What I’m Watching: Abbott Elementary

Abbott Elementary: Season 2, Episode 12 “Fight” (B+)

It was fun to get to see Orlando Jones show up as Gregory’s father and to hear Gregory reluctantly acknowledge that he was actually happy for once. Jacob and Barbara couldn’t contain their shock and horror at the fact that Gregory was secretly gardening behind their backs, but it impressed Martin enough that he suggested the idea of officially going into business with his son rather than the actor he had hired to play his son for the flyer. Gregory’s realization that working at Abbott was what made him happy was an important one, even if that, for now at least, has nothing whatsoever to do with Janine, with their potential romance not a subject of conversation in this episode. Melissa teaming up with Ava to defeat Mr. Johnson in fantasy football might have worked if not for the unexpected involvement of Jacob, who got so much joy from that handshake that he was willing to do something that didn’t track with his usual interests. Janine was typically overconfident about the solutions she thought would work for her warring students, and things got especially bad when their older sisters started fighting too. But then things did end up resolving themselves, and it was sweet to see Barbara help Janine process her own relationship with conflict and the way it manifests itself with her mother and her sister. That’s exactly the kind of mentor moment that doesn’t have anything to do with teaching but which means that Barbara should be much less strict about her office hours with Janine.