After an action packed week, with Abbott Elementary winning several Golden Globes and getting renewed for season 3, it’s time for an all new episode. Read on to find out what happens on this week’s episode, “Fight.”
Colonel Father, Sir
Gregory’s father is in town for a big landscaping job, and by the way Gregory is creeping around the school, straight-backed and apprehensive; he doesn’t seem the most excited. Mr. Eddie wants to see the place Gregory works at. Outside, he examines the garden (while Gregory creeps through the window blinds, looking for his reaction). As Gregory brings the senior Mr. Eddie into the teacher’s lounge to meet everyone, he praises Barbara and Jacob for their gardening prowess and the improved use of a bottle to help partition things to grow — and old Eddie method. However, everyone quickly realizes that all of the garden’s success has been because of Gregory. Barbara is scandalized, Jacob is in disbelief (I don’t know why… the man confused spinach and collard greens), and Mr. Eddie is proud of Gregory’s initiative.
Throughout his trip, Mr. Eddie continues to heap praise upon Gregory, something novel by the way he reacts (as Barbarba said, it looked like his face was trying to mute a smile). Eventually, Gregory helps his dad out with a landscaping job, to his chagrin. Instead of berating him, he’s yet again praised and his father tells him that he wants to go into business with him and eventually pass the company on. He’s proud of how confident he’s become. Gregory turns him down to continue working at Abbott, stating he thinks his work there is what has made him into a better, more confident man.
Conflict Resolution 101: Throw Hands
Janine is having issues getting two of her students to get along. Of course, being Janine, she thinks that the power of positivity and friendship (insert Spongebob meme) can solve everything. She tries a myriad of conflict resolution strategies, ranging from making the two girls sit next to each other at lunch — which ends up with one of the girls throwing the others’ milk carton to the ground and smashing it — to a class exercise where partners make an outline of their partner and fill in the outline with things they learn about each other. That one doesn’t go too well either.
Janine eventually tells the girls they need to come to a resolution and work out some sort of agreement, or they’ll be barred from movie Friday (they’re watching Toy Story — the first one, because the third one makes Janine cry). Things seem fine until one day at lunch, the girls’ sisters come up to fight one another — the agreement Janine’s students worked out. A scuffle breaks out and the teachers are forced to step in, with Janine’s short stature not helping her (the other girls mistook her for a student). Barbara and Ava set the girls straight.
Janine uses Barbara’s office hour to talk to her about the fight and her failure to have her students get along. Barbara tells her sometimes people just don’t like each other and that’s okay. She prompts Janine to figure out that her dislike of conflict stems from her mother and sister fighting all the time when they were kids (and still as adults), in which she was always thrown into the middle. Barbara tells her Janine needs to find a way with becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable around conflict.
School lets out and Janine’s students’ sisters come to pick up their little sisters, having bonded over liking butterflies — and beating people up. The two little girls have made a begrudging peace. Janine calls up her sister and tells her she should visit (and that she won’t tell their mom).
Fantasy Football
Melissa’s fantasy football team has been taken down by none other than Mr. Johnson, leaving her in shambles. Ava, however, is still in the game and going on to face him in the finals. The two lament on how Mr. Johnson always manages to scalp players that they wanted for his picks. In light of this commisseration, Ava recruits Melissa to help hatch a plot in order to ensure she gets her vital picks before Mr. Johnson does so she can beat him, promising Melissa a cut of the winnings.
Melissa creates a distraction by sending one of her students to empty a large tub of paint water (poor baby didn’t have a chance), creating a big spill for Mr. Johnson to clean up in the bathroom right as the portal opens up to choose/trade players. The plan seems to be going as planned, but Ava still somehow gets scalped. Mr. Johnson ends up as league champion, and splits the profit with… Jacob?!? Jacob was the one logging onto the portal for Mr. Johnson and grabbing players.
The Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning show Abbott Elementary airs on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m ET/ 8 p.m. CT. Check out all of our other coverage on the show here (including episodic recaps) and stay tuned for more updates.
