Review: Abbott Elementary, "Development Day" | Season 2, Episode 1

ABC's hit sitcom returns with a perfect distillation of its skill and charm

EMMY. FOR. GRITTY. Screenshot: ABC

Episodic Medium is thrilled to welcome LaToya Ferguson to launch our coverage of ABC’s sophomore sitcom Abbott Elementary, which will be landing in the inbox of paid subscribers every Thursday. To keep reading and join the discussion in the comments, join us for $5 a month or $50 a year.

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In terms of timing, it doesn’t get more perfect than the timing of Abbott Elementary as a television series. In its first season, it very much felt like a “right time, right place” type of show, a critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful network comedy coming off the heels of the conclusions of series like Modern Family and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Abbott Elementary quickly proved itself to be one of those contemporary sitcoms that gets people talking and, more importantly, invested in network television. And then 10 days before the second season premiere, it saw Emmys success—after being nominated for six Emmys—as Sheryl Lee Ralph and Quinta Brunson took home the gold for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, respectively.

Abbott Elementary’s second season premiere, “Development Week,” is a delightful return to the series as one part “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” for the teachers and one part a reminder that school is back in session for teachers even before it is for the students. As we’re caught up with the teachers, we learn that Janine is (allegedly) thriving after her break-up with Tariq; Barbara went on a cruise and got quite “inebriated” (“Oh. Sea Barbara is different than Land Barbara.”); Jacob taught in Peru and also learned ASL; Melissa had plenty of summer lovin’ at the Jersey Shore with vending machine guy Gary; and Gregory officially became a full-time teacher. Ava remained Ava, which led to her showing off her cute looks in a pre-Development Week slideshow, as well as her newfound hula-hooping skills. Everyone clearly had equally impressive summers.

But “Development Week” is specifically about the week before school when teachers prepare for the school year, adjusting for new students with specific needs and new setbacks from the school board and the educational system as a whole. (It’s also about the development that Janine needed to make as a person post-break-up. The Quinta Brunson-penned episode was actually about two things.) As Janine goes on about how she’s going to thrive this year and no longer bring her personal issues to work—which is an early sign that that will not be the case, along with her talk of how she “fast-tracked” her break-up—funnily enough, she actually starts things off in Development Week actually accomplishing her goals. Her planned mixer for the teachers is a hit, both Barbara and Melissa are actually impressed by her newfound confidence, and most importantly, she’s booked Philadelphia Flyers mascot (and normal people’s nightmare fuel¹) Gritty as a special guest for the kids on the first day of school.

As Janine keeps saying, everything’s coming up Janine. And everything’s coming up Abbott Elementary, as Barbara’s right on track in terms of preparation for a new student who uses a wheelchair; she was able to get a wheelchair ramp for the school, and she’s set to get authorization from the school board for a special desk for her classroom as well. Gregory becomes familiar with the educational goals the school board has for first-grade students and plans accordingly—and intensely. Jacob’s new knowledge of ASL has allowed him to teach a course to the other teachers. And Ava, while—again—still very much Ava, has figured out a side hustle to earn even more money for the school; which is after she and Barbara already worked together earlier in the summer to figure out the proper allocation for the grant money they were awarded at the end of the first season.

Of course, as Barbara eventually tells Gregory, there’s only so much you can plan for; even though it seems like the system is set up for these teachers to fail, what makes them special is how they handle those setbacks and move forward to help their students. The new, put-together Janine is revealed to be falling apart because of the break-up—and the financial situation Tariq, who barely contributed financially but still contributed somewhat, put her in—and the stress and sadness cause her to accidentally book Gritty on the wrong day. Barbara isn’t able to get the special desk she needs for her new student from the school board. And while Melissa isn’t on the same professional high going into this episode as her colleagues, she’s the “victim” of the system, as her second grade and third-grade class—the latter of which is only 10 kids, due to a charter school down the street taking their higher-testing students—end up being combined. All the preparation in the world couldn’t have prepared Melissa for that—which is also something Gregory has to learn from Barbara. Despite the fact that Development Week is all about preparation and planning, there’s only so much these characters can do. But what they do and can do is special, which has been a major component of Abbott Elementary since the pilot.

Abbott Elementary and creator/star Quinta Brunson obviously aren’t afraid to talk about the struggles public school teachers have to face on a daily basis, and “Development Week” is a clear reminder of that. However, the fact that Janine’s financial problems in this episode aren’t directly tied to that aspect of the story is a pleasant surprise in terms of storytelling. It would be easy to say that in the three months off from work, Janine ended up financially struggling like many teachers during summer “vacation.” Instead, her financial issues are primarily the result of the little bit of financial support Tariq provided during their relationship. Her rent goes from an 80/20 split (the 80, naturally, being Janine) to a total struggle for Janine when she has to pay all 100%. She also ends up stuck with all of Tariq’s parking tickets, which he received on her car. (These are not quite the “automo-bills” Destiny’s Child were singing about, but they’re close enough.)

In some ways and especially in this episode—even with just the brief bit of physical presence—Tariq has real Andy Dwyer in the first season of Parks and Recreation vibes. Essentially he’s a mooching man-child and, arguably, literally a scrub, considering the way he exits this very episode in the passenger side of his best friend’s ride. While Abbott Elementary definitely gave Tariq more depth in its first season than Parks and Recreation did Andy by virtue of being Janine’s best friend—but clearly not the right romantic partner for her—it also made sure to skirt the line of him being absolutely irredeemable, especially due to Zack Fox’s performance. After all, Tariq provided one of the greatest moments of the series thus far in the form of his anti-drug rap performance. But “Development Week” is also honest in how it depicts that for all the well-meaning and comedic aspects of the character, Tariq absolutely was a terrible partner for Janine and one who ultimately ended up really putting her in a bad spot.

That doesn’t make it less funny when she has trouble reaching the top shelves in her kitchen or tries to drive her car with a boot on. It just makes the latter funny because it’s sad too. And it’s all funny as a whole because Brunson truly walks a fine line when it comes to Janine; she could be as annoying as Ava and other characters say she is, but she really isn’t. Her enthusiasm and earnestness is infectious, and it’s part of what makes this a special show.

In terms of a sophomore season return for a series that is truly riding the hype train right now, “Development Week” truly is a perfect episode for Abbott Elementary. Because of the aforementioned catch-ups on the summer and the clear goals for the characters in this episode, “Development Week” makes a solid entry point for those viewers checking in based on awards recognition and word of mouth, without having to or before going back to the first season. And for returning viewers, it really is refreshing to get these dynamics back. Ava turning the school into Eagles game day tailgating and parking to make a quick buck is so her, but the growth is that when she says it’s for the school, it actually comes across as believable now. And Barbara’s reaction to Jacob’s Jacob-ness when he comes to tell her and Gregory about Janine’s financial issues is so on point you don’t even have to be familiar with their dynamic to appreciate it: “I’m not playing with that boy this year.” There is a confidence shown in this episode that the season doesn’t immediately focus on the Janine/Barbara mentee/mentor relationship, instead focusing on the community component of the series with Janine and the whole crew (and her friendship with Jacob) and having Barbara work hard as new full-time teacher Gregory’s (less reluctant) mentor. It speaks to the strength of this ensemble and the combinations that can come from them, especially still early in the series run.

Because as I did compare this series to Parks and Recreation, it’s worth noting that Abbott Elementary absolutely did not go through the same awkward phase or growing pains in its first season. And “Development Week” seems to prove that that was no fluke.

Stray observations

• Gregory’s initial reaction to Gritty isn’t quite the internet’s initial reaction to Gritty, as it’s less confusion and fear than it is truly not seeing anything to understand about it. Thankfully, he comes around, because he’s still human. (And he gets to “save the day,” as he uses his father’s bush mascot costume as Gritty fill-in.) And who knew ASL applied to whatever language Gritty speaks?

• Mr. Johnson: “Hey, anybody drive a beat-up sedan?” To which, every teacher raises their hand.

• Melissa: “Janine, what is going on?”; Barbara: “Unpaid parking tickets, landlord troubles… this outfit. Okay, that’s normal.”—For one of the “nicer” sitcoms on television, it is impressive how well Abbott Elementary can do with a barb or a zing. The obvious example would be anything and everything Ava does in this and every episode, but Barbara actually has the zing of the episode here.

• There’s arguably nothing more to say about how terrific Sheryl Lee Ralph is on this series, as she just deservedly won the Emmy for it and she has been terrific in every series, film, and theater performance she’s been a part of for decades. But that doesn’t make it any less satisfying to watch her work and play with the other actors on this series, and it will only make the satisfying Emmys win even more satisfying as the series goes on. I really need to see Sea Barbara though.

• On the Janine/Gregory ship front, Gregory awkwardly asks Janine if she’s been dating since the break-up and Janine awkwardly asks Gregory about “the Taylor thing.” (The Taylor thing is apparently “good.”) Less awkward, Gregory is the only person at the school to notice that Janine parted her hair a different way. He likes it.

• There’s a route that could’ve been taken where Jacob’s Coda-inspired decision to learn ASL actually blows up in his face. But “Development Week” completely avoids that route. It’s honestly really sweet that he’s able to communicate with his new deaf student and there isn’t a joke about him somehow messing it up. Obviously, there are jokes about his skill level in this episode and the fact that he wants to let everyone know he knows ASL. But ultimately, this is another story on theme about the lengths these teachers go to in order to better help their students.

1. Myles here to say that Episodic Medium does not endorse this libelous statement about Gritty, friend to all and nightmare only to the uncultured.