Abbott Elementary – The Science Fair

By starrymag | February 12, 2025

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

Gregory (Tyler James Williams) and Janine (Quinta Brunson) are asking if the other is cheating, not romantically but technologically. They made a bet to see who could go the longest without looking at their phone, to get a leg up they both left their phones at home. However, competitiveness aside, they both felt it was a good way to be more present with each other as a couple, and with the prize being a kiss the stakes are pretty low. We see them sitting at a table with Jacob (Chris Perfetti) who is on his phone while Gregory and Janine long for their own phones. But Janine has an Achilles heel: She cares about social media and Gregory doesn’t. When Jacob reveals that there will be a  Jumanji remake, it’s too much and Janine demands to look at his phone. At first, he refuses which leads to her trying to wrestle the phone away from him physically. We cut away and learn that this was actually Gregory’s plan and Jacob was in on it. According to Jacob, his phone is broken but his friendship with Gregory couldn’t be more intact. 

Later, Jacob is in the teacher’s lounge with Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) and Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) talking about how excited he is for the spring. Between the weather and the music, he really feels like things are looking up until Mr. Morton arrives. Melissa asks him about the scooter he was driving into work and he explains his ex-wife got the car and half of everything his other ex-wife didn’t get. Jacob comments that, that’s still twice as much as he deserves.    

On an unrelated note, Mr. Morton (Jerry Minor) reminds everyone that the science fair is next week. He’s looking forward to it and even repurposed a basketball trophy into a new trophy that he named after himself. Additionally, he’s found sponsors for the students’ supplies and now all he needs are two teachers to help him judge and teachers to help supervise the kids. A lot of teachers are eager to work with the kids, but no one wants to work with Mr. Morton. On camera, Melissa explains that the kids are a safer bet because when he judges the power always goes straight to his head. She compares him to Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) whenever there’s a spill and when he’s asked about it we learn that Mr. Johnson still believes Melissa is obsessed with him. 

Since no one will voluntarily judge alongside Mr. Morton the solution is to draw names out of a hat. The lucky winner is Jacob, then Jacob, and Jacob again and it becomes clear to everyone but Mr. Morton that people were so unwilling to work with Mr. Morton that everyone put Jacob’s name in instead of their own. The only other person’s name in the hat is Barbara, so she’s tapped to be a judge. She wrote down Jacob’s name too, but Jacob as it turns out wrote down Barbara’s name. 

Later in the day, Janine and Melissa are talking to the kids about their possible projects. Courtney (Lela Hoffmeister) wants to conduct a social experiment, but she won’t share the details. JoJo (Christopher Daniel) wants to burn things on the Bunsen burner, Eric (Caidyn Bennett) wants to set things on fire, and Tyree (Jonigan Booth) to do an experiment on water filtration, but couldn’t get his permission slip signed so Janine sends him to the office to talk it over with Ava (Janelle James). Clarissa (Amentii Sledge) wants to do a volcano, and Melissa also wants to set things on fire so she roasts some marshmallows over the Bunsen burner’s fire.

In Ava’s office, we learn that Gregory is still using Ava’s father as a barber and he gives her a heads-up that a few weeks back he mentioned the science fair and her father wanted to be a sponsor. Gregory says he wanted to give her a heads-up about it because he knows they have a complicated relationship, but Ava maintains that they don’t have a relationship at all. With regard to the sponsorship, she just says that money is money and asks for the forms. 

Once Gregory is gone Tyree comes in and explains his permission slip dilemma. He wants to make dirty water, drinkable as his project but his father forgot to sign the permission slip. Ava says that sounds like something a father would do and offers to help him. When she sees the water she notices that the water looks pretty rough, but Tyree explains he hasn’t filtered it yet and it comes from one of Abbott Elementary’s fountains. Ava says someone really should do something about how gross the school is and Tyree looks at the camera because Ava is the principal. 

Elsewhere, Mr. Morton is giving Barbara and Jacob a crash course in the scientific method. Mr. Morton takes the science fair very seriously and tells Jacob and Barbara that it’s not a game. Barbara tells him that he has the science part down, so she’d like to judge the presentation. She’d like to give out extra points for glamour and Jacob wants to explore if certain topics should be explored. Mr. Morton nixes it on the grounds that science doesn’t care about glitz, glamour, or morals. As an example, he says that if you build the A-bomb you don’t worry how it’s used, much to Jacob’s disapproval.  Barbara doesn’t like his stance because she believes presentation does matter, along with morality, and says that if this is how Morton plans to run things she’s quitting. 

Janine is helping Clarissa with the volcano and Tyree returns prompting her to ask if he got his permission signed. Ava appears and responds that he got it signed by her. She informs Janine that she’s going to be helping Tyree with his project and he will win the science fair. Janine and Melissa try to remind Ava that the science fair is for the kids and they don’t need to be overly involved. Unfortunately, though at Ava’s goading Melissa and Janine’s competitive streak is activated when she says she’s better than them. Now the battle of the science projects has begun, or at least it will have begun once Janine gets a burn from a Bunsen burner checked by the nurse. 

Most of the adults seem to be a little M.I.A, which is why when Mya (Rose Lane) asks for help Mr. Johnson is the only person who responds. He tells Mya that she’s in luck because he used to work at NASA, in fact, he was a Hidden Figure. Mya says she saw that movie and Mr. Johnson wasn’t in it, but he responds that, that’s how hidden he was. 

Back in the classroom, Ava tells Tyree that not only will they win, but once the water is clean they can bottle and sell it. Hearing this, Clarissa tells Janine that she doesn’t want to lose. Janine says she doesn’t have to worry because she’s got her on her team. This seems to reassure Clarissa and she suggests painting her volcano purple and putting glitter all over it. Janine says that’s a nice suggestion, but says they should focus on adding things that will help them win. Melissa is of the same opinion as when Eric wants to put googly eyes and a mouth on his potato-powered lamp, she says it’s not a Mr. Potato Head.  

As the science fair draws near, Barbara feels a little guilty for leaving Morton high and dry. Jacob however is loyal to their rivalry and suggests erasing him from their memories. Still, Barbara wants to do the Godly thing, not only for Morton but for the science fair because it needs their balance. Jacob reminds her that Mr. Morton is sexist and frustrating, but she reiterates that it’s not for him it’s for the children. 

Janine continues perfecting the volcano and is so determined to win she shuts down Clarissa’s request to put jelly beans on the volcano because it’s inaccurate. Melissa is trying to find a “wow factor” for Eric’s potato clock, when Janine comes in asking to use her glue gun but Melissa declines out of competitiveness. She is determined to beat Ava no matter what. When Janine leaves, she bumps into Gregory he asks how she is and she says she’ll be fine when she wins. Gregory points out that this is supposed to be about the kids and says she might be taking things too seriously. The conversation is cut short by Ava bringing in a bag of charcoal for Tyree’s project. Janine tries to figure out why Ava brought it, but she tells her it’s none of her business. 

This prompts Janine to decide that the volcano needs to be redone if they want to win. This upsets Clarissa who says she likes her volcano the way it is, but Janine says likes are for Instagram and they need the judges to love the volcano, so she knocks it to the ground. 

Barbara and Jacob find Mr. Morton and apologize for storming out on him. Jacob says they’ll consider coming back as judges, but only if they’re treated as equals. Mr. Morton resists this at first on the grounds that science is a meritocracy. Upon hearing this Barbara and Jacob are prepared to leave again but Mr. Morton asks them to wait. He admits that he can come across as harsh but science isn’t a place for leniency. Mr. Morton adds that he’s rigid because science is rigid, but Barbara points out that when data is delivered dryly it tends to fall on deaf ears. Barbara says that they’re trying to help him make the science fair the best it can be. But, Mr. Morton says that the kids volunteered because they want to learn and that won’t happen if they go easy on them. Reluctantly, Barbara and Jacob agree with his logic and promise to have high standards. 

At the end of the day, as she’s walking with Janine and trash-talking about their respective projects Ava is startled by an impromptu visit from her father Frank (Keith David). Frank is happy to see her but the feeling isn’t mutual. He came by because he didn’t hear from her after donating the money, and Ava says it figures that that’s the reason he did it. Frank says he’s tried reaching out to her before, but Ava isn’t interested in seeing or speaking to him, so he leaves. Janine apologizes to Ava and says it seems like her father is trying and Ava appears to get emotional but it turns out that she’s just teasing Janine. 

The day for the science fair arrives and Melissa and Janine are giving Clarissa and Eric a pep talk. Some of it goes over their respective heads though because the pop culture references are before their time. Ava is preparing Tyree to win and they both seem to feel good about their water project. Across the room we see Mr. Morton being very harsh about a little girl’s flower and colors project. Jacob and Barbara try to be nicer by praising the way the flowers came out, but he reminds them that the students need the truth. With that in mind, they take a more critical stance. They take a similarly critical stance with Mya’s project. 

On an unrelated note, Frank makes another appearance at the science fair much to Gregory’s discomfort. He explains that their forced interactions at the barber shop are already uncomfortable and now he’s at his job. And Gregory isn’t the only person having a rough day, as Eric, Tyree and Clarissa have their projects picked apart by Barbara, Jacob, and Mr. Morton. While this is happening Courtney and following them around and observing. 

 When it’s time to announce the winners the room is stunned to learn that there are no winners because Mr. Morton, Barbara, and Jacob explain that no one project met the judges’ wildly different standards. Barbara tries to soften the blow by saying their projects were all wonderful in their own way, but the kids are still upset. Courtney takes the microphone and says the judges’ rules had nothing to do with the kids’ projects.  Then the kids start venting about how the adults took the science fair too seriously and took over their projects. At Courtney’s urging, the kids change their science projects back to what they wanted them to be and agree to judge themselves. 

While the kids are re-doing their science projects Ava, Janine, and Melissa talk and two out of three of them admit that they got too intense. The holdout, of course, is Ava who insists she was just helping and is a victim in this. She sees Frank from across the room but decides not to wave back at him. 

Mr. Morton is sitting down and feeling guilty. When Barbara and Jacob join him he says this is a part of a pattern he has of making good things bad. Barbara points out that it’s good that the kids are doing their projects on their own terms, but according to him he has a habit of pushing people away and cites his ex-wives and his new best friends aka Barbara and Jacob, as evidence. Then, Barbara encourages him to think about his problems scientifically and points out that he’s the common denominator in his failed relationships. Jacob adds, that since he likes science for the rules, he should create rules for his life outside of science. He agrees to take their advice and suggests they hang out outside of work, but both Jacob and Barbara decline. 

Ava has a somewhat less awkward conversation with her father and thanks him for the cash because the kids had a good time. 

Courtney wins for her model on predicting power dynamics and thanks the staff for proving her hypothesis that adults can’t handle competition. Janine says that, that was just mean but Ava says she’s an evil genius who reminds her of herself.  Melissa just wonders if Courtney would be any good at counting cards and since that’s the third or fourth reference Melissa has made to gambling today, Janine says that they need to talk.

Science fair day cleanup is happening and Gregory reassures Janine that there’s always next year. Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson is pressing the remote that he thought went to his makeshift roomba, but it goes to Clarissa’s jelly bean-clad volcano, which blows.