Now that the new school year is in full swing, the teachers are laser-focused on juggling the demands of their students while being stretched thin within a system that offers little to no help. So it’s perfect timing when an improv troupe called the Story Samurais head to Abbott Elementary with the mission to teach the kids that “every person is a story.†Although the teachers welcome the idea of getting a break while their students are occupied by the assembly, the general consensus is that the Samurais are the definition of corny. This is not a unanimous thought, however, as Jacob is a proud alumnus of the program (not to the surprise of his co-workers or the audience). He’s so passionate about the group that when they ask him to join in on one of their performances, he agrees with honor and to the horror of Janine.
After sitting through the first performance, Janine realizes just how cringe watching a Samurai-themed traveling-storytelling group actually is in practice. Somehow the writers of Abbott Elementary figured out a way to make improv more obnoxious, though the participation of the students does make for hilarious scenarios. The suggestion given to the Samurais for a character to base the play on is rapper and Philly native Meek Mill. One of the Samurais takes this idea and builds on it, proposing that Meek Mill is actually a … meerkat. Since the objective of the group is to teach the art of storytelling, they enthusiastically ask the crowd for a scenario that creates conflict. Clarence, the same student who threw out Meek Mill as the play’s protagonist, then suggests that Meek Mill’s ATV broke down in the neighborhood of his opps. The Samurais begin chanting, “Wrong hood, meerkat, wrong hood!†Some other scenarios presented by the Samurais include “The Malcolm X Games†and “Rosa Parks and Rec.†Even Janine, who was once in a Degrassi reenactment group, proclaims that the show is peak corny but fitting for Jacob.
Jacob, excited to share his joy with his co-workers, leaves the first performance ecstatic with the news that the Samurais asked him to join for their next showtime. Ava, who thoroughly enjoyed laughing at the troupe while filming the entire thing for barbershop bootlegs, encourages Jacob to join so she can get more content on her IG and TikTok. Mr. Johnson, Barbara, and Gregory are also elated and ready to get a good laugh out of the hokey performances, particularly now that Jacob will be participating. Janine, on the other hand, wants to protect her friend from possible humiliation and tries to convince him to leave the Samurais in the past. Forever meddling, she tries to save his feelings and argues that maybe he’s too good to reprise his role as a Samurai and there’s the possibility of upstaging the production. Her tactic works and Jacob is successfully swayed into bowing out of the assembly.
Janine tells Gregory about her plan to protect Jacob from embarrassment in a deliciously sweet moment where Gregory visits her classroom just to say hi. He argues that maybe instead of lying, Jacob needs to be told how corny he is even if it’s only to keep him from continuing his Living Single rewatch parties (that include guest speakers). Their conversation is interrupted by commotion erupting from Melissa’s classroom. She’s in over her head trying to manage two grade levels in one room; it’s impossible to keep the students separated by grade, and it’s overwhelming teaching multiple lessons at once. But, true to form, Melissa takes the challenge head-on, declaring that she’s so tough, brass knuckles wear her to a fight. I know that’s right! Ava offers to bring in an aide, but Melissa scoffs at the idea. Barbara, a fellow OG in the teaching game, applauds this attitude, saying, “She’s a veteran, veterans don’t need that help.†But following a visit to Melissa’s classroom, Barbara’s opinion changes. It’s pure chaos. There are students playing musical chairs, paying attention to the wrong lesson, or getting up and going to the library without permission.
Melissa is so stressed she takes her tension out on the innocent cardboard cutout of the Samurais mascot, punching off his head. Honestly, I’ve been there. So Barbara, the forever voice of reason, retracts her original statement and instead tells Melissa that it’s okay to get an aide as she’s been dealt an “impossible situation.†She gives her episodic golden nugget of advice by reminding us all that just because you can, it doesn’t mean you have to, especially when help is being offered. By the end of the episode, Ava arranges for the aide to join Melissa’s classroom. To Melissa’s chagrin, and Ava’s amusement, the aide, Ashley, is immediately, ridiculously, hilariously annoying. She bursts into Ava’s office wearing a Celtics jersey (blasphemous to a Philly queen like Melissa) and singing her own cover of a Jennifer Lopez song. Played by the amazingly funny Keyla Monterroso Mejia, who you may recognize from the latest season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, I think Ashley is going to be a great addition to the cast.
Picking up on her conversation with Greg that got interrupted by Melissa’s unruly classroom, Janine stands by her reasoning behind keeping Jacob from performing. She had to double down on dissuading him from going onstage after Ava ruined her original plan by announcing Jacob’s performance over the loudspeaker, getting him to reembrace the idea. Seeing him in the Samurai costume, Janine is finally honest with Jacob and warns him against making a fool of himself, letting him know that Ava is setting him up to get laughed at. She tells him straight up that he’s a corny white person much like Hilary Swank in Freedom Writers or Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds or Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side. Ouch. The problem with telling Jacob about his true nature is that he’s completely oblivious to the fact that he’s corny. Janine’s words sting Jacob, who never realized how his personality was perceived by others.
Even without Janine’s meddling, Jacob starts to see himself through fresh eyes when he hangs out with some of the Samurai on their lunch break. Their corniness and privilege are impossible to ignore. They act like theater kids on steroids and have a naïveté and lack of self-awareness that makes them more insufferable. They wave away the very real problem of food deserts, confused about how that can exist in a city with such great cheesesteaks. One is just passing the time before getting a job at his dad’s hedge fund, another is waiting to audition for SNL (or a YouTube channel). They turn up their noses at the idea of working at a school “like this†full time. They have an obvious savior complex, comparing being a Story Samurai to being a “firefighter for joy,†meaning they get to enter schools and “spray as much joy as possible†and then get out.
When Janine tells Gregory that she truly got through to Jacob by being honest, Gregory questions why she would prevent Jacob from doing something that made him happy. He has a point — it is somewhat out of Janine’s character to tell someone to hide their true self. And, as Gregory said, isn’t part of Jacob’s charm that he’s corny? Regardless of Janine’s influence, Jacob will continue to do lame things. And that’s okay because that’s part of why we all love him.
This Janine understands, because like she told Jacob, she too is corny at the beginning and at the end of the day. When it’s time for the next Story Samurai performance Janine stands up and invites Jacob to join them on the stage. The whole auditorium cheers Jacob on and he jumps in, excited as ever, helping improv a play that uses Tony the Tiger as a metaphor for racial discrimination. The performance gets him a standing ovation. And Ava got 2,000 new followers, including Josh Gad, who is the best veteran Samurai there is, of course.
Teacher’s Notes
• Whenever the teachers talk about buying their own supplies for the students, like Melissa and Barbara have been doing with the Legos, it breaks my heart that they have to go out of pocket for simple learning materials.
• I’m ordering Melissa’s “Keep Calm and Tucci On†mug immediately! Also, need more information about Ava on the copy of Doomsday Preppers magazine.
• Jacob and Clarence’s relationship is adorable. I went to performing-arts school, so I have a close relationship with corny from growing up in close proximity to theater kids. (I was a dancer, so I had a tad more clout.) Journalism school also attracts an eclectic group of people; I don’t know a single writer who doesn’t have at least one corny trait. Initially, I was going to open my recap with my own corniest habits, but the thought of texting my friends and asking what’s cringe about my personality was not appealing. Maybe that’s because I’m more of a Greg than a Jacob, but anyway, I related to Clarence. Some of the coolest people I know are extremely corny, but they also exposed me to so much and reminded me to do what makes me happy.
• Finally, here are some of the lines that made me laugh the hardest:
Ava: “That girl isn’t ruining this for me. She can be so selfish, like last week when she wouldn’t pretend to be my daughter at McDonald’s so that I could get a Happy Meal.â€
Gregory: “Y’all gotta stop playing God with that boy’s life.â€
Jacob: “These stripes are starting to feel like prison bars.â€
Gregory: “When you guys Voltron-ed yourself into a Black Shaun King, I died.â€
Black Shaun King took me out!