After last week’s chaotic episode, we return to a slightly less chaotic Abbott this week.
Each character goes through their own little story this week, so while it’s much calmer, there is a lot to go over….and a lot of potential storylines set up.
Let’s start with Jacob.
Jacob is concerned about RJ, one of his students, who is very disengaged in this class. RJ mentions that things at home are okay (which implies that they aren’t great), and Jacob decides to try and find an after-school activity for RJ to help brighten his mood and keep him from going home right after school. After many failed attempts, Ava points out that he should simply ask RJ what he likes to do, and as RJ answers that he likes nature and being outside, Jacob realizes that Gregory’s gardening club might be the perfect fit for RJ. Gregory tells Jacob that RJ is great at gardening, and Jacob feels like he has succeeded, but realizes soon that RJ still seems disengaged, and in my opinion, a little depressed. By the end of the episode, Jacob expresses how he is determined to not give up on RJ.
Janine is pretesting her kids for an upcoming standardized test (I’m gonna assume it’s the PSSAs, and I’m already getting flashbacks). Janine is disheartened when she discovers that all her kids did terribly, and can’t seem to figure out why her class did so badly while Melissa’s class all passed. She chalks it up to external factors such as the time they took the test to the temperature of the classroom. She annoys Melissa, Barbara, and Gregory with her conspiracy theories, and while they are all annoyed by her, Melissa and Barbara understand her desire to get it right as a young teacher. When Janine’s kids fail again, Melissa and Barbara help her realize that she needs to change up her testing methods. It’s not that Janine is necessarily the problem, but eventually, all teachers have to switch up their methods to help the kids succeed. Janine accepts this and seems to find a new method that the kids understand.
Ava’s potential romance storyline with O’Shon continues when he visits the school to help out with computers. O’Shon is attracted to Ava, as she asks if he couldn’t solve the school’s computer problems from his computer, and he admits that he can, but doesn’t because he clearly wants to see Ava. Ava starts considering dating him, but to do that, she decides to ask Janine and Gregory what’s it like to date a poor person. Ava doesn’t get the answers that she wants, but she is still very attracted to O’Shon.
Mr. Johnson is sent a janitor named Cedric from the district to train, who is played by none other than Eric André. Mr. Johnson suspects that the district is really trying to replace him with a younger worker. But Mr. Johnson shows Cedric a couple of miracle tricks for cleaning, showing that being an older worker doesn’t mean that you can’t still do the job. Cedric does admit that the district intended to replace Mr. Johnson with him but admits that he can’t do that as he respects Mr. Johnson.
I found it interesting that this episode showed two sides of methods evolving. While Janine needed to change up her methods for her students to succeed, Mr. Johnson shows that older methods still work. Change is a good thing, but it isn’t always necessary. It all depends on determining what needs to be changed and what can stay the same. Overall, this episode, while it may be considered slow or a filler, sets up many potential storylines. Since Jacob doesn’t solve the problem with RJ at the end, but still says he won’t give up, we will probably see RJ again. And when Barbara and Melissa were expressing their annoyance but also empathy for Janine, Barbara started to say something to Melissa that really caught my eye. Barbara started to ask Melissa if she ever thought about retirement.
Melissa didn’t hear Barbara as she was distracted by the news of the SEPTA strikes, but this is a major development. I wonder if Barbara is considering retiring. I’m not sure how that storyline would end, but it would be a big development for Barbara, so I’m going to look out for more instances of this potential storyline in the future. Ava and O’Shon’s potential romance is building VERY slowly, but it seems that Ava is starting to accept her attraction to him.
Now let’s see if she will get over some of the prejudices that are holding her back. And something that might be a potential storyline, but I'm not sure yet, is the SEPTA workers going on strike. For those who don’t know, SEPTA is Philly’s mode of public transportation. If SEPTA stops working, that would surely create some chaos in the city. And with the added chaos of the golf course, I wonder if both of these things are going to come ahead at some point.
What did you think?
Loved it
Hated it
So/So
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