“Abbott Elementary” - Season 2, Episode 12 Review
Airing just one night after the first season of this show won three Golden Globes, watching the main character of this show almost get beat up by a couple of eighth graders was unexpected but not entirely unwelcome in this week’s episode of “Abbott Elementary.”
In the cold open, Gregory finds a flier for his father’s landscaping business in his mailbox, and sees that his father has replaced him with an actor on the poster. Janine is confused when she sees this, but Ava wants the actor’s number. Gregory reveals that his father, Martin, is coming to visit today so that he can see where Gregory works.
In this week’s episode, two of Janine’s students are having trouble getting along in class, and are refusing to sit next to each other. The two students, Zara and Joya, have always had an issue with each other, but it’s getting worse.
Janine is convinced that she can fix the problem, and hatches a plan to get the pair to work together. She thinks that if the girls spend more time together, they’ll start to understand each other more and begin to get along.
This doesn’t really go the way that she planned, as expected, and the girls’ feud gets even worse.
During lunch, the two girls’ older sisters start to get into a fight with Janine quite literally in the middle of it. Seeing this one night after Quinta Brunson was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series almost feels like it validates her win a little more than it already was.
Meanwhile, Gregory’s father arrives, which puts Gregory on edge. When Martin starts complimenting Barbara and Jacob’s garden, it’s revealed to everyone that Gregory is actually the one who has been taking care of it.
Barbara and Jacob feel a little betrayed, but Martin is really impressed by his son and says he’s proud of him. He asks Gregory to come on a landscaping job with him, which he does and Gregory is very excited that his father is proud and agrees to do the job with him for some extra cash.
On this job, Martin tells his son that he wants him to take over the business after he retires, which Gregory is surprised by. However, this does lead Gregory to the realization that he’s actually very happy with his life currently, and he loves working at Abbott.
This big moment for Gregory in the episode was especially great to watch because Tyler James Williams won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series.
While all of this is going on, we find out that Melissa and Ava are in a fantasy football league with Mr. Johnson, and he’s beating them. The two women start plotting to take him down, and they try to trap him in a bathroom with no cell service so they can get a gew points over him.
When their plan fails, it is revealed that Mr. Johnson has an unlikely ally who has been helping him with this fantasy football league: Jacob.
Episode 12 of Abbott Elementary means the season is past its halfway point, which is good news because each episode is as good as the last and this trend can be expected to continue.
Izzy Charboneau is a second-year student majoring in digital and print journalism. To contact her, email ijc5186@psu.edu.
