Not that I’m complaining, but from the science fair to the winter concert, this season has been filled to the brim with kid-centric installments showcasing the adorable talent that makes up the “elementary” part of Abbott Elementary. Tonight is a welcome respite as the bleak reality of our piss-poor public education system often accompanies the school-heavy episodes. Our teachers deserve to let their hair down every once in a while, and this time, it’s Barbara who organizes a karaoke outing for the staff to do just that. Of course, Abbott’s queen of vocals would choose this as the off-the-clock activity for the crew, and thank goodness she did because the episode is packed with hilarious performances and plenty of after-hours behavior.
Music has always been an important element Abbott uses to set the mood and establish the specific corner of culture that the show honors, with the soundtrack boasting artists like Missy Elliot, Boyz II Men (gotta have Motownphilly!), Cardi B, The Jackson 5, and Jazmin Sullivan. Whether it be Ava queening out to Back That Azz Up, the students calling Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” an “oldie,” or the staff bonding during Wild Wild West line dance in that now iconic cold open, Abbott’s music selection has almost become a tertiary character of the show. The karaoke club outing takes Abbott’s love for using music to tell a story to the next level, with their song choices injecting ample comedy (Mr. Johnson needs to release a full version of “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp”) and sentimentality as the crew deals with their various relationship issues.
No kids means the adults no longer have the responsibility of being the ones holding everything together, so the episodes without the students tend to showcase the more vulnerable side of the characters. For Ava, whose armor often comes in the form of her fortress of an office and the knowledge that she’s the commander-in-chief, this manifests in her first date with O’Shon. After a season-long slow burn, the couple finally makes it out to dinner, but once outside of the school, their chemistry flatlines as Ava’s constant defensiveness erects a wall between them. At the restaurant, she swerves his attempts at connecting with constant sarcasm and cynicism, keeping things cooly surface-level if not slightly hostile (telling a guy he “giggles a lot for a man” isn’t exactly flirty).
O’Shon, a man who is clearly sure of himself and his desires, asks for the bill, cutting the date short, saying he doesn’t want to waste her time. Shocked, Ava tries to cover her tracks, saying she thought snarky rapport was their “thing,” but O’Shon expresses his desire for a deeper connection. As they wait for her ride on the curb, Ava takes a stab at letting her walls down, restarting one of the conversations O’Shon tried to start earlier by mentioning how her father used to take her to chain restaurants as a kid. Although these outings were once a fond memory, after her dad started a second family with one of the waitresses, Ava became resentful — well, that’s the mature interpretation of her words; she merely says, “Queso dips are very triggering for me now.” This display of vulnerability pulls O’Shon back in, who tells her, “I don’t really like queso dip anyways, so it won’t be hard to avoid on our next date.” Finally, Ava properly gets into the flirty energy, offering that technically their date doesn’t have to end yet, inviting him to karaoke … but not before making fun of his car, asking what divorced lesbian he got his Suburu from.
Ava and O’Shon take a second stab at their first date by heading to the club, where the rest of the teachers have been holding it down, getting increasingly inebriated while dealing with adult drama of their own. Although Janine’s ecstatic about her duet with Gregory — they’re going to sing “Always on Time,” and she’s been practicing her Ja Rule voice all week — she does her best to play the role of the supportive partner when he’s unable to make it until after logging a few hours as a rideshare driver. She spends most of the evening anxiously awaiting his arrival and moving their name further down the queue the longer it takes for them to get there. But, like the driven girl we know, Janine is emphatically optimistic and tries to make the most of the evening, even pushing Jacob to strike up a conversation with a cutie at the club named Elijah, played by comedian Jaboukie Young-White.
Following his breakup with Zach and the shortlived relationship with paramedic Avi, romance has been on the back burner for Jacob and it’s not until he runs into his ex at the karaoke club that he realizes how much he’s neglected his personal life. We haven’t seen Zach since the aftermath of their messy breakup, so when Jacob spots him at the club, hysterically laughing with a new love interest, he tries to avoid the inevitably awkward interaction. But after some encouragement from Melissa and Barbara, he summons the courage to talk to Zach, who reveals that not only does he have a new man and moved to his dream neighborhood, but he’s also there to celebrate the opening night of his one-man show “Got Out” (which is actually funnier than the original title that we got the PG version of last season, a.k.a. “Fleabag with an F”).
When Jacob has nothing else to contribute to this catch-up than “Melissa got a guinea pig,” he starts questioning his own decisions, falling into a self-pitying spiral. Through gritted teeth, he assures his coworkers he’s fine before snatching the mic and bursting into a rendition of Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” that should honestly win Chris Perfetti an Emmy and definitely changed my rating from four stars to five. The rage-filled performance pushes Barbara and Melissa to ask him why he’s so triggered. Jacob describes his feelings of envy towards the amount of things Zac has accomplished since the breakup, saying it makes him feel stuck. He lists some of his achievements, like helping RJ and getting the school a consulate, but Barbara points out that while those are amazing professional wins, there’s more to life than work. Invigorated by this advice, he courageously approaches Elijah, cleverly getting his number in a corny way that Jacob pulls off adorably.
While the party’s flowing at the karaoke club, Gregory moonlights as a rideshare driver in a characteristically meticulous way, with a carefully practiced welcoming speech, snacks, phone chargers, and “Gregory’s Goofy Games” to entertain the slew of eccentric riders he picks up along the way. But once Friday night surge prices spike to unprecedented highs and he’s tasked between accepting more rides or hurrying over to the club for his duet with Janine, he’s caught between his trademark pragmatism and his newfound romance. He calls Janine, gauging how upset she’d be if he ditched karaoke, but even as she tries her best to remain unaffected, encouraging him to take the rides, he can hear the disappointment in her voice. As the ride fare continues to rise incrementally, the always idealistic Janine determinedly tries to sing both parts of “Always on Time,” saying she has lots of practice as a “very lonely High School Musical fan.” But right as Janine takes a breath, preparing her diaphragm for a lengthy Ja Rule verse, Gregory bursts through the door, grabbing a mic and backing his lady up. Then, Ava and O’Shon arrive at the club, and the group bestows them with the privilege of choosing the very last song. Together, they pick “What Would You Do” by City High, with everyone joining in, validating Gregory’s decision to spend time with the chosen family we all love to watch.
Teacher’s Notes
• My favorite moment, perhaps of the whole season, was Ava meeting Zach’s new boyfriend. The interaction references Ava’s surprise at Jacob having a Black boyfriend, a moment that bred one of Abbott’s most famous jokes (“Actually, it’s pronounced Zach.”) Instead of exclaiming “Black?!” like she did when she first met Zach, this time she blurts out “White?!”, to which the new boyfriend responds, “It’s actually pronounced Wyatt.”
• I love Abbott’s side characters, Erika and Simon perfectly played that one toxic couple everyone knows. Also crossing my fingers for more Jaboukie!
• Finally, here are the funniest lines of the episode:
Ava and Barbara on Janine’s friend Erika coming to karaoke:
Ava: “I can’t believe you’re forcing your friend to throw it back on a district employee just so you can get back in their good graces.”
Barbara: “She’s welcome to come…as long as she does not throw it back, forward, or to the side.”
Jacob on why Zac turned down his mic: “He said my voice only worked in theory.”
Erika shit-talking Gregory: “You ask a lot of questions about me and my man, but what about yours? He still built like a Lego?”