Abbott Elementary – Ava Fest: Tokyo Drift

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

The teachers are trying and failing to do printouts for the upcoming open house because they lack functioning computers. Janine (Quinta Brunson) reminds the cameras that the school district took all of their freebies from the golf course away, so they’re back at square one. So, now everyone is stuck with crashing computers and Ava (Janelle James)  gave away the funding they were supposed to get to needier schools. However, Janine says that they’ve got a plan. As a part of the open house this year, they’re going to be hosting a car wash to raise money. 

With that in mind, Jacob (Chris Perfetti) asks how much they’re going to be charging for the car washes and Janine explains that they’re not charging, they’re relying on donations. Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) says that when you rely on the kindness in peoples’ hearts, you realize that people aren’t kind. Still, Janine says the plan is to lure people in with the promise of a free car wash and guilt trip them into donating with the kids’ sweet faces. She insists that even if people aren’t kind, they’ll pay anything to get rid of guilt. For her part, Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) adds that car washes tend to go well for her church. Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis), who might be in a cult, shares that his church offered him his own planet. Then Jacob wonders if they’ll still call it AvaFest, but Ava trademarked it and sent a cease and desist. 

The next day we see Melissa thanking Captain Robinson (Mike O’Malley) for bringing her to school in his fire truck. Then we see Gregory (Tyler James Williams) preparing for the car wash, he’s relieved to be the interim principal because he always got nervous about interacting with parents, now there’s a substitute teacher taking over his class. Unfortunately for him, Dia (Pam Trotter) and Melissa burst his bubble and remind him that some of the parents are going to want to talk to him. This will be especially true, they say, since he’s new to the principal position. However, Gregory points out that Ava never met with parents, but Dia and Melissa point out that he’s not Ava. So, Gregory should get ready for complaints and concerns. 

In the library, the teachers and students prepare for the car wash, and Janine gets trolled about her lack of height by the students. After the announcements are made, Barbara declares that she won’t be scrubbing because her nails are the only things she buffs. Still, she’s more than willing to count the donations. And Melissa brought a fundraising tracker because they’re not washing cars for free. Jacob tries to remind her that it was advertised as being free but she says the donations are highly suggested. Plus, Barbara says she invited all the members of her church which includes a person whose name we never hear because Mr. Johnson powers up the leafblower. He explains he blew dirt on a lot of different cars to encourage their owners to swing by. Then Jacob points out that the weather forecast says it’s going to rain, but the staff members are undeterred. 

Gregory is nervous and is somewhat frantically practicing introducing himself as the interim principal of Abbott. He encounters a mom (Artrece Johnson) who says she’s been waiting for years to know what the different clubs listed on the website entail, but there’s never been a description. She specifically asks what a Garden Goofball is, and Gregory is happy to answer because it’s his club. He explains that it’s a club that teaches kids responsibility while teaching them how to grow their own food. When the parent leaves, Gregory congratulates himself on a good job, only for Dia to say the mom asked the one thing he knows. Gregory says that he’d been giving Dia the benefit of the doubt. After the exchange, Janine comes in and says Gregory needs to come outside. The good news is the free carwashes attract a large crowd in Philly, the bad news is they have more cars than car washers and they’re overwhelmed. 

We cut away and see Melissa turn away Mr. Morton (Jerry Minor) who is still having relationship issues. Then she’s pleasantly surprised to see that Ava showed up. She said she needed a car wash and then comments that washing cars for free is a terrible idea. Ava adds that if they need the money, she has a list of potential high-net-worth donors in her desk. Barbara doesn’t think they’ll need to because they’ve got cars lined up around the block. Ava gives more advice about what they’re using to wash the cars, wonders what they’d do without her, and then drives off. 

Inside, Gregory continues talking to parents and bumps into Amber (Naté Jones), his ex, who calls him boring and points out that him dating a teacher is now probably a power imbalance. Then, as he tries to escape, she needles him about having been her family’s pizza delivery person and leaving the delivery outside to avoid them. But, Gregory says he was just waiting until today to see her so that he could tell her how well her children, Megan and Joel, are doing in school, which Amber is happy to hear. Once Amber is gone, Dia says that it was a close call, but he handled it well and then mocks the way he walks. 

Outside, the teachers get another tip, and Janine prompts Melissa to measure the money and they’re not really making any. In fact, Mr. Johnson points out that they’ve lost money doing the car wash. Barbara helps it make sense by pointing out that the spent $275 on supplies and they have only made $163 in donations, hence the debt. The $100 was from Ava, and gentrifiers aren’t generous tippers. 

Janine tells Gregory that the car wash is losing money and they only have a couple of hours left. But then, Janine remembers Ava’s list of potential donors and thinks they should reach out. Barbara starts to share that there’s a pretty high-profile member of her church, but Gregory assumes it’s Jesus, so we don’t learn who it is. He tells Janine to go give them a call. 

The car wash continues and attendees start tipping more thanks to Janine’s text messages. Janine is happy that Ava’s donors are coming through up until Mr. Johnson says that they’re drug dealers. He says he won’t elaborate about how he knows that without his lawyer being present. When they hear him yell to stay out of the trunk, Melissa says he could just be private. Janine adds that having money and a nice car doesn’t make a person a drug dealer. But, Jacob unintentionally proves Mr. Johnson right when he uses the siren on the megaphone he’s been using and the Ava-approved donors race off. 

Inside, Gregory is giving a tour and a talk on reading comprehension that is well-received by all the parents except for one: Enter Darnell (Langston Kerman). He kicks open the door, calls Gregory a bitch and accuses him of failing his son Jabari. 

Back at the carwash, some of the teachers are trying to justify taking the drug money. Janine says that maybe this is where drug money should be going, back into the community, but Barbara says no. Melissa argues that if you ignore the drug part, they’re just small-business owners. Plus, Melissa says, the bible doesn’t explicitly say anything about not smoking weed. Janine makes a joke about the burning bush, which angers Barbara, and Janine apologizes and says Barbara’s right, but they’re in really bad shape post-having-everything-confiscated-by-the-district. With the drug money, Janine points out that they could make back what they lost. Before Barbara has made her decision, Ava comes by and asks how things went. The group reports that they did okay, but Barbara won’t let them keep the money.

Jacob says there’s nothing left to do but wait for the next district budget meeting and hope they get lucky. But Ava says that their problem is that they think too out of the box. However, Melissa doesn’t know how they’d pivot because there’s only one hour of daylight left. According to Ava, this leaves just enough time for a block party and not just any block party but AvaFest. 

Remember when Darnell tried to kill Gregory the first time? He ultimately backed down, but warned that if Jabari’s grades started slipping, he’d come for Gregory. Gregory asks if Jabari’s grades started slipping and Darnell says he had an A+ in spelling and now it’s down to an A because Jabari misses Gregory. . Gregory explains that he had to step into the interim principal job, but he makes it a point to check in on his students, Jabari included. Darnell explains he blames Gregory because he built a bond with his son and bailed on him. Gregory gives Darnell his word that he’ll always be there for Jabari and he’s certain that the little boy will be alright. This seems to calm Darnell down and he goes as far as telling Gregory he’s okay, but, Darnell says he’s got to stop pushing his buttons. This makes Gregory dubiously look at the cameras, and Darnell gets mad at him for looking at the cameras, only for him to say he’s joking again and then we cut away. 

AvaFest is in full swing and going well, with Mr. Johnson offering caricatures, Rosalyn (Cree Summer) doing psychic readings, and Ava critiquing outfits for twenty dollars. According to the thermometer, they’re making money. Still, Melissa says that although they’re doing better than the car wash in the absence of a big closer they’re not going to meet their goal. In the nick of time, Barbara says her church contact came through. At first, they’re not excited because they don’t think her husband or friends will pull in a crowd. She starts to reveal who she got to perform, but she reveals herself when Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Jill Scott introduces herself to the teachers. Barbara thanks Jill Scott for showing up so last minute, but Jill explains that Barbara has gone above and beyond to make her godmother feel welcome in the choir, despite her lack of singing ability, so it was the least she could do.  Then she introduces her security guard, Jack, because sometimes weirdos follow her and do things like steal her ear monitors.

Jacob takes Jill Scott to go prepare to perform and everyone else is still shocked that Barbara got her to perform. Ava just says that the lord works in mysterious ways.  Barbara explains that she knew that God had a plan when he brought Jill Scott’s godmother to the choir and it wasn’t because they needed a crackly soprano. 

A lot of Abbott parents are willing to pay to see Jill Scott perform in the hallway, and the school reaches its fundraising goal. Ava gives herself a pat on the back and considers the event some of her best work, but Janine wonders what made her get involved. Ava says they were obviously spinning their wheels with the car wash, but Janine says she would’ve thought they’d be the least of her concerns. Ava agrees that she makes a lot of money doing her talks, but she misses Abbott for reasons she can’t explain. Janine asks Ava if she wants to come back and Ava reminds her that the door for that is closed. However, Janine says if Ava really wants to come back they’ll find a way to make it happen. Very reluctantly, Ava admits that she wants to come back. 

AvaFest is over and Mr. Johnson asks for Jill Scott’s autograph because he’s a huge fan and possibly her stalker. In the janitor’s closet there’s a shrine and a few things that belong to Jill Scott including her scarf and ear monitors. Then she remembers that Mr. Johnson attended thirty-seven of her shows in one year. Apparently, he even rushed her stage in her 2005 Pittsburgh show and stole the scarf off of her neck. He’s the reason she hired Jack. As she’s leaving he tries to show her a caricature of the two of them together that she doesn’t appreciate considering he’s her stalker.