because he wanted to wait until the open house to talk about how well her kids were doing. Softened by pride, Amber slinks away herself, albeit much more cutely than Gregory and accompanied by a vicious side-eye.
Right when Gregory thinks he’s mastered the public-facing part of being principal, Darnell, the parent who challenged him to a fight earlier in the season, bursts through the doors yelling, “‘Sup, bitch! You let my son down!” Apparently, his son Jabari fell from an A+ to an A in spelling, so Darnell is living up to his promise of beating Gregory’s ass if Jabari’s grades ever slipped. To make matters worse, Jabari said it’s because he misses his teacher, so Darnell claims that Gregory triggered his son’s abandonment issues by taking the interim-principal position. After a full day of putting out fires and four seasons of growing his confidence, Gregory looks Darnell straight in the eye and says that, between his dedication as an educator and Darnell’s diligence as a father, he’s confident Jabari will be just fine. Darnell backs down, leaving Gregory one last dragon to slay: the fundraiser.
The car wash in itself is another example of the impossibly big shoes Ava left to fill; her cunning, charisma, and street smarts were the glue holding the school together. Janine’s pure optimism is no match for the set of skills Ava brought to the table, as proven by her idea to make the car wash donation-only. She believes they’ll lure in customers with a free car wash and people will feel so guilty at the sight of the adorable students and hard-working teachers that they’ll pay anything to get rid of the guilt. Girl … in this economy? As anyone could’ve predicted, they don’t even make enough tips to cover the cost of the materials to make the fundraiser happen, despite having a line down the block for a free car wash. Ava, who popped by to show her support, gives them the biggest donation, with a crisp $100 bill and the gift of a list of “high-net-worth potential donors.”
With no other option, they use Ava’s contacts, but when the parking lot fills up with a bevy of cars with deeply tinted windows and drivers adorned in glittering jewelry who grab their tips from rolled stacks of hundreds, Mr. Johnson immediately calls it out. Now, for reasons probably similar to Mr. Johnson, I know what the plug looks like when I see him, but it takes the rest of the staff a while to admit how these customers amassed their “high net worth.” That is until Jacob toys with the siren sound on his bull horn and all the cars speed away. Janine hilariously attempts the argument that “maybe this is where drug money should be going: back into the community,” but Barbara isn’t having it. Ava reappears, disappointed by how fast the staff is willing to give up. Principal Ava leaps out as she tells her old co-workers this is merely a chance to pivot and suggests a block party, even allowing them to use the name “Ava Fest” again, revoking her cease and desist.
Despite an approaching rainstorm, they move the block party indoors and get straight to work setting up booths and vendors, with Inez giving tarot readings, Mr. Johnson drawing caricatures (he ends up turning everyone into a janitor), and Janine doing face painting. Barbara, who spent the whole episode trying to convince everyone to let her use one of her “high profile” church contacts, promises she can bring show-stopping talent. No one really believes her, Ava refers to the talent as Barbara’s “little church friend,” and Gregory assumes she is talking about Jesus, but the church lady delivers with one of Abbott’s biggest guest stars yet.
Miss Jilly from Philly herself is the epitome of an iconic Abbott surprise appearance; she means so much to the show’s audience as an R&B star, and she’s Philadelphia royalty. Everyone is surprised by the incredible pull, and Barbara explains that Jill Scott’s godmother is a new addition to her choir, something she calls a gift from God. Jill glides ethereally through the halls accompanied by a bodyguard, since she’s been dealing with a stalker, and performs “Golden” to a crowd of adoring Philadelphians; the price of the tickets to the impromptu Jill Scott concert helps the school reach its goal. Janine asks Ava what made her come back and help since she thought Ava was happy with the money she’s made from her speeches. Reluctantly, Ava admits that she doesn’t feel fulfilled, finally coming to terms with what we’ve always known. Janine jumps at the window of vulnerability, saying if Ava wants to come back, they’ll make it happen. And if Janine puts her mind to something, nothing stands in her way, so let Mission: Bring Back Ava commence.
Teacher’s Notes
• Mr. Johnson being Jill Scott’s stalker was such a funny end-of-episode reveal; the shrine and the story about him rushing the stage was giving Dominique Fishback in Swarm.
Last but not least, some of the best lines from tonight:
• Melissa: “You know when you start relying on the kindness in people’s hearts, you start to realize there is no kindness in people’s hearts.”
• Barbara on the “gentrifiers” not tipping: “Well, we should’ve expected that. It’s in their nature to be cheap.”
• Melissa and Janine trying to convince Barbara to keep the donations:
Melissa: “You take away the drug-dealer part, they’re really just small-business owners … they don’t say anything about not smoking weed in the Bible.”
Janine: “They do say something about a burning bush, though.”