WhileAbbott Elementary’s Ava subplot seems to prove that the sitcom is tired of Janine and Gregory, this is surprisingly good news for the show’s heroes.Abbott Elementary’s whole cast of charactersis lovable, but the show’s central couple kept viewers coming back throughout its first three seasons. Like so many sitcom duos before them, Quinta Brunson’s Janine Teagues and Tyler James William’s Gregory Eddie turned their chemistry into a compulsively watchable “Will the, won’t they” love story. Sparks flew between Gregory and Janine as early asAbbott Elementary’s pilot episode, yet it took three seasons for the pair to date.
Abbott Elementary Season 4’s Halloween Proves Janine & Gregory Are Now Boring (But In A Good Way)
Abbott Elementary season 4’s Halloween episode showed Gregory and Janine’s relationship has changed them, and it’s not what viewers may expect.
Admittedly, this long wait proved worth it when their eventual season 3 finale hookup became one ofAbbott Elementary’s most heartwarming moments. However, it was hard to work out where the workplace mockumentary sitcom would go from here. Gregory and Janine’s potential romance had been the show’s most reliable source of conflict and tension for three long years and, suddenly, the pair were happily dating. Pairing off the central couple famously hurt numerous earlier sitcoms, fromNew GirltoBrooklyn 99, toThe Mindy Project. Fortunately,Abbott Elementaryseason 4 had a plan in place to counteract this issue.
Ava’s Abbott Elementary Season 4 Romance Takes The Spotlight Off Janine and Gregory
Janine and Gregory’s Complicated Courtship Took Up Much Of Seasons 1-3
In season 4, episode 1, the teachers complained that a nearby golf course’s construction was making life hard for them, the local residents, and the eponymous school’s students. They wondered whether they should object to the development, but a sleazy lawyer hired by the developers soon assuaged their concerns. He bribed the faculty to stay quiet about the construction project by offering them a complete suite of new computers, something an underfunded institution like Abbott could never ordinarily afford. The teachers jumped at this chance and, in episode 3, “Class Pet,” got the district’s IT guy to install these new computers.
The IT guy, O’Sean, was a handsome, charismatic new supporting star who instantly recognized that the computers weren’t obtained from the district, but he promised to keep quiet about this.Everyone but Principal Ava realized that O’Sean, the IT guy, had a crush on the principal, and this was the reason he was willing to cover up the ill-gotten computers for them. During the episode’s closing moments, Ava tried on some glasses and, inAbbott Elementary’s playfulShe’s All Thathomage, realized O’Sean was pretty attractive after all. This twist is great news for season 4’s remaining episodes.
Ava and O’Sean’s Abbott Elementary Romance Has Built-In Stakes
The District Can’t Know About How Abbott Got Its New Computers
Ava’s flirtation with O’Sean means Janine and Gregory are no longer season 4’s main focus, and this is good for both the couple’s future andAbbott Elementaryas a series. Janine and Gregory were in the spotlight throughout seasons 1-3, and their visit from a standoffish HR person in the season 4 premiere made it seem like hiding their relationship would become the show’s new source of constant drama and intrigue. Instead, season 4 avoided immediately making their relationship the center ofAbbott Elementary’s drama again and soon introduced O’Sean so the series had a new romance for viewers.
If O’Sean and Ava don’t work out, there is nothing to stop him from exposing the school’s questionable relationship with the local real estate developers.
O’Sean’s willingness to cover for Abbott’s staff seemingly stemmed from his attraction to Ava, which lends their potential romance some suitably high stakes. If O’Sean and Ava don’t work out, there is nothing to stop him from exposing the school’s questionable relationship with the local real estate developers.Abbott Elementaryseason 4’s Manny comebacksaw Ava excel when she gave a speech about her management ethos for the district. As such, the revelation that she was complicit in the bribery scandal with the developers could end her career as a public speaker before it has even properly begun.
Abbott Elementary Season 4’s New Romance Fits A Classic Sitcom Trope
A Second Cast Couple Takes Story Pressure Off The Heroes
As Janine and Gregory replaced the high drama of their courtship with the stability and comfort of dating,Abbott Elementaryneeded a second couple to keep the show’s drama quotient high. In much the same way,The Office’s Angela and Dwight took center stage after Jim and Pam finally got together andNew Girl’s Cece and Schmidt were always available to take the focus off Jess and Nick when they finally stabilized their messy relationship. In many ways,Ava isAbbott Elementary’s Micheal Scott, but in this instance, she is more like the show’s version of Dwight Schrute.
Chris Perfetti
Jacob Hill
A silly and often frustrating character who viewers still find themselves rooting for, Ava is someone who fans want to see happy but who is likely to sabotage her own relationships. The fact that not only her happiness, but the school’s reputation, rests on her and O’Sean’s tentative relationship makes this storyline the most intriguing new addition to season 4’s overarching plot. Seeing the faculty members contend with gentrification has been interesting, as has Gregory and Janine’s first few weeks as a normal couple. However, it is O’Sean and Ava’s plot that could provideAbbott Elementary’s most potentially dramatic story.
Abbott Elementary Season 4’s Ava Story Proves Janine and Gregory Are Endgame
The Couple’s First Episodes Together Prioritized Stability Over Drama
DespiteAbbott Elementary’s throwback mockumentary format, the show is never too indebted to sitcom tradition. Instead of immediately imperiling Janine and Gregory’s romance to keep things dramatic and unpredictable, season 4’s early episodes made a point of clarifying that the couple was solid and stable. Ava’s story proves that things will seemingly stay that way, as her storyline becomes the locus ofAbbot Elementaryseason 4’s more dramatic storytelling. Whether she is confiding in O’Sean about the source of the new computers or excelling as an unlikely public speaker, Ava’s season 4 arc has highlighted her character growth.
Ava and O’Sean’s relationship may allow her to keep the school’s secret for now.
Abbott Elementaryseason 4 can keep on centering Ava’s character arc as it continuesby bringing back O’Sean and paying off the computer storyline.Ava’sAbbott Elementaryseason 4 storymay even see her come clean about the bribe so that the school can stop supporting the developers, and her speaking fees might replace the bribes as a source of funding for the struggling public school. Alternatively, Ava and O’Sean’s relationship may allow her to keep the school’s secret for now. Regardless of the outcome, this plot providesAbbott Elementaryseason 4 with a dramatic plot that doesn’t ruin Gregory and Janine’s romance.
Abbott Elementaryseason 4 will return on December 4 at 8PM on ABC.
