Abbott Elementary – Smith Playground

By starrymag | May 22, 2024

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

We open in the gym with Jacob (Chris Perfetti) feeling very excited. It’s field trip day and the students are headed to Smith Memorial Playground and he has worksheets for the kids. Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) and Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) say that he pulled off a field trip with zero funding so he should be proud. However, kids don’t want to work during a field trip and neither do they so he should nix the worksheets.

 

When Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Wilson) arrive, Jacob observes how much they act like a couple. After watching Gregory pick up Janine’s coat Jacob asks him about it and Gregory says today is the day he asks out Janine. Later, on the bus, Jacob tells Janine that Gregory still has feelings for her. Janine isn’t so sure about that as she asked him out earlier in the year only to be rejected. Jacob points out that a lot has changed since the beginning of the year, her included.

 

Once they get to the park things are off to a rocky start. The students from Abbott Elementary aren’t the only students there for a field trip and one of the kids pushes one of Melissa’s students. When Melissa tries to talk to the student’s teacher about the incident there is friction despite the kids apologizing to each other.

 

Elsewhere Gregory and Janine are watching Alex (Mason Renfro) walk off a spill on the playground. They agree they’ve done a good job of convincing Alex to not hate school. This leads to them reminiscing about their elementary school days and agreeing to get on the swings.

 

Things appear to be calm for a moment, but then Melissa and Barbara observe the Liberty Elementary students cutting in front of their students. When they go over to confront the teachers, Miss Barco (Michaela Watkins) and other Liberty teachers say it was the other way around. When the Liberty teachers continue being rude, Barbara quips that that’s probably where the students have learned their poor manners. Then, as Jacob tries to de-escalate the argument, they insult them for working at Abbott. So, now Jacob is also anti-Liberty.

 

Melissa, Barbara and Jacob ask Mr. Morton (Jerry Minor) if his kids are having any problems with the Liberty kids but he doesn’t know. Why? He’s been angrily texting his ex-wife all morning. The teachers disregard something sexist Mr. Morton says about his ex and then agree that Liberty Elementary must be stopped. Ava (Janelle James); however, thinks they should let it go. They basically have a free day, so why waste it being petty? Then, another Liberty teacher (Nandini Bapat) gets rude about asking for a ball back, which leads to Melissa kicking it out of bounds.

 

On the swings, Gregory and Janine continue getting to know each other. Fun fact, Gregory’s favorite color is green, and Janine’s favorite color is blue. Jacob has a dust-up with another Liberty teacher (Darius De La Cruz) purposefully taking forever to use the water fountain. Then, when they’re off the swings Janine gets caught on the monkey bars and Gregory helps her down.

 

Back at Abbott Elementary Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) is heading down to the basement. First, Dia (Pam Trotter) the secretary reminds him that Ava doesn’t like anyone venturing to the basement. Still, Mr. Johnson doesn’t really care and goes down anyway. Once there he discovers Ava’s secret posh bathroom.

 

The Abbott teachers are excited to have lunch in the shade at Smith Memorial Playground. Unfortunately, the Liberty teachers took their spot and moved their lunches into the sun. This infuriates the Abbott teachers, except for Gregory and Janine who are pretty much in their own world. Jacob pulls Gregory aside under the guise of filling him in, but instead says Gregory isn’t a wartime teacher. He really just wants to know if Gregory has asked out Janine. He hasn’t yet, but he does share that when he was helping Janine off the monkey bars he saw a text from Manny (Josh Segarra) asking her out. Gregory doesn’t know if Janine has seen it yet, but no matter what he’s determined to ask get a date with Janine. Jacob is proud of Gregory, but still focused on the war between Abbott and Liberty.

 

Ava thinks that playground beef is lame at first and comments that the teachers are behaving more childishly than the actual children. Then her sorority rival Crystal (Tatyana Ali) reveals that she’s the principal of Liberty Elementary.  With the opportunity to one-up Crystal on the table, Ava declares there will be a parkwide relay race. The winner, Crystal explains, gets dibs on the big slide.

 

Janine and Gregory are still not as invested as the rest of the teachers in the war with Liberty, but they’re enjoying the big slide. Gregory has never slid on the big slide before, so Janine encourages him to do it now.

 

Before the race Ava tells the teachers to take no prisoners and do whatever it takes to win.  Offhandedly they wonder where Janine and Gregory are, but Melissa says Janine’s short legs would only slow them down. However, Barbara notes she can’t carry the team by herself, so Ava agrees to go find them.

 

When she does Gregory and Janine are on the ground post-slide and Gregory is about to confess his feelings. Ava looks disapproving and Mr. Morton comes along to illustrate why. She doesn’t think it’d be a good idea for Gregory and Janine because workplace romances get messy quickly. Ava encourages Mr. Morton to share the reasons behind his pending divorce. Long story short, he and the ex-Mrs. Morton were teachers whose classrooms were side by side. They worked together for years, started dating and got married. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out so now their personal and professional lives are a mess.

 

Hearing Mr. Morton’s story seems to really get to Gregory and Janine. Ava points out that HR typically hates workplace romances and Mr. Morton says he and his wife were warned but they didn’t listen. Plus, when things started getting ugly there was no escape from the drama because they worked together. Things got so bad Mr. Morton transferred schools just to get away from his ex. Gregory doesn’t resume the conversation they were about to have once Ava and Mr. Morton are gone. In a one-on-one interview, Gregory admits he has been so busy thinking about what would happen if things went right, he didn’t consider what would happen if things went wrong. So, he says he has to hold off.

 

Then, it’s time for the relay race and Janine takes the monkey bars and Barbara sprints to a victory for Abbott in pearls. The teachers celebrate the win and then notice the kids aren’t there. The kids from Liberty and Abbott are playing nicely on the big slide together and Barbara says they can get along fine without them. Although, the teachers are a work in progress. Crystal admits the adults were the problem and apologizes. Ava takes the opportunity to gloat, and the rest of Abbott joins in.

 

When the students return, they let in a locked-out Mr. Johnson and Melissa and Barbara congratulate Jacob on a successful field trip. Gregory and Janine awkwardly go their separate ways. The next day everyone regrets not taking Gregory’s advice to stretch.