Abbott Elementary – Franklin Institute

By starrymag | April 25, 2023

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

We open with Gregory (Tyler James Williams) talking to his father. Due to the business-like tone that Gregory takes on, Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) thinks he’s talking to the FBI. Gregory explains that his father just offered him a job at his landscaping company for the summer in Baltimore, but Mr. Johnson, ever the conspiracy theorist, isn’t totally convinced.  However, we do learn that Mr. Johnson has always yearned to break into the landscaping business, but he thinks it’s only accessible to nepo babies. Mr. Johnson being a landscaping enthusiast is confusing for Gregory, but he says he’ll put in a good word for him if he decides against taking the job. Gregory heads over to the coffee maker. When Janine (Quinta Brunson) walks in she realizes she doesn’t know Mr. Johnson’s first name. He cryptically tells her to look up at the sky tonight and it’ll be written in the stars.

 

It seems that Abbott Elementary is going on a field trip. The teachers are taking the kids on an overnight to The Franklin Institute. In preparation Janine and Gregory are discussing what their must-haves are. We learn that Gregory has day socks, night socks, and a durag to protect his hair while he’s sleeping. Both Janine and Gregory are excited it’s their first teacher sleepover. Then, Gregory impresses Janine by making a Night at the Museum reference because those movies are her favorite. Gregory says he takes all her recommendations seriously as he always wants to know why she likes the things she likes. Adorable.

 

Elsewhere Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) shows Ava (Janelle James) that one of her overnight must-haves is a baseball bat. It’s named after one of the first female scouts in baseball history. It might seem odd, but Melissa can’t sleep without “her.” Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) joins the conversation and has a bulky bag full of stuff she can’t live without for the night. For a moment, due to the size, both Ava and Melissa wonder if she’s stashed her husband in there. But Barbara explains it’s all a part of her skincare routine, which is top secret apparently, so she doesn’t let them look inside the bag.

 

Outside while Janine is waiting with the kids she runs into Maurice (Vance Staples). The encounter that follows is about as awkward as you’d expect. Maurice is still angry about what happened between them and only came by for coffee with the expectation that Janine would still be inside with the kids. She tries to apologize for what happened with Gregory, but Maurice says it’s fine since everyone has moments where they’re selfish. Janine objects to being called selfish, but Maurice feels it’s an apt description for a person who’d kiss their significant other’s friend and then break up with them at their SO’s favorite restaurant in front of said friend. Ouch.

 

This encounter leaves Janine a bit shaken, so after Maurice is gone, she tells the cameras that she felt like she’d made progress this year. However, she explains that she hurt someone who didn’t deserve it all because didn’t realize that she was selfish. After mulling over Maurice’s words, she starts distancing herself from Gregory.

 

Inside The Franklin Institute Gregory shares a sweet moment with a little girl named Arianna (Oriana Suomie). She’s having trouble keeping up while carrying her bag, so Gregory carries it for her. Also, Gregory didn’t see Maurice so he’s confused when Janine doesn’t want to talk.

 

Upstairs Melissa is less than impressed with the tour guide (Hilary Anne Matthews). Why? She knows a lot about trains, but not as much about Philly history. When she admits that she’s actually from New York Melissa says it’s disrespectful to move here, work for a museum and not bother to learn about the city’s history. The tour guide points out she’s just a volunteer and Melissa replies that she’s worth every penny she’s being paid.

 

The kids are having fun with the space exhibit when Ava decides to share some theories about galaxies far, far away. She tells the kids that aliens exist. It makes some of the younger kids nervous when Ava implies that the aliens that could visit might not be friendly.

 

Gregory sends Arianna over to give Janine a hug by using a train song. Normally Janine would probably find that sort of thing adorable, but Maurice’s words are still ringing in her ears. When she doesn’t react Gregory asks her about it. Janine says she’s good. Gregory tells her about the possibility of taking the job in Baltimore, that is if Janine wouldn’t rather, he stick around so they could hang out. Janine doesn’t really react and just says he should do whatever he wants. Gregory is left confused at her lack of preference.

 

Melissa continues not being impressed with their tour guide and Barbara continues being evasive. It’s almost bedtime and she asks her class to sleep away from the kids. That confuses Melissa because presumably she didn’t mind sleeping with the group last year. But Barbara says she needs her space to calm her class down because Ava scared them with her alien theories.

 

On an unrelated note, Jacob (Chris Perfetti) is hyped that his class snagged the spot next to Gregory’s class. Jacob reminds Gregory not to gently cradle him if he starts having sleep paralysis. Gregory interrupts because he needs a sounding board about the Janine of it all. When Gregory asks about Janine, our dear Jacob suggests that Gregory ask her himself what’s wrong.  At first he doesn’t want to, but then when Jacob jokes about them kissing Gregory’s face makes Jacob realize it’s already happened. Jacob wants the tea and Gregory admits that they kissed at the teacher’s conference. Apparently, Janine never said a word to Jacob about it. Jacob points out that Janine and Gregory have done everything except talk to each other about their feelings. With summer drawing near, Jacob says that it’s time to change that. This suggestion worries Gregory because you can’t un-ring a bell after confessing romantic feelings for a friend. Jacob explains that there could be a lot of good stuff on the other side of the confession. Then, Gregory surprises Jacob when he requests a bro hug. Jacob tries to hide how happy this makes him, and they share a brief, manly hug.

 

Ava continues freaking out the kids by telling them about humanoid aliens that could be hiding among them. Then, she teases Janine about making her “boyfriend” – a/k/a Gregory – her class buddy. Janine is perturbed at this description of Gregory and then asks Ava if anyone has ever called her selfish. Ava says it happens all the time. In fact, just this morning her grandmother called her selfish. When Janine asks if she’s selfish, Ava doesn’t reassure her…at first. However, she goes on to tell Janine that as long as you’re not hurting anyone, what’s the problem with doing what’s good for you? Just then Gregory asks if he and Janine can chat when the kids are asleep. Instead of answering Janine elects to move her kids next to Barbara’s class.

 

When the lights are out Jacob and Gregory have another heart-to-heart. Gregory is discouraged that Janine would rather move to the other side of the room than talk to him. But Jacob doesn’t think he should give up. Everyone that Jacob likes knows he likes them, so does Gregory really want to take his feelings to the grave? With that said, Gregory takes his advice and walks over to Janine. He wants to know why she started acting cold this morning, but Janine says to forget it. Gregory takes the plunge and says he can’t because he likes her. Unfortunately, the kids interrupt before Janine can respond.

 

We flashback to this morning Brian’s mom (Dani Woodson) tried to tell Gregory to pay close attention to Brian (Aidan Shute). The reason was that he does this thing where he pretends to sleep but doesn’t. When he gets up, he catches a glimpse of Barbara wearing a sleep apnea mask and wakes up all the other kids by screaming about aliens. With Ava’s warnings in their heads, the other kids start screaming and run away.

 

Ava and Melissa follow the screaming children and are ready to confront the aliens with Melissa’s baseball bat. Gregory explains that Barbara is the alien, which confuses Ava who suggests that Jacob take Barbara out instead of Melissa. But Barbara explains that she developed sleep apnea recently and now she needs a CPAP machine to sleep. She kept it a secret because she was worried about her appearance. Melissa reassures her about her aging insecurities and the teachers fan out to find the kids.

 

Janine and Gregory end up inside the heart exhibit. While they’re checking for stragglers Janine decides to be brave and tells Gregory that she likes him too…a lot. This makes Gregory really happy. They talk a little and realize that they’ve both liked each other from almost the very beginning, but there were some Amber, Taylor, Maurice and Tariq-sized complications. Gregory says they’ve both been all over the place, but now they’re here. Or are they?

 

Janine says that talking to Maurice changed things for her. Every day she comes to school excited to see Gregory, but even though she has romantic feelings for him she feels that she needs his friendship a little more right now. Ultimately, Janine says she needs to be a little selfish right now and maybe she needs to be but not at Gregory’s expense. It’s clear that this isn’t what Gregory was hoping to hear, but he tells her he understands. Afterwards, he and Jacob share a comforting bro hug. Before the second attempt at bedtime Barbara shows the kids that she’s not an alien by explaining the mask.

 

The next day the tour guide admits to Melissa that she has a lot to learn about Philly’s history. She then surprises Melissa by suggesting that she become a Franklin Institute volunteer. Melissa says if she thinks someone from Philly would work for free she still doesn’t know much about the city.

 

There’s still a smidge of awkwardness between Gregory and Janine, but they’re still friends. Janine tells the cameras that as much as she cares about Gregory that she’s not ready to be with him. Gregory says he doesn’t regret telling Janine how he feels, but now that it’s all out there that new things can grow. However, we still don’t know if he’s going to Baltimore. Some time passes and we see them going to lunch with Jacob.

 

At the end of the episode Mr. Johnson decides his summer is starting early. He tells a confused Ava that he’s joining Gregory’s father’s business and using his saved-up time off to leave now. Ava states that he doesn’t have any saved-up time off, but Mr. Johnson is unbothered and speed walks out before Ava can catch up – as she has just painted her toes.