“Abbott Elementary” - Season 2, Episode 4 Review

Story posted October 17, 2022 in CommRadio, Arts & Entertainment by Izzy Charboneau

In a turn of events that is shocking to absolutely no one, Lisa Ann Walter is one of the highlights of another episode of “Abbott Elementary.”

The fourth episode of this season continues to prove how talented this cast really is, and has several moments to make you actually laugh instead of just exhaling loudly through your nose.

In this episode, the audience gets more of a look into Melissa’s (Walter) life, and about her relationship with her estranged sister who teaches at the charter school near Abbott.

Gregory (Tyler James Williams) is also having some trouble getting a student to behave in his class, which prompts several of his coworkers to get involved.

When sitting in the break room, Janine (Quinta Brunson) is eating what she calls her lunch, but is really just a gross assortment of food that Melissa says makes it look like she learned how to cook in prison. Janine shares that since her ex-boyfriend, Tariq, used to do the cooking and she’s been struggling a bit, so Melissa begrudgingly agrees to teach her how to cook a few things.

Jacob (Chris Perfetti) invites himself, saying he wants Melissa to teach him about wine pairings.

When the two of them go to Melissa’s house, they are greeted by some interesting family photos, and Janine talks to her about sisters. Janine, whose sister moved across the country, misses her sister a lot, saying she couldn’t imagine not speaking to her sister if she were close by.

Melissa is annoyed by this, saying she doesn’t talk to her sister for valid reasons, but Janine feels like she has to get involved, and hatches a plan to get Melissa to talk to her sister.

Understandably, this plan backfires, as it usually does when Janine decides to meddle in her coworkers’ lives.

In the other plot line, Gregory is having trouble when one of his students repeatedly interrupts the class. Jacob tells him he should send the student to see Ava (Janelle James) so that she can discipline him.

This advice is largely misguided, as it is later revealed that Jacob only does this so that he can regain control of the classroom. Gregory soon learns that the kids enjoy going to the principal’s office, because Ava doesn’t actually discipline them.

Gregory now has to figure out a new way to get his student to stop interrupting and to be more engaged. He decides he’ll discipline the student on his own, saying his father disciplined him and these students would benefit from it as well.

Barbara tells him this is a bad idea, and making the kids afraid of him will just make the whole thing worse. This prompts Gregory to come to the realization that his father and his strictness did not always have the best effects on him as a child, and he comes up with his own way to make the disruptive student more engaged.

Gregory as a character has changed a lot since the beginning of the show, and Tyler James Williams really steals the show this episode. Learning more about his relationship with his father allows the audience to get to know this character a little more intimately, which makes the show feel even better than it already does.

Getting a closer look into the lives of the main characters of this show is exciting, especially in a show when all of the characters seem like people you’ve known forever.

Rating: 4/5

Izzy Charboneau is a second-year majoring in journalism. To contact her, email ijc5186@psu.edu.