‘Abbott Elementary’: Wait, Janine’s Father is Who?!
It’s Mother’s Day on Abbott Elementary this week—and yet, for some reason, all we can talk about is fathers. Particularly one father: Janine’s (Quinta Brunson). She doesn’t know who her dad is, and, after Ava (Janelle James) makes a snide comment about Kevin Hart, Janine starts to wonder…could the comedian be her father? After all, they’re both short.
No one at Abbott is particularly revved up about Mother’s Day. It seems like the school is home to a community of folks who don’t have great connections with their mothers. Although teachers like Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) are committed to setting up arts and crafts for the kids to bring back to their moms, most of the teachers bond over how little they care about the holiday—and, at times, how alienating it can be to celebrate mothers without even having a real mom.
This masterful episode is proof that, after three seasons, Abbott Elementary hasn’t lost its touch. A topic like Mother’s Day could easily be spun into an episode much more saccharine than the rest of Abbott’s tone—but no. The teachers may be struggling this Mother’s Day, but the show resists the urge to make everything too hopeful. They all go through it together. It’s funny, it’s sad, and it’s downright brilliant.