It’s a mockumentary about a feisty heroine (Janine, played by series creator Quinta Brunson) who honestly believes that her public-service career can make a difference, much like the first. Like the latter, it recognises and addresses the system’s callous indifference, which no amount of individual creativity can overcome on its own. And, like both, it’s a show that starts off with a lot of potential, even if it needs some fine-tuning before it really shines.
Abbott Elementary already feels like a reliable source of laugh-out-loud moments in the three nonconsecutive episodes released to critics, thanks to clearly sketched characters and a winning cast. Because of its deft sense of comedic timing, the show frequently delivers gags before we even realise we’re expecting them. To put it another way, it’s amusing to witness the janitor, played by William Stanford Davis, teach children about the Illuminati; it’s much more amusing when it happens in the context of a bigger discussion about understaffing.
Janine, a second-grade teacher who has been at the school for just over a year, is the character who most epitomises the show’s attitude – sincere, optimistic, and prone to letting her good intentions overpower her common sense, with charmingly humorous results. Staff members surround her, providing varied degrees of assistance in her effort to improve the school.
Some of the best laughs come from individual character characteristics that just seem to track after three episodes. Of course, prim and proper Christian Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) develops a giddy crush on a blandly gorgeous news anchor (“That non-region diction,” she groans). Of course, Ava (Janelle James), the gleefully self-absorbed school administrator, is a doomsday apologist who believes TikTok success is her ultimate purpose.
True, there are still a few kinks to work out. Jacob (Chris Perfetti), a young teacher, is little more than a collection of liberal white male tropes, and he serves Janine better as a sidekick than a protagonist in his own right. (Which, to be fair, could be the point: in one episode, he says, “That is how change works — someone does something, and someone cosigns it!”)
Abbott Elementary, like most young series, is still fine-tuning the connections between its characters. It’s unclear whether Ava is supposed to come across as a low-key evil, a harmless eccentric, or somewhere in the middle. Meanwhile, it may be too obvious where Gregory and Janine’s relationship is headed — they appear to be retracing Jim and Pam’s steps, right down to the awful boyfriend who doesn’t appreciate her enough.
Still, it works well enough to provide a continuous good time, and I believe Abbott Elementary has the potential to become something truly great with time. What sticks out in the first few episodes is a willingness to confront class head-on while simultaneously finding humour in the characters’ circumstances.
(While race isn’t overtly addressed in the episodes I saw, the casting makes a point in and of itself — Abbott Elementary contains a majority Black cast surrounded by majority Black kid extras, as befits its West Philadelphia locale.) Most of the plots focus around instructors striving to solve needs that their city refuses to supply, whether it’s by replacing a broken light bulb or fulfilling a wish list of teachers. While each situation is resolved in 22 minutes, the underlying concerns do not.
Abbott Elementary may blossom into a series as thought-provoking as it is crowd-pleasing if it can maintain that balance – between uplift and honesty, honouring individual moxie and exposing structural flaws. It could even become a minor force for change, similar to Janine. And, as any teacher knows, nothing beats witnessing a new student blossom into their full potential.
Where to watch this series?
Before its midseason premiere on January 4, ABC screened a special preview of “Abbott Elementary” on Tuesday, December 7 at 9:30 p.m.
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