Although Janine’s transformation from the timid-but-always-passionate rookie at Abbott to the confident and exuberant fellow at the district has been the most apparent display of character evolution, the rest of her co-workers are steadily growing and changing alongside her. In the world of sitcoms, the freshman and sophomore seasons help establish the characters as three-dimensional. And since Abbott made it through the television gauntlet with the network granting the promise of a longer lifespan, now is the time to show how these characters can grow in a natural way that aligns with their core traits, maintaining the personalities we love so much.
Gregory is the most rigid in his ways, so growth is often something forced on him, leading him to step begrudgingly into his potential. We’ve seen this through his initial storyline of hesitance about becoming a teacher instead of a principal and his apathy for the Teacher of the Year award. He had the same attitude earlier this season as he accepted his status as The Cool Teacher. When the district appoints him to participate in a panel on the future of education, he’s indifferent, saying that he would rather be at CPR training with the rest of the gang. Ava, who is also on the panel, bursts his bubble of having an “easy, low-key night†when she arrives dressed impeccably in a cream pantsuit with one of the best wigs we’ve seen her wear. She informs Gregory that her soror/nemesis/fellow principal at a rival school, Crystal, will be one of the other speakers, so they must “win†the panel.
This time, Ava’s tendency to turn everything into a competition isn’t just a character trait but a reality — since Tariq, of all people, hosts the panel as president of the PTA, he turns the speaking engagement into a debate, judiciously handing out points to the speakers that earn the crowd’s applause. The problem with this is that audiences are notoriously fickle, responding to pathos much more than ethos or logos. Unfortunately for Gregory, his brilliance lies in the latter methods of persuasion, and the audience has trouble connecting with his dry, pragmatic responses. Instead, they’re charmed by Crystal (played by Tatyana Ali. Abbott is really bringing in sitcom royalty!) and one of the teachers from her school, slyly named Richard Tyler Williams. The pair looks like a yassified version of Ava and Gregory in their flashy attire, sporting pompous grins as they spew fake niceties. A camera crew follows them around, fastidiously documenting their every move for social media, with Crystal explaining this is her fourth time on the panel.
The event begins shakily, with Ava and Crystal talking over each other to grab ahold of the spotlight. Ava’s zealousness does nothing to sway the crowd against Crystal and Richard’s charismatic and bravado-filled (because it’s definitely not substance-filled) responses. They answer Tariq’s questions with pure emotion, saying things like, “We can only do what we can do,†with a level of forced emphasis reserved for scammers, cult leaders, mega-church preachers, and MLM predators. The raucous applause heavily contrasts the silence after Greg’s monotone and reasonable responses. Once Abbott’s score drops to a negative two, Ava pleads with Gregory to add some zhuzh to his answers and up the theatrics. Gregory argues that what their opponents are doing is merely grandstanding, but Ava points out the obvious — usually, that’s all a panel is. She says, “Nobody cares what you say but how you say it.†He then offers his critiques on Ava’s performance, urging her to talk less and reserve her time for meaningful answers.
Once they return to the panel, both Gregory and Ava apply the other’s advice, offering responses filled with awkward pregnant pauses and nonsensical statements. Randomly, Mr. Johnson tries to save the day by using a fake name to ask a question he knows Ava and Gregory can answer perfectly. Crystal cuts Ava off, showing off the programs offered at her school. In the last few minutes, Gregory responds authentically, talking about his gardening program and listening to students. Only Janine and Jacob, who could catch the last bit of the panel after their training, applaud while Tariq announces Liberty as the winning school. They walk away from the panel as “losers,†but an impressed representative from the Philadelphia Activities Fund approaches Gregory, opening the door for a conversation about grants for the garden program. To Ava, she won the greatest prize: pride in her staff and a smug look on Crystal’s face paired with a backhanded compliment, proving to her that she came out victorious. She even rubs in Crystal’s face that the cameras following her and Gregory around asked to be there, unlike the cameraman Crystal hired.
Meanwhile, Janine’s growth is tested as she anticipates whether the district will approve her library program. The superintendent’s decision falls on the same day as CPR training, which Janine is excitedly looking forward to reconnecting with the staff at Abbott. Plus, it’s the last training day before her certification lapses, and she won’t be able to teach if she fails to be recertified. Despite the anxiety of awaiting the decision and Manny’s insinuation that she might be doing too much — she’s literally drinking Pepto Bismol straight from the bottle — she’s determined to make everything work. Her predicament indicates her overall situation; Janine has feet in two different worlds and is trying to find balance in her new position while still holding onto her identity as a teacher.
Janine struggles to be present in the CPR course while dealing with last-minute hiccups about the library program. Manny pulls her out of the class after finding out that the university they partnered with to get grad students as librarians for free has pulled out of the program, deeming it below their qualification standards for academic credit. It’s already inconvenient to deal with the situation at the last minute, but it’s even worse because all the other universities they asked in the past already declined the opportunity. In a burst of adrenaline, Janine demands Manny to have the superintendent in her office within the hour so they can ask for more money. She may have quickly backed down from such an aggressive approach, readjusting her attitude and going to his office instead, but the new Janine is resourceful, determined, and brimming with confidence. For the remainder of the episode, she runs in and out of the training, hell-bent on being able to handle it all.
During CPR training, we see the romantic evolution of Melissa and Jacob. The newly single roommates face their situationships as their love interests, Captain Rob and police officer Avi, lead the certification. In earlier episodes, we witnessed sparks flying between Melissa and Rob, but Jacob’s entanglement with Avi is news to all of us — apparently, Jacob and Avi shared a kiss on the roof of his apartment, though Jacob proclaims (in front of Avi) it was merely a fleeting encounter. Barbara and Janine are shocked to hear these personal life updates from their respective besties, continuing the storyline of Jacob and Melissa’s newfound friendship changing the dynamic with other characters. Barbara is especially heated, as her and Melissa’s bond is arguably the strongest. Melissa reassures her that whatever is happening with Rob is casual, a concept Barbara can’t even wrap her head around, let alone appease her hurt feelings. When Janine runs back into the training after a brief hiatus with Manny and asks to be caught up on what she missed, Barbara says that her friend of over fifteen years trusts her “less than a common street stranger.†Janine is upset with Jacob, but Jacob claims to have sent her a text that she was too busy to pay attention to, a point proven by Manny emerging to whisk Janine away to meet with the superintendent.
The superintendent, played by Keegan-Michael Key, is ready to shut down the program after hearing Janine’s request for more money. As they run out of time to come up with a solution, Janine suggests partnering with a community college that would jump at the chance at this opportunity regardless of money. Manny, who went to said community college himself, is ecstatic. The superintendent loves the idea (only because it’s free) and successfully approves the program. Janine crushes her CPR test, Melissa and Barbara have a heart-to-heart, and Jacob falls in love with Avi’s playing hard to get (which was merely in response to Jacob revealing that he felt their fling was casual, but it works). Everyone leaves the day with a happy ending, but something still doesn’t feel quite right. As Janine leaves her office for the day, we see her take extra care to adjust a framed picture of her with her students, with a look of pure longing in her eyes. Maybe Janine’s journey will lead her back to teaching sooner than we thought.
Teacher’s Notes
• To my delight, we got not one but two appearances from my favorite character, Tariq. The opening basketball scene was one of the funniest parts of the episode (as well as the closing sequence with Mr. Johnson on a panel moderated by Tariq), and speaking of shaking up dynamic duos, I would love to see more of Gregory and Tariq interacting, either as friends or enemies. This wasn’t Abbott’s strongest episode, but it was sweet, and you can always depend on Zack Fox for laughs.
This week, my fave one-liners all go to Ava, who was on a roll:
• Ava, after Greg suggests she speak less: “It’s like asking a swan not to glide.â€
• Ava, on Crystal: “If her bird ass ain’t competing with me, her raggedy ass is copying me. Her crusty self even copied me on becoming a principal…her dusty self became one first just to spite me.â€
• Ava, hyping Greg up for the panel: “Give it some razzle! For the love of God, Gregory, give it some dazzle!â€