Review: Abbott Elementary, “The Science Fair” | Season 4, Episode 13
“This isn’t a game. This is a volunteer science fair, grades 3 through 8.”
The problem with writing about a weekly episodic network sitcom—at least from my experience writing about two pretty beloved ones over the course of my career as a TV critic—is that it becomes very easy to come across like a broken record. (So despite the unfortunate circumstances that led to our fearless leader Myles covering my Abbott Elementary beat for the last few episodes, the bright side is getting a short reprieve from said broken record status. But now I’m back to scratch shit up, baby!) I’ve written a few times about the Abbott Elementary writers’ room deciding to take a disappointing “tell, don’t show” approach in their stories, essentially presenting potentially funnier and arguably more interesting story beats while falling short in living up to that potential with what ends up being the actual onscreen focus. Unfortunately, “The Science Fair” is another Abbott Elementary episode that falls into this familiar trap; although, in this particular case,…
