Abbott Elementary – Dad Fight

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

Janine (Quinta Brunson), Jacob (Chris Perfetti), Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph), Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) are walking into school. While Jacob and Janine discuss the pending golf course having AI, Melissa takes a hard fall. She gets up with a limp but insists that it’s no big deal.

When the school day ends Gregory talks with Tariq (Zack Fox) who thanks Gregory for “drafting” his son for his class.  Once Tariq leaves, Gregory interacts with a little boy named Jabari (Seven John Singleton) and gives him a pencil. Jabari’s mother Lisa (X Mayo) arrives and upon Jabari showing her the pencil Gregory gave her she thanks him for being such a good role model because his father is unreliable. We cut away and Gregory tells the camera that interacting with the students is his favorite part of the job.

In the teacher’s lounge Melissa is still limping and in pain, but in denial about it. Jacob, Janine and Barbara try to encourage her to see a doctor, but she doesn’t seem to trust them. Even Ava (Janelle James) says considering the hard fall no wonder she’s in pai yet adds she wouldn’t know first-hand because she never falls. The subject changes to collecting money for a new Keurig coffee maker. Everyone gives money and Janine hints about not having any. The reason why is that she loaned Barbara five dollars when getting their nails done, but she hasn’t paid her back. She knows it’s not a lot of money, but it’s the principle of the matter. Janine says that she’d never forget owing someone money. Jacob points out she owes him $300 and Janine replies that she thinks about that debt every single day.

When another school day goes by Gregory meets Darnell (Langston Kerman) who is Jabari’s father. He isn’t happy about the pencil Gregory gave his son and makes that known. Gregory tries to explain it isn’t a big deal, but Darnell is adamant that he doesn’t want Gregory giving his son pencils. Gregory says it is fine and that the next time he’ll give him a pen instead. However, that sets Darnell off. Darnell states they need to have a parent/teacher night. At first, Gregory assumes he just really wants to talk, but then Darnell makes it clear he wants to fight Gregory. Gregory is surprised by this, but Darnell says tomorrow at 3:00PM that he’s going to beat up Gregory.

Gregory goes to talk to Janine and tells her what happened. Then, word spreads to Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis), Barbara and Jacob. The reactions from staff members vary. Janine is hoping he wasn’t serious, Mr. Johnson is excited and Ava wants to take bets. Barbara had Jabari last year and says this isn’t unusual. She states that when fathers aren’t around a lot they feel threatened at the idea of a male teacher bonding with their child. She says Darnell in particular is a piece of work.

The next day Melissa seems to have recovered and is downright chipper, much to everyone’s confusion. When the other teachers press for answers she explains she took some painkillers. To be specific, she took Jacob’s pain medication from his 2013 wisdom teeth removal. Barbara points out that it’s not a great idea to take pills that expired, but Melissa says she just doubled them up. Everyone’s concern is doubled with they see how swollen her ankle is, reluctantly, Melissa agrees to see the nurse.

When Melissa leaves Barbara uses $5 to get something from the vending machine and Janine hints again about the money she owes her, but it goes over Barbara’s head. Elsewhere, Gregory tries to talk to Lisa about Darnell’s threats. She apologizes for Jabari’s father, but says this is unfortunately in character for him. Gregory is momentarily relieved, but then Lisa says he will in fact fight him. When Gregory is still confused about why Darnell is reacting this way over a pencil, she explains that she told Darnell that Gregory is a better role model for their son than he is. She advises him to guard the back of his head and leaves.

Once she’s gone Tariq offers to train him for the fight. On Gregory’s part, he doesn’t feel he needs training because he refuses to fight a student’s father. Janine comes in and wants him to leave school early. Jacob suggests that they stage a fight to spook Darnell. After Mr. Johnson weighs in, Gregory insists once more that there won’t be a fight but everyone else isn’t so certain.

Janine talks to Barbara about Venmo and learns that she has an account and uses it a lot. She sends her husband a penny to let her know she’s thinking of him and even sends her church $100 to tithe. Much to Janine’s frustration she doesn’t remember the $5 she owes her.

In his classroom Gregory calls his father for advice. He explains the situation and says that grown adults shouldn’t be fighting. When Gregory hears this he is relieved that someone finally agrees with him. Then, his father says that although they shouldn’t fight he shouldn’t let someone pound on him and encourages him to win the fight. The bell rings and Gregory bids his father goodbye.

Darnell and Gregory are both a little late, but ultimately both show-up. Janine thinks Gregory was brave, but thinks he should just leave. Gregory tells her not to worry because he is going to go with Jacob’s plan. Jacob comes to the parking lot in a disguise and accuses Gregory of being bashing gay people. This disappoints most of the people in attendance, including Darnell, who is a hothead but not a homophobe. He said he thinks his cousin’s cousin might be gay, so now he has to beat up Gregory for him, Jacob and Frank Ocean.

Inside the school with her injuries, Melissa is trying and mostly failing to get outside to see the fight. Tyriq is trying to bond with Gregory by giving him advice. Ava is taking last-minute bets and Barbara takes her up on it by borrowing $5 from Janine again. Jacob sees this and tells Janine she really needs to learn boundaries. Elsewhere, hobbling out to the parking lot forces Melissa to accept she needs an actual doctor.

Gregory tells Darnell he can hit him if he needs to but he won’t fight him. He says they’re both #teamjabari and his son is doing well right now because of him. If Gregory fights his student’s father, he feels he’ll be letting him down. This seems to give Darnell some pause and he decides to be the bigger man. Still, he warns Gregory that if Jabari’s grades start slipping he’ll be back. Everyone’s relieved that Gregory is still breathing and Ava’s happy that she gets to keep the money.

Melissa comes to school on crutches and tells Janine and Gregory she now has a lot of follow-up appointments. This is probably due to her many years of dodging the doctor, but despite her knee and ankle problems she promises she’s fine. After bantering about pressure points Janine tells the cameras that Greogry is a good teacher and man. When Lisa arrives, she says she’s impressed that Gregory talked Darnell down. She says that couldn’t have been easy considering Jabari’s last teacher swung on him. Since there’s only one kindergarten teacher Gregory is shocked to realize it had to have been Barbara. Before she leaves she tells him Jabari doesn’t know about the conflict and Gregory has another moment with Jabari once she leaves.