Abbott Elementary

Juice Season 2 Episode 5 Editor’s Rating 5 stars *****

Abbott Elementary

Juice Season 2 Episode 5 Editor’s Rating 5 stars *****

ABC truly struck gold with Abbott Elementary, and I’m starting to fear I’m abusing the five-star rating. But it really is that good. It’s the kind of show that ignites watercooler conversation and attracts so many different types of viewers. In a time when streaming content is booming — and, honestly, bordering on oversaturated — TV series have the flexibility to provide more niche content, making it rare for everybody to be captivated by the same show. It reminds me of a photo I found while scrolling on Twitter of a massive group of people in Times Square all huddled to watch the finale of Seinfeld in 1998. Granted, I was only 3 when the episode aired, but I do remember the camaraderie of watching teenage network TV shows such as Gossip Girl or The OC in the mid-aughts.

Bringing back that sense of community was a part of Quinta Brunson’s mission when creating Abbott; in an interview with Seth Meyers, she spoke about her love for network television and specifically the accessibility of it, pointing out that even people in prison can watch the show. It brings back the days of families gathering around the TV and watching something together as a bonding experience as opposed to being tucked away in separate corners enjoying their show of choice. Don’t get me wrong: As an avid television fan, I love living in a time with so many options, but there’s a special magic about sharing the moment with other human beings. It’s also something that bridges the generational divide that seems to be only widening these days. When speaking with Variety, Brunson pointed out that the show attracts a demographic that doesn’t usually tune into network television. “Abbott is interesting because of the audience it seems to bring back to network [TV],” she said. “I can’t put my finger on it. Some people just say millennials, but it’s not. It’s a certain type of viewer that wasn’t watching network TV, and Abbott has given them a show to watch.”

Janine and Barbara’s relationship is a prime example of how drastically different the world is now compared with just a few decades ago. Janine represents the newer generation of teachers who were raised on participation trophies and had “safe spaces” in college, whereas Barbara is of the older “pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make it happen” generation. This dynamic produces great banter and sneaks in some lessons that members of both generations can learn from. When there’s an opportunity to pitch new ideas for the cafeteria menu, Janine goes hard in advocating for a new juice for the students. It’s two more ounces than the current juice with less sugar and more real fruit juice, so Janine considers it a “low-lift” win for the kids. Barbara staunchly opposes changing the juice options, offering the age-old advice, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Janine cannot fathom any downside to the new juice, so once it gets approved, the whole school enjoys it … except Barbara’s kindergarteners. As the students start to settle in after their lunch break, Janine starts to notice one negative side effect of the juice: The extra two ounces are causing the kids’ bladders to fill up faster than usual. One by one, her students have been shuffling in and out of the class to go to the bathroom. Noticing her bathroom pass is frequently in use, she decides to take the whole class on a field trip so everyone can go. In the hallway, Gregory’s classroom is also lined up waiting for their turn, and he says to Janine, “I guess two more ounces means two hundred more trips to the bathroom.” Janine tries to put a positive spin on it, saying that increased peeing means increased hydration. The toilets get so much action that the plumbing gives out, making all of the first-floor bathrooms unusable and forcing their classes to use the ones on the second floor.

In an attempt to avoid having to haul their students up a flight of stairs to use the bathroom, Gregory proposes they use Barbara’s private kindergarten-class bathroom. Reluctantly, she allows it … for emergencies only. Unfortunately for her, there’s a slew of “emergencies,” and the line to her bathroom quickly fills up, continuously interrupting her lesson. She kicks them out, proclaiming that her students shouldn’t have to suffer because of Janine’s juice mistake.

Janine and Gregory oblige with Barbara’s request, but they soon grow tired of having to use the second-floor bathrooms. They realize that, since Barbara’s class is having a free period, her classroom is empty — leaving the bathroom free. The pair try to hustle their kids in and out of the kindergarten bathroom until the toilet there breaks — busted, coincidentally, by the same student who was last to use the first-floor bathrooms before those broke. (What is he doing in there?) Barbara walks in on Janine, Gregory, and the students and tells them off for disrespecting her wishes. Now she’s forced to have her students use the third-floor bathroom since the kindergarten-toilet break also took out the second-floor bathrooms, something that’s especially inconvenient since one of her kids uses a wheelchair. They’re out of luck because the city informed Janine it can’t do anything to fix the problem for a week.

The trek to the third-floor bathroom break disrupts everyone’s day, earning Janine an earful of “I told you so”s from Barbara, telling her she should’ve listened when she said no to the juice originally. Janine pushes back and argues that perhaps if Barbara had explained why the juice was a bad idea in the first place, she would’ve learned her lesson quicker. By only hearing the answer, she’s unable to solve the problem. So she asks Barbara, “When you were first starting out, didn’t you have someone who walked you through everything and taught you the tricks of the trade?” Barbara replies that she actually didn’t, making them both stop and think. Then Barbara gets an idea and proclaims, “Janine, now is when you fix something.” She marches to Melissa’s classroom and retrieves the bat that’s kept under the desk. Using the bat to break the third-floor toilet, she leaves Abbott with no usable bathrooms, thus making it an official emergency that needs to be fixed ASAP. Seeing how beneficial her wisdom is, she compromises with Janine and agrees to once-a-month office hours. Well, an office hour.

Melissa, meanwhile, handles her own generational conflict in her classroom this episode as she adjusts to working with her new aide, Ashley. Ashley is the antithesis of Melissa, and her quirks make it difficult for Melissa to control her classroom amid spinning quarters and parodies of Megan Thee Stallion’s song “Body.” (I loved it, personally.) Ashley’s personality is so obnoxious she’s been an aide at four schools over the course of four months. She’s completely unhelpful; her goofiness distracts the students and she completely disregards her to-do list. Melissa asks Ava to intervene, and Ava agrees to monitor the class to help out. When she comes to observe, she’s impressed by the “Body” parody and notices that Ashley is wearing one of her old tops. Ashley said she got it from the Depop account @AvaFlaaaaaaaaaav, which was Ava’s account. The two immediately hit it off, and Ava declares Ashley her mini-me. Ashley starts assisting Ava with auctioning her clothes, further irritating Melissa.

After venting about Ashley’s presence, Jacob takes on the voice of reason and suggests that maybe if Melissa actually engaged with Ashley, things could be more productive. So when Ashley starts to lead the class in pounding the beat to “Grindin’” by Clipse, a.k.a. what Ashley believes to be the original “cup song” (I kinda agree now, the more I think about it), she encourages it and offers to let Ashley do something fun like that once a week since the kids love her energy. The friendliness pays off and Ashley starts to do some of her work, proving we can all learn a little something from one another.

Teacher’s Notes

• Ava’s private bathroom with the bidet and gold interior makes too much sense because I can barely picture her using a public bathroom let alone sharing one with children.

• I love the students so much on this show. One detail I especially appreciate is the number of adorable Black children with beautiful natural hairstyles in all different textures. Very refreshing. The little boy who kept clogging up the bathroom was too cute.

• Barbara yelling at Janine and Gregory made me sit a little straighter myself. “There’s a period at the end of each of my sentences.” Yes ma’am!

• Here’s this week’s roundup of my favorite lines:
Ava (to Jacob about the bike theft): “Would you describe this person as someone who might have difficulty getting a loan?”
Gregory: “I prefer nature’s juice: water.”
Mr. Johnson: “Until reinforcements arrive, everyone has to use the upstairs bathrooms. And I pray to the Mario Brothers they hold.”

Abbott Elementary Recap: If It Ain’t Broke …