Abbott Elementary – Karaoke

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

It is a potluck in the teacher’s lounge with a twist: Janine (Quinta Brunson) is having everyone match each person to the dish and their personality. Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) matches the dishes to the teacher with ease, but there’s one standout in the form of a croquembouche. At first, she thinks Ava (Janelle James) might’ve made the pastry puffs piled into a cone, but Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) says the desert was all him. Janine inquires about how the croquembouche represents him, and Jacob (Chris Perfetti) assumes it’s because he’s bald. However, in truth, Mr. Johnson studied pastry arts in Paris. The revelation makes everyone feel like they’ve gotten to know each other better, so much so the teachers actually agree to Jacob’s group hug suggestion. We cut away and learn that Mr. Johnson lied about the cooking school though. 

Later on, Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph)  tells the group that she needs a final headcount for their karaoke night. Mr. Johnson is in, Gregory (Tyler James Williams) will be late on account of Uber driving and Jacob is excited to be able to sing. He shares that his ex used to turn his mic off during their duets at home. Janine just wants Gregory to show up in time for their duet and asks if she can bring Erika (Courtney Taylor) along. She shares that Erika needs cheering up because she and Simon (Benjamin Norris) from the district broke up again. Ava (Janelle James) won’t be there on account of her date with O’Shon (Matthew Law). 

Melissa and Barbara arrive and talk vocal range with Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson has been singing Fleetwood Mac songs, but Barbara and Melissa feel he should stick to Macy Gray. Janine and Jacob are at the bar and Janine notices a cute guy that Jacob seems to like. She suggests Jacob go talk to him, but Jacob says cuties are everyone. Then Erika shows up with Simon, which surprises Janine. When Simon goes to say hi to Jacob, Janine asks Erika how long they’ll be together this time. Erika tells her to focus on her own man. Speaking of that, Gregory is still Ubering, and his car comes with games and snacks. 

At an unspecified restaurant Ava and O’Shon are on their first date. Ava seems to like it enough that she reveals she’s telling a friend that she doesn’t have to fake an emergency. O’Shon shares that the restaurant is a sore spot because it replaced his favorite diner. He explains that his parents would take him there as a reward when he got good grades. This prompts O’Shon to ask Ava if her family went out to eat a lot when she was growing up and Ava declines to answer. 

At karaoke night Simon and Erika sing “Love” by Keyshia Cole widely off-key. Barbara wonders how they can still be attracted to each other after hearing such terrible singing voices because it’d be a deal-breaker for her. Mr. Johnson is considering singing a K-pop song, Melissa is waiting for the alcohol to kick in before she picks a song, and Jacob decides to grab the drinks. Once he’s at the bar he hears a laugh that belongs to none other than Zach (Larry Owens), his ex. And Zach isn’t alone, he has his arm around a new man. Feeling blindsided, Jacob ducks into a room filled with a drunk bachelorette party that assumes he’s a stripper. He tries to explain about the ex situation, but this doesn’t stop the women from chanting, “take it off.”

Mr. Johnson sings “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp” and Janine sings along. Outside of the room, we see Erika and Simon arguing and teetering on the edge of yet another breakup. Jacob tries to talk to Janine, but Janine is too into the music to listen so he goes to Melissa and Barbara instead. When they ask why Jacob didn’t bring the beer, he explains he saw Zach. Barbara responds that she always liked Zach, but Jacob isn’t so sure he’s ready to see him with his unnamed gentleman friend. However, Melissa and Barbara point out that they’re supposed to be friends so he should go say hello and bring back the beer. 

At the restaurant, O’Shon and Ava’s date is a little hot and cold. Ava didn’t like the food and tells O’Shon he laughs a lot for a man. Then, she’s unimpressed when he reveals that he’s fluent in Japanese. Then she starts making fun of his multilingual status and says the only language she speaks is money. 

During karaoke night, Barbara, Simon, and Erika perform “Never Would’ve Made It.” It’s a crowd-pleaser and Janine tells Erika and Simon it was nice of them to provide backing vocals for Barbara, but Erika reveals Barbara insisted they help her sing the popular gospel song because she thinks they need Jesus. On an unrelated note, Gregory isn’t there yet and Janine is starting to wonder if he’ll make it in time for their duet. 

She gives him a call and he’s still driving, but he says he’ll be there in only one more ride. Janine says that Gregory should give her a call if anyone’s aggressive because people get weird at night. Gregory’s passenger Leonard (Chris Flemming) gets into the car and takes a picture of Gregory using an old-fashioned camera to prove her point. 

Elsewhere Jacob approaches Zach and as it turns out Zach is pretty happy to see him. Additionally, Zach has been doing pretty well for himself. He tells Jacob he’s there to celebrate the opening of his one-man show, “Got Out.” It’s mostly about his breakup with Jacob and Zach admits that writing about Jacob broke down some walls creatively. Then Jacob feels sad that not a lot has changed for him. Then Zach goes off to sing a song from Rent with his date Wyatt (Matteo Lane). 

At the restaurant, O’Shon and Ava’s date continues to not go well. O’Shon is excitedly telling Ava about his favorite rollercoasters and Ava is cold in response.  This makes O’Shon decide to ask for the check and when Ava asks why he says it’s because he doesn’t want to waste any more of her time since this is going so poorly. Ava seems surprised that he thinks the date is a dud, and he points out she’s been mocking him for a good chunk of the night. She says that banter has sort of been their thing, but O’Shon says it would’ve been nice to build on that rapport by learning things about each other. Ava doesn’t understand what there is to learn, because she’s perfect. 

Janine calls again to see about Gregory’s ETA but is disappointed when he asks if it’d be terrible if he missed karaoke night. Due to surge pricing, he’s hesitant to call it a night on driving. Reluctantly Janine tells him to keep driving because she understands he needs the money. Gregory thanks her for understanding and promises to make it up to her. 

Jacob seems agitated after his conversation with Zach and Melissa and Barbara just hopes he doesn’t sing something ironic. They’re in luck because he switches his karaoke choice to “Last Resort” and gives a very angry rendition of the song. After the song, Barbara and Melissa check on Jacob because the songs he has queued up are a bit alarming. He explains that he isn’t so much bothered by Zach’s new boyfriend, but he feels disappointed that Zach’s made so many strides forward when he’s feeling stuck. Barbara tells Jacob that although he has had a lot of professional wins this year, work can’t be his whole life. So, Melissa and Barbara suggest he focus on obtaining some personal goals like a new boyfriend or his own dream apartment. 

Janine gets a text from Ava saying she will swing by after all. Erika and Simon argue about Simon’s decision to buy another condo when he can’t afford it. Then, there’s Gregory who is venting to a drunk passenger that he’s not sure more money is worth the cost of missing out on moments with Janine and friends. 

O’Shon waits with Ava for her Uber and they talk a bit and Ava decides to share a not-so-fun fact about her childhood. She says her family did go out to eat a lot as a kid, but her dad left her mother for a waitress so now some places are a bit triggering for her. O’Shon thanks her for telling him that and Ava invites O’Shon to karaoke night and he accepts. 

Janine decides to do both parts of the Always on Time duet alone, but Gregory surprises her by joining in at just the right time. While they sing Jacob approaches Elijah (Jaboukie Young-White), the cute guy from earlier, and successfully gets his number. Then he gets back to the karaoke room just in time to see Simon and Erika breaking up again. And now that Ava has arrived, she and O’Shon join the group in a rendition of City High. Barbara is very concerned upon hearing the lyrics, Erika is crying over Simon, Melissa is drunk, and Gregory says that some things are priceless. 

When the night is over Janine and Gregory are driving home and Janine tries to give Gregory a minute-by-minute recap from a time log (his preference) but the passenger (Josh Sussman) says he requested a silent ride.