Abbott Elementary – Fundraiser

By starrymag | January 24, 2023

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

The episode starts with donuts in the teacher’s lounge. Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) is doing bad impressions while handing them out. We cut away and Jacob (Chris Perfetti) and Janine (Quinta Brunson) share that they’re too afraid to tell her how bad her impressions are before she offers them donuts. Gregory (Tyler James Williams) declines the donuts initially, but he shares that he actually does really like donuts. Next, we see Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) get very confused by what is supposed to be a Godfather impression. When Melissa starts to do a Forest Gump impression Jacob finally tells her that her impressions suck, and she takes the donut back.

 

Later we learn it’s fundraising week at Abbott Elementary. The school wants to take the kids to the Franklin Institute, but the district wouldn’t give them the money, so the fundraiser is a necessity. The kids will be selling candy bars; however, Barbara says they’re not asking for handouts. She wants them to be both strong, yet respectful when they’re out there selling candy.

 

Outside Janine is with a group of students and we see that people aren’t exactly eager to buy candy from the kids. This includes Maurice (Vince Staples), Gregory’s friend, who at first turns down kids’ sales pitch for candy until he realizes that they’re Janine’s students. Then we learn that Maurice and Janine have been talking by text and he sends a lot of celebrity pictures. He came to ask Janine out so they can do something together that doesn’t involve kids and she says yes.

 

Back at the school Jacob and Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) finds a cat hiding in the storage room. The cat is a little spooked at first, but Jacob manages to coax him out. Once he’s out in the open Jacob names him Cinnamon Cupcake Hill, but Mr. Johnson wants to name him Milton. But the rebuttal from Jacob is that no one names a cat Milton.

 

In the principal’s office Ava (Janelle James) is peeling potatoes for some reason when a boy named Henry (Christopher Farrar) walks in. He tells Ava that he’s having another growth spurt, but he doesn’t think he’ll be able to afford another pair of uniform pants for a year. She reaches into her desk and gives him a pair that the school keeps for situations like this. Henry also shares that kids have been mocking him for wearing clothes he has outgrown.  Before he goes back to class Ava asks him to share his fundraiser sales pitch. It’s very polite and Barbara approved, but Ava doesn’t think it’ll sell any candy. She also cracks a joke at his expense.

 

Speaking of that, the teachers have a chart to measure how much money they’ve raised and when they update it they realize they’re nowhere near their goal. Melissa suggests that maybe they should just forget buying tickets and pick the locks of the Franklin Institute to get in. As fool proof as those sounds, Barbara says, they’re probably going to have to cancel the field trip. This disappoints the teacher but then Ava comes by with money to contribute. Because it’s Ava at first some of the teachers worry she robbed someone, but no, she took some kids out to sell candy. She offers to help the kids sell their candy and reach their fundraising goal.  The teachers are wary of working with Ava but they’re out of options, so they agree.

 

Afterschool Ava gives a crash course in selling candy. It’s as sketchy as you’d expect, but effective. Her method involves a lot of mind games and playing of sympathy. She tells the kids pretend the customer has already agreed to a purchase and use their confusion against them. Then she says to always look sad and never give people change. Plus, Ava says when in doubt it never hurts to say you have a terminal illness. Barbara is horrified, but Ava’s methods are effective. Barbara wants to speak to Ava privately and reprimands her for teaching the kids to scam people. Ava responds by pointing out that Barbara’s sales tactics weren’t working. Still, Barbara says Ava’s approach goes too far. The two women agree to try and find a compromise, for the kids’ sake.

 

A little later Janine bumps into Gregory in the hallway. The two of them catch up and Janine tells him about her date with Maurice. Gregory isn’t thrilled and tells Janine to be careful, but Janine wonders why he’d be friends with someone he feels the need to warn her about. Gregory answers that there’s a difference between friendship and romance. He doesn’t want to say bad things about Maurice, but he doesn’t want there to be any blowback.  Janine says there’s nothing to worry about.

 

Barbara goes to Ava’s office and after some initial confusion agrees to read an announcement. It says that Abbott Elementary has reached its fundraising goals so the kids can go to the Franklin Institute! Then, the announcement consists mostly of praising Ava, so Barbara refuses to read the rest of it. Fair. Even though they reached their goal Ava says they still have candy leftover. Since the school is so underfunded making a little extra money could be good for the students, but Barbara is unsure. She doesn’t want to push their luck, but she reluctantly agrees.

 

In the teacher’s lounge Jacob and Mr. Johnson are still struggling to co-parent the cat they found. After they disagree about the pros and cons of microchipping, the conversation turns to Janine. Melissa and Jacob want to hear all about her date with Maurice, while Gregory is still uncomfortable. Janine tells them about the restaurants they’re going to and gushes about how sweet Maurice was for supporting the fundraiser. This pushes Gregory into competitive mode, and he says he’ll buy candy from the students too. However, they’re in the teacher’s lounge so of course there are no kids around. Gregory gets defensive and wonders why they don’t want him to support young entrepreneurs.

 

The conversation is interrupted by another dispute between Jacob and Mr. Johnson about how they’re raising Cinnamon Cupcake/Milton. Jacob wants him to take a nap, but Mr. Johnson is letting him play. This bothers Jacob who says it’ll be Mr. Johnson’s fault if the cat is up all night. Mr. Johnson says he’ll be more than happy to stay up all night with the kitty. Co-parenting at its finest.

 

After school Barbara and Ava take the kids to the mall to sell the last of their candy. At first it’s going well, but then they spot Delisha Sloss (Shirley Jordan). Delisah Sloss goes to Barbara’s church, but she’s also a school board member Barbara blackmailed last year. Barbara tries to sell it to her, but she says that she already bought a candy bar but for a different price. Henry sold it to her for $2 when they’re really $1 and Barbara realizes that Ava told him to do that. Barbara makes Henry give the dollar back and is angry with Ava. After Delisha comments that she’s not surprised that students of Barbara’s would shake people down, Barbara confronts Ava.

 

Barbara demands to know why Ava told the kids to overcharge for the candy. Ava says she did it to motivate them to sell more candy because they get to keep the extra money. Barbara wants to know what they spend it on. Whatever they want, Ava says, it’s like a commission. Ava’s methods don’t mesh with Barbara’s Christian values and she tells Ava she regrets ever involving her with the fundraiser.  She accuses Ava of teaching the kids to steal and says that Henry overcharging Delisha Sloss embarrassed her in front of her church friends. Ava points out that Barbara could only blackmail Delisha Sloss because she stole from the church, so glass houses…Barbara doesn’t think that’s relevant and says Ava always goes too far.

 

The next day is filled with tension. Jacob and Mr. Johnson still haven’t agreed on how to raise the cat they found so Melissa steps in. She helps them come to an arrangement where Cinnamon Cupcake Hill lives with Jacob and his boyfriend while Mr. Johnson gets the weekends.  Once the cat’s custody is settled Jacob checks on Gregory. He wonders why Gregory has been acting so strange. After recalling all of Gregory’s behavior regarding Maurice he realizes that Gregory likes Janine.  Gregory tries to run away, but there’s no escaping Jacob. When Jacob asks him about his feelings Gregory says he sounds ridiculous. We cut away and, of course, Mr. Johnson was eavesdropping with Cinnamon Cupcake in the hallway.

 

Ava goes to confront Barbara in her classroom about the silent treatment she’s been giving her. She defends her actions by saying that Henry comes to her all the time needing school supplies, clothes and sometimes lunch money. Barbara might see it as scamming according to Ava, but she’s trying to teach him to be able to take care of himself. She then adds that some of their students don’t have the luxury of being able to ask their parents for what they need. Barbara says she has been teaching for longer than Ava’s been breathing. She knows a lot don’t have money, but that’s not a good reason to teach them to lie and cheat. Ava says that Barbara can have morals about these things because she can afford them. Kids like her and Henry grow up having to make hard choices and what Barbara considers scamming helps them get by.

 

The episode ends on a sad note when Jacob realizes Cinnamon Cupcake belongs to a student who brought him in for Show-and-Tell and wants him back. Mr. Johnson is pretty upset, and he cries while saying they should’ve run off with the cat. In the cafeteria Barbara finds Henry. He apologizes for embarrassing her, but she surprises him by saying she’s the one who owes him an apology. Henry says no adult has ever apologized to him before and thanks her. Then, she makes him an offer that if he helps out at the church bake sale he can take 10% of what he sells and keep some of the leftovers. He agrees and both of them are happy.

 

After getting Gregory’s blessing Janine has her date with Maurice. He’s telling her a story about his childhood and talking about how nice it is to open up to her. Janine says she’s glad they can talk like this, with her face smeared with BBQ sauce. She didn’t take Gregory’s advice about not ordering the ribs.