Abbott Elementary Season 4 Eps 10+11 Recap

[00:00:17] Abbott Elementary Season 4 Episode 10 Testing and Episode 11 Strike are over, but class is back in session here. A recap kickback coverage of Abbott Elementary. It's me, your host Chappelle. We're back again to talk about another two episodes of Abbott Elementary. And of course, with me, the principal of this podcast, point to my boss. And there she is, Gia Worthy. Gia, welcome back.

[00:00:43] Thank you. Listen, it has been a while since I have been in the cold, amongst the pores, if you will. And I am newly 30, very excited to be here. And I did miss Abbott Elementary, so I watched both episodes literally yesterday that I missed, caught up on a lot of TV, and I am ready. I am so ready.

[00:01:11] Yes. And thank you all for listening, of course, and for subscribing to the podcast, RecapKickback.com, slash subscribe. And of course, if you're listening to the audio podcast, we have our We Know Abbott Elementary podcast feed. So make sure you subscribe to that as well. Show us some love and give us some likes, because we are creeping up on the year anniversary of Recap Kickback. And so Gia and I will be back, of course, this year as well, 2025, with a lot more content. But we have to cover our favorite show here on Recap Kickback Abbott Elementary.

[00:01:39] So hopefully you are subscribed. If not, make sure you do that. Click that like button. Smash that like button and leave us some comments here. Show us some love as we talk about this show. So last time Gia and I were together talking about Abbott, we had our special guest from the Crying Laughing podcast, Dr. Amanda and Ariel on to talk about the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover episode. And Gia, that was so much fun.

[00:02:05] It was so amazing to do that, not just because it was a crossover episode and we did our own little crossover episode, but it's been a long time since I've seen an It's Always Sunny episode as well. Not for any particular reason. It's just one of those shows that I can like go back to stream for a while and then, you know, like do a little binge watch and then forget about it for a while after that.

[00:02:31] But it was so nice to go back to It's Always Sunny as well and just see how they were able to blend the two very different shows together, despite the fact that they both take place in Philly. So it was great. But I am very happy to be back to our standard Abbott Elementary because once again, this cast is amazing. Yeah. And if you want more coverage from or want more content from me and Gia, we've been talking about this South African show on Netflix.

[00:03:00] It's called How to Ruin Christmas. I know a lot of you are tuned in, but make sure you go check that out. We've already dropped How to Ruin Christmas. The funeral last the last time Gia and I talked about it. And this time we have the baby shower coming soon. And so make sure you're tuned in for that because it's going to be a very fun conversation with me and Gia. Gia, do you mind telling the listeners what happened right before right before we hit record on this? Because some crazy stuff is happening in the universe right now.

[00:03:29] Okay. So, so. Chappelle and I, we've been taught, we've been here for a while, like literally like before we even recorded, we've been talking for like an hour. Yeah. And we were planning out some potential ideas for Black History Month, which may or may not include some animated characters.

[00:03:50] And of course, many of you will know from our many discussions of it because we love her so much that one of the recurring cast members on this show is none other than Cree Summers, who basically just voiced our entire childhood. Like, we love her.

[00:04:10] And we had a video, a reel that Chappelle posted a while ago, just lamenting about just how amazing Cree is and all of the ways that she has shaped who we are as individuals. Yeah. And literally a second into recording, we had to pause because Chappelle had to show me that Cree Summers liked the reel. She saw it. She liked it. My life's work is done. Yeah.

[00:04:39] Like, it doesn't get better than this. We can officially retire today. I was freaking out. I started to stutter because it popped up on the screen and I started to say, so I had to, I messed up the title and I was like, Gia, it's a pause. And then I realized what it said and I just lost my mind. So, of course, like a normal, well-adjusted human, I immediately ran to Instagram and responded to an at Cree Summers. I am Cree Summers and was like, please come on the podcast. We love you. So, I don't know if she's ever going to see it.

[00:05:07] It took her months to see that reel. And in months, we will have her on the podcast. We are manifesting it. We're manifesting it. Okay. So, keep your fingers crossed. And if you know, you know Cree, let her know what we're looking for. You know, just come join us because we got some questions. And also, you know, I just haven't had a good cry lately. And so, if we can do it on a hirly, y'all going to see me break down because that lady is an icon and I would love to talk to her. So, yeah. She wasn't in these episodes, though, Gia.

[00:05:35] In fact, we got some different cameos as we talk about Abbott Elementary Season 4, Episode 10, testing. Eric Andre? Listen, it makes sense. But I was not expecting it, especially for this role, if that makes sense. Like, I've seen Eric Andre in a ton of stuff. And I love his. I love when he used to do interviews during the election period.

[00:06:03] It got me through some hard times. Thank you, Mr. Andre. But this was great. I feel like this was kind of like the perfect amount of Eric Andre in a show that already kind of has like an Eric Andre type character in Mr. Johnson. And having him pair up with Mr. Johnson throughout this episode was fantastic.

[00:06:53] Yeah. It was clear to him that he cannot feel Mr. Johnson's shoes. I thought Mr. Johnson was being paranoid, but Gia, it seemed like he was onto something. And we know that Mr. Johnson loves a good conspiracy theory with, you know, from from Episode 1. Right. So I was not taking it super seriously until the very end. First of all, trying to get people to train. I don't know why this is a recurring issue. Why did this happen?

[00:07:21] Having people train individuals that are going to replace them is just truly diabolical work and just so unnecessary. Under the day. But it still happens. It's wild to me. But we already knew Mr. Johnson was irreplaceable. So there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to be fine. Like he knew he was irreplaceable. We know he's irreplaceable. There is just no other Mr. Johnson here.

[00:07:51] Yeah. We saw all the things that he does in Mr. Johnson form that other people just can't do. Right. So he's showing Eric Andre's character, Cedric, how to deal with graffiti, which I mean, it's just Mr. Johnson writing on the table and a permanent marker. But with the ability to remove the permanent marker from the table, you know, he also we also show that Mr. Johnson is showing Cedric how to get around like this big plunger.

[00:08:18] And there's all these big moments where Mr. Johnson is clearly showing why he's irreplaceable. I think the biggest moment was the conversation that they end up having in the restroom with Mr. Morton. Right. Because Mr. Morton, we haven't seen this in a while, Gia, but he is still going through this. This lady is working him over. He's going through quite a lot. Mm hmm. The crying in the restroom. It's what things going to look up for Mr. Morton. I don't know.

[00:08:48] Are things able to look up for Mr. Morton? Because it seems like I mean, Mr. Morton says everyone hates him and. His response. I was not prepared for that, even though it's true. Right. Add on he had at the end. I lost it for a moment. I watched this at work. So people were a little concerned, but it was worth it. It was worth it. Yeah. But look, Mr. Johnson's skill is fixing what's broken and it requires a magic touch. And this is what he has.

[00:09:16] OK, so he's able to even cheer Mr. Morton up despite having just like, I guess, just an awful, awful divorce that's going on. We will even find out that he lost his car in the divorce, too. And he would be riding a bus. His wife has two cars. Yeah. And no one seems really sad about it. No. Yeah. Even Gia. Gia, you don't seem like you're too broken up about Mr. Johnson. I mean, Mr. Morton. I mean, listen, I love Mr. Morton as a character.

[00:09:44] I love his him and Jacob's rivalry in there. I'm much I was a much bigger fan of him, though, in like season two, where it was like equal playing field rivalry. Eventually, we need to give Mr. Morton a win here somewhere. Right. Like we can't all just Jacob can punch down on Morton all he wants. That is his right. We understand that is the role that he takes in this dynamic here.

[00:10:12] But we can't have everybody doing it all the time. Right. Like, yeah, that's Jacob's thing. Right. It's kind of tough on it to everybody. Cedric will admit that he came to replace Mr. Johnson and they both agree that Mr. Johnson, you know, cannot be replaced. But Gia, is this the last time we're going to see Eric Andre? Because I feel like it's a very big name actor. You know, he's a big celebrity. Yeah. Bring him in for one episode. Seems a little like I don't know. I feel like there could be more from him.

[00:10:41] I feel like they they left it open enough that we could definitely have him return in some form. Like we we have plenty of episodes where they meet a rival school. So maybe he shows up in something like that. We're going to have other opportunities for him to return in here. And, you know, like once they have characters that they like, Abbott, make sure not to waste them. Like, look where we are now with Tariq, you know, like that was not a one episode character.

[00:11:11] And now he's like one of the characters that people look forward to the most. So I don't I could see a world where some of these bigger names are going to only be there for like one or two episodes because they are so booked and busy. We see it all the time with shows like we were talking about Bob's Burgers earlier, you know, like they have big care, these big name actors that voice like one off characters.

[00:11:38] And then we that's why we don't really see them as much in the future. So I think that this could definitely be a chase like a case like that because Eric Andre is a pretty big name. But I would have put it past him to return in some way. He seems like the type of like actor character that could just call up Quinta and be like, I'm coming on the next episode. Like, I don't need direction. Just tell me just point to where I need to go and I'll be there. Oh, yeah. Big agree.

[00:12:07] We have to talk about the elephant in the room. OK, I know I was one of the first, you know, you being one of the first as well. Shippers of Janine and Gregory. Yes. But I'm ready to take a bullet for Ava and O'Shawn, our IT guy. It's gotten too real, Gia. They got to stop looking at each other. They can't keep talking to each other like that. It's this is nasty. These two people are y'all do it. And we can see y'all.

[00:12:37] Chappelle, listen, those Instagram photos. What was she at work? At work, at work. Listen, I thought that he was going to like see that that on the computer. Right. Like and maybe he will. Maybe he will. But it's still moving a little too fast. We waited three seasons for Janine and Gregory. Right. We listen.

[00:13:05] We had so much happen in like the past 30 minutes. Chappelle, we'd even talk about the big elephant in the room, the bigger elephant than Ava and O'Shawn, which is that Ava got renewed for a fifth season. Yes. Yes. As we knew it would. Stop playing. Let's not. Are we shocked? No. Is it still good to hear? Yes. Absolutely. I love when networks don't play with me like that. I love it. I adore it. It's it's my bread and butter. Like, just tell me how many. Just let me know in advance.

[00:13:34] It got renewed for 10 seasons and we'll be good. I needed to be at like the office level of we are still making seasons of this. Right. Like, I don't want to hear no final season shit about this. Little Lila. I need to be at her graduation. You know, like I just have plans. I need. What was what's the what's the kid's name that interns Mr. Johnson. Oh, yeah. I can't think of it. Chad. Chad. Chad. Yeah.

[00:14:03] I need to see the full Chad arc here. I have some. I need to see even little Charlie, even our little a little white boy who's also bad at taking tests here is I need to see his story. Like what happens with him? I need I am very invested in these children now. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. But can you get invested? Because I'm in on the Ava and O'Shawn. I mean, I'm sorry. But yes, but but.

[00:14:34] I had to wait three seasons for Janine and Gregory three full seasons, by the way, because like it didn't happen till the it's basically four seasons that I waited for this relationship to get together. I just think that Ava and O'Shawn need to do a little back and forth for a bit. Right. Like I like that payoff in the end with it. I need to just like grab their ups and downs for a bit before they really get it together.

[00:15:00] And O'Shawn is a little messier than I anticipated. Right. Like he's he's into Ava and he's not too worried about showing it to her. They're texting. Did you hear that they're texting? Oh, yeah. And he texts her back quickly. You know, she made sure we knew like he the also because we know, again, one of the reasons

[00:15:28] that Mr. Johnson is irreplaceable, that he keeps tabs of all of the will they won't days of Abbott Elementary, which is not an easy task with these disaster of human beings that keep this school up and running. And we know that Ava and O'Shawn are his next big project in here. So I very excited to see the payoff here. But I need to see a little more. I need to see just a little more. Will they won't they?

[00:15:56] We know they will because it's Ava. Of course, they will. But well, maybe they won't. Hear me out. It seems like the the chemistry. It's just to me. I feel like it's getting electric, right? Yeah, there is a problem. He is a poor. Yes, yes. And Ava does not date the poor. No, no, it's not her thing.

[00:16:23] She's she has to literally go to Gregory and be like, imagine if you made 15,000 more than you make right now and you were still poor. What would you do as a poor person dating somebody who actually has means? And I just thought. For one, Ava is insane because this why is this hilarious? Right. But also. Ava, are you about to throw this away because this man doesn't have any money? She's like, absolutely. Absolutely.

[00:16:53] Yeah. Sandra pay. Are you going to pay? I was like, Ava, please. Please. Um. What what are we going to do? Because I want this to happen. But Ava can lower her standards for this man. He has glasses. How do we get O'Shawn like. A raise of like one hundred thousand dollars more. What if he gets. How do we make that happen? What if he becomes like the head of the district I.T. Department. What if he just controls all the computers?

[00:17:23] Right. Right. In Pennsylvania. Yeah. Like if he just like upgrades to like. Oh, no. He manages the cloud now or something like that for the entire district. Something like that because I want this. I'm sorry. I don't breadcrumb me for this one. Like I said, it's too good. The tension here. I know. It's really, really good. Yeah. I was. I was checking. I thought Ava checking him out a couple of times in there. Oh, yeah. Her little smiles as she turns away. Like, Ava, you're not slick. We saw that. You're on camera, girl.

[00:17:53] Right. You see. I love it. I love this so much for her. I'm so glad that we're starting to see this side of Ava. And so I apologize because I have. I cannot for the life of me remember this video that I saw because it was a few weeks ago. Right. But it was a TikTok video. And they mentioned this.

[00:18:21] The early stages of the Ava O'Shawn pairing starting to rise. Right. And they mentioned how like Ava is a big secret nerd. By that, I mean like she went as Blade and Storm for Halloween. She has references ready for superhero movies. You know, like she she is a secret nerd and like not a. Not like a. Oh, I like this type of thing.

[00:18:48] No, like she's a big like into it very much into like the nerd in here. And so she has these, you know, we know she's bad and bougie, but she also has a little quirkiness to her. And I think someone like O'Shawn or maybe O'Shawn specifically could really bring out that side of her. Mm hmm. And I think that maybe this could be like a really good turning point for Ava here.

[00:19:18] So like I'm our. And if that is your video that you posted or you know who it is, please comment on it because I cannot find it right now. But whoever initially made that point. Thank you. Because it got me super excited for this. Yeah. I wanted to. I wanted to happen so bad. But he does Lisa pre-own. You know. I. First, it's a pre like. Lease. Lease. I lease. So I can't even say. But like also. Ava? Also.

[00:19:48] Yeah, I'm not dating Ava. It's like she's out of my tax bracket. So. He owns Alexis. Stop playing with us. He owns Alexis. And listen, even though Janine tried to humble Ava a little bit here saying, you know, you're not rich. She rightfully says, you know, Ava had some good comebacks. She did. This little. This two episodes here. She was not having the head ass couple this time. Let's compare our bank accounts side by side. And she has a good point there. Mm hmm. Janine knew to back down right then.

[00:20:18] So I. Like I said, I'm all in. It's not even a watch on whether or not it will happen. It's kind of for me. It's like when y'all. When y'all gonna give us this? Um, I don't know if there's like an in the game relationship for Ava or if it's just, you know, Ava's flavor of the week. But, uh, I like it. I like that there is so much chemistry. Um, I think that they're doing this really well where, you know, at first it seemed like Ava at best was indifferent to him. And now you can see that she's slowly starting to.

[00:20:46] And I, and I say slowly, but like I said, the, the looks and the glances and the comments are like a little. Do you need anything else from me? Like, what do you think she's going to say? You were talking to her like this in front of her co-worker. What a slut. Right. Like, sir, put your glasses back on you slut. Why are you like this? Yeah. We get it. It's Ava. I understand.

[00:21:15] But like, calm down a little bit there. Mm hmm. I think there was that other moment where he said something about how she looked good. And she goes, I know. And I was like, yeah, Ava, she know. Dang, get off of her. Um, so yeah. You can't afford a better compliment, O'Shawn. Mm hmm. Poor. Brokey. Brokey. Poor. I do love this reoccurring theme in here of like, because Gregory is a notorious,

[00:21:42] brokey that it ended in the episode of her like doing her research with him as the ultimate brokey, because before before Janine, who is his soulmate and they are meant to be together forever, he dated two women where his way of doing romance was, again, not in their tax bracket. So I enjoy the follow through in this. Yeah. Yeah. Continuity in a story is very important.

[00:22:12] to us here, especially when it has to deal with shaming people for their lack of wealth as someone who is constantly shamed for mine. And I shame myself. And I relate to this kind of content. I got like a one percent like merit raise this year from my son. Listen, I am now looking at all my co-workers like Brokeys. Like the money. I get it. The power went to my head. Mhm. Mhm.

[00:23:10] We got the second graders. And they're taking a practice test for their third grade assessment. We also have the third graders who are ready to take their assessment test. So Janine and Melissa, this is both of their classes. As we know that they work very closely together a lot of times, but they have this standardized testing. And it's clear that Janine is very intent on doing the same lesson plan because she's done this before, right? It's standardized. This should be easy. You just keep doing the same thing over and over again. You'll get the same results. Easy peasy.

[00:23:39] But for some reason, her students are performing well below the standard and she does not take it well to the point where she tells Melissa that the tests were culturally biased so that help me understand, Melissa's whiteness has rubbed off on the Black students, allowing them to succeed in a way that Janine's students cannot. Is that what we're landing on?

[00:24:08] They are thinking more whitely while taking their standardized tests. But do not ask how Charlie did on this test because, yes. Yeah. He also did very poorly. What do you think about this? As far as not, obviously not that idea, but just standardized testing in general is something people do not talk about enough as being culturally biased, you know, even just from when it comes

[00:24:36] to entrance, you know, exams for colleges and things of that nature. I know you work in higher ed, so you probably see some of this. Mm hmm. I hate standardized testing for several reasons. I understand in some cases like there is a need for it. Like if you are going to be a lawyer, you should take a test to make sure that you understand the law, you know, like there there needs to be some type of entrance exam in there.

[00:25:06] Or if you are a doctor, I would like to know that, you know, where all the body parts go, right? What they should look like when they are healthy and when they are not healthy, that you should do something about that. Like I understand that. But for me to have to spend hundreds of dollars to go to grad school because you need to take a test, right, is absolutely insane.

[00:25:33] And I don't think that it accurately in most cases really measures a person's capabilities or ability to succeed. And I think in a lot of times it's setting people up for failure, whether you're doing well on a test or you are doing poorly. So I understand we have standardized testing. I am not a fan of it.

[00:25:59] Massachusetts actually in this past election, they voted to take out the standardized testing that our state does as a requirement for graduation, which used to be a thing for public schools. And I only took it once because I went to Catholic school before high school and I hated it. So I am very much pro getting rid of it here. Yeah, I've obviously back in the day, you know, I used to take the standardized tests.

[00:26:28] But then eventually I became an academic advisor for, you know, pre-law and pre-med programs in higher ed. And we would see students, you know, with varying preparation levels for these exams, right? Even entry exams into college itself, like the SAT and things of that nature, the LSAT. These are things that if you are supported by, you know, like maybe wealth or, you know,

[00:26:56] the time and the resources that it would take to do well in this test, you would probably do better. Whereas if you do not have the resources and the ability to hire a tutor and a test prep and to pay for all the things that will raise your potential of doing well on the test, then you're probably going to do worse. Right. And we know there's racial disparities in wealth for sure. And so it's very reasonable to believe that everyone doesn't have the same 24 hours a day when it comes to test prep.

[00:27:21] And so there are a million reasons why these like people do poorly or do differently on tests. And some people excel. Some people excel in standardized testing. Some people do not. Some people are just not good test takers when it comes to that kind of thing. But ultimately, when there are resources that are available to some people and not to everybody based on their income or their proximity to higher ed or to people who've gone to college, then yeah, sometimes there's a disparity in the results.

[00:27:49] And so Abbott, again, giving us just like the like the cleanest, easiest, like cotton candy way of really teaching and exploring some problematic aspects of education. I really enjoyed that they made this a storyline. Mm hmm. I'm glad that they did bring it into account and I'm sure we will get it again in the future because this is a problem that happens every year.

[00:28:13] But even though, you know, we do also want to get into like our thoughts on like the larger structural changes that should be made regarding standardized testing. The fact of the matter for someone like Janine and Melissa, Philadelphia educators, that whether or not they are pro the standardized test or not, they still have to make sure that their students are prepared to take them. Mm hmm. And Janine will find out, like I said, people have different skills, right?

[00:28:41] Some people are really good at taking tests, but people have different learning styles as well. And Janine's students, their learning style is a little bit more hands on. So she has to approach this in a different way to get her kids to perform on the test. Now, she just first she just starts to like, I'll just test them in the morning because clearly that was the issue. But by the end, she realizes that, all right, maybe just a whole different technique would be great for her students. And it's true. They all do well on the test after trying Janine's new methods.

[00:29:11] Now, that's it. There was a moment that I want to flag. Barbara and Melissa were sitting around at the nail salon, you know, just getting away from Janine for, you know, just in general. And they say like, oh, you know, Janine's annoying, but she'll figure it out. And then they start talking about how, you know, in education, sometimes you always got to figure it out, right? Like you just kind of you get years and years and years of practice. And then Barbara.

[00:29:39] She kind of let it she said she asked Melissa, did you I know you heard this. She asked Melissa, have you ever thought about retiring? And Melissa shut it down right there as she should have, because I will not allow Barbara to even utter the R word, not even think about the R word, Barbara. You sit your ass right down in that kindergarten chair. I'm sorry. Why did they do this? Why did they do this?

[00:30:08] No, why are you even why are you even suggesting such a we settled this in season one? She is not going anywhere. OK, we've met the Tartua. We understood, you know, sometimes people retire and things change and everything. But that's not Barbara. So, you know, she's young and spry as ever. She hit a teacher. She hit a parent last year. OK, she's fine. She does not need to retire.

[00:30:33] Do you think Quinta is going to make us explore the timeline where Barbara really considers retiring? Because why is she bringing this up? So passive. Oh, they're definitely going to explore it. Right. They definitely are. But you think but but but but but. Um, no. And also like what? You're just not going to have Barbara Howard in Abbott Elementary. Like be so for real.

[00:31:02] Be for real. Be for real. Not happening. This show is going on for 10 seasons, as is Barbara. So. I won't allow it. Could you see a world where maybe that is our finale of season four? Maybe like what we're talking about, maybe or, you know, now that we know that season five is coming, maybe we address Barbara's retirement. Because because it was such it was so like almost like a throwaway comment, the way Melissa just shut it down. But they're definitely going to explore it. Yeah.

[00:31:32] They're definitely going to explore this in the future. So this is going to be a storyline again at some point, even though we settled this in season one. Do not play with me, Quinta. Do not. Yeah. Like that is our mother, Barbara Howard, here now. So, you know, let's let's all be serious for a second. Right. Keep it cute. Keep it cute. Like in the next academic year, it be like Barbara is preparing for retirement.

[00:32:02] I could see a world where that happens, but. I don't see a reason for them to. Like use this as a way to like exit her out of the show, like I feel like we're there's no Abbott Elementary without Barbara. So they need to keep her in the show somehow. So I'm curious as to like what that would look like. Yeah. I think you're right. I think it's going to be one of those like Barbara gets really close to retiring. Yeah.

[00:32:32] And then we bring her back or she retires, but then she comes back. You know what I'm saying? Like it's like. There's still ways to be involved even after retirement. Yeah. Where you're taking on a. Less heavy workload, let's say. But I. Again, I just don't. See it for. Like what this is going to be like Barbara's exit from the show. No. Absolutely. Absolutely not. No, we are. We are keeping Barbara in there.

[00:33:02] Like we need to find a way to keep her in there, even if she does end up retiring at some point. But it just feels odd. Like this throwaway comment is what will keep me up at night. Like that. Like what do you mean retire? Like that doesn't happen. Yeah. That was weird. So that was interrupted by Melissa. Basically, she's been keeping an eye on the SEPTA transit. Is it? Yes. You know, protest that is looming.

[00:33:29] And we see parts of that in episode 10, but we really get into that in the strike episode and episode 11. In episode 10, Jacob, who is put off the SEPTA bus several times, as he should have been because he was being ridiculous. Leave that man alone. But he's put off the bus several times. His storyline for episode 10 is really him trying to get his student RJ to engage in class. He seems really down. He's like, I like quiet. I don't really like to do all this stuff. And also, I'm just not feeling it right now.

[00:34:00] He tries to get him in the podcast club. It doesn't really pan out. And then eventually he ends up at one of the garden goofballs in Gregory's Club. And it does seem like it was better, but it's not what RJ really liked. And I have an issue with this storyline because I feel like it's still incomplete, right? We never really got RJ cheered up. And then in our next episode, we don't even address RJ.

[00:34:26] So what did you think about Jacob and this journey to maybe get RJ to cheer up a little bit? I feel like I have had situations where I was the Jacob in this situation and trying to get other students or the students that I work with more involved or more excited in things.

[00:34:49] I definitely feel like I have had that at some point, right? Like I have been in this situation. I totally understand where Jacob is coming from here. And in some ways, I do agree with you. I do think that it feels incomplete. I'm hoping we get to see more of RJ in the future to maybe just like wrap up the storyline in there.

[00:35:17] But I also kind of see the point of having a character that like RJ, that he likes quiet. He likes just going home. Like not every student that you get is going to be a like social butterfly or really be emotive. Like that's just not how every kid is and they come into their own at their own time. But we did end the storyline with Jacob saying that they would, he would still be working to

[00:35:46] find something that RJ really enjoys and really likes to do. So I don't see this being the end of RJ. They definitely kept it open for us to see him continue on as like one of the regular students that we may check in on every now and then. Yeah. Jacob's not going to give up. He won't stop. He's going to work harder. He's a survivor. You know, whatever Destiny's Child lyrics, he can force into the episode to make it make

[00:36:16] sense. Yeah. It felt like he had a bit of an uphill battle here. There was a moment where Ava was like, Jacob, are you dumb? And I was like, honestly, Ava's not wrong. Why do you have this boy at step class? Like no part of him wants to be there. Have you thought, have you tried to ask him about his interests? You know? So you're right. I think sometimes as educators, it's really like you want the best for your students, even if they don't want it. Or you want them to be happy, even though they're not feeling it. So people often forget that kids have personalities and emotions and they have bad days. Kids show up at school, they're not feeling it.

[00:36:46] Like teachers show up at school, not feeling it. So do kids. And you expect kids to go to school and learn because that's literally their only job in life is to just do that. But sometimes it's hard because they're not feeling it. And so maybe this is just a learning lesson for Jacob moving forward that you just can't force people to be happy all the time. Like sometimes people just gonna be sad and that's okay. Yeah. So a very interesting end to that storyline. But again, by the end, Jacob is put off the bus because the strike has officially started.

[00:37:17] And this storyline here, the SEPTA strike, I love it because it really goes to show you how when corporations and businesses and cities screw over the workers in the city, it affects everyone. And so the SEPTA transportation people, I think it was the trolleys, the bus line, all of the public transportation is going on strike to negotiate better contracts.

[00:37:42] And this is going to affect the students, the teachers, the parents as well, and really make it difficult for the teachers at Abbott Elementary to do their jobs. I don't know. This was just to me, I think this is another one of those examples of Abbott just taking a real life situation and make it like a cool storyline to explore and then tie it up in a bow and a happy ending. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:38:07] And we like, it's so interesting to me how they created this from their real world situation because they also the show that they were like the show in season three also came off of a strike like they the show itself was impacted from a strike. And, you know, they had their explanation for why the season was shorter and why, you know,

[00:38:34] they were able to work it into the storyline of why they weren't there for so many times and things like that. But we were, but I'm so glad that they found a way to incorporate it in the story because this was their real life for a while. It may not have been the public transportation system, but it was still something that impacted all of them and all of their livelihoods. So I was really excited to see that.

[00:39:01] And I like lit up during, I was like Melissa this whole episode because just being like so excited to see a strike storyline be in there and also just getting the updates via Melissa being like, they told them to suck it. She's like, I hope this never ends. I'm like, Melissa, I am right there with you. I love a protest. No, I do too.

[00:39:25] But I hope it never ends as crazy because the goal is to win the negotiations, right? Like for the strike to matter. And I think Melissa is more in on the like, let's do the strike. You know, can we fight the fight? Let's fight. I've been in those situations before too where it's like, I'm protesting and I know it's not going to do anything per se this time, but I'm still going to do it. You know, I've heard of Elijah's statement. Exactly. Like I'm going, if I get a chance, I'm going to protest. You know, I'm, I'm with her.

[00:39:55] And she was not going to respect anybody who was a scab across any picking lines. And so loved her in this episode, because I think with this dealing with students, it's so easy to want to cross the picking line and to scab and to do the things that would be beneficial for your students. And in reality, I just, I get that you have to teach these kids, but I don't know. And I don't even know where I learned that kind of like, uh, maybe it was like, I think

[00:40:23] it was like an episode of sister, sister or something like that. But I learned, like, I just learned the idea of just like, no, you just don't do that. You know, these kids, they're going to be victim, but it's not your fault. It is not the kid's fault. It's the city's fault for these trash, uh, contract. And so if anybody's mad that these people aren't getting educated, you need to go to the top, you know, the people making the decisions are the problem. That's how, that's how I see it. Yep. Strikes are supposed to be disruptive. They are supposed to ruin the flow of the day. Um, and again, it is not your fault.

[00:40:52] It is the fault of the people that are, uh, being greedy, that are cheating workers out of a living wage and honest pay. So completely understand. I love that this is something that they're exploring in this episode. We already are getting a lot of big topics in season four with the golf course, with the strike.

[00:41:17] So a lot of like big world situations coming into the Abbott elementary cinematic universe here. So I'm very excited about it. Um, I was talking with Sasha Joseph yet the other day about, um, why we're on mess magnets and we're talking about like the mess of award season. And that is like, again, the type of drama that I love. I love award season drama. I love the idea that like, you know, there is so much tea to learn during that day.

[00:41:44] And this kind of felt like, I felt like a little bit of like extra drama in there that I was really giddy to see actually come into real life. I thought this was really fun. Yeah. And you're right. Strikes are disruptive. And we see just that in the episode, uh, the teachers cannot get to work. Looking at Mr. Morton, who does not have a car anymore. Jacob's riding a bike. Uh, but then you have the parents who were like, I, it took me forever to get over here and I can't do it.

[00:42:13] So my kid's not coming to work. We have some of the kids who take public transportation. We see them on the city bus. And since there is no city bus, these kids are missing class too. And so they have to shift at Abbott elementary over to virtual learning. And Gia, you and I were there. Okay. The minute they said virtual learning, I was like, you have got to be kidding me. The North remembers. The North remembers. We have not forgotten the times. Okay.

[00:42:42] We've come so far since the COVID days of just, it was a damn mess, all of it. And so this honestly, a little traumatic to watch this happen to these teachers for me. Yeah. I said, you had me until the virtual learning because the, the pain, the, the frustration, the keep your cameras on, keep your cameras off all that. Oh, I can't do it again. I can't go back. No, no. Dear God, no.

[00:43:11] And don't get me wrong. There are some good things that have come from people, you know, this getting very digital education, getting digital and virtual and all those things. There are some good things that have come from that. And I think in, in, in it, in the moments of extreme measures such as this or something like that, maybe I can like squint and say, okay, you know, I like this. I think, you know, offering online classes and stuff like that. That's all good. That's all fine and dandy. But little kids, virtual learning, like college students are bad too.

[00:43:41] I will say that, but little kids, they just, it's just not, it's just difficult. Y'all it's especially hybrid classes for children. It's crazy. You have kids in front of you acting up. You got kids on the zoom acting up. Poor Barbara. She had no what to do. She don't know how to keep her kids in line. Um, like, like none of the, like, it was so hard to watch because you're like, I remember those days of people being like, oh yeah, I'm just taking my class online. I'm like, these kids are not logging in. They're not taking the classes.

[00:44:11] I'm sorry, but the, the, uh, what Janine's virtual class were like half of them use the filter to be animal. So accurate. So accurate. So painfully accurate. Incredible. Yeah. I like when Barbara student Hazel, who is going to be acting up at home on the zoom, uh, when she starts like banging pots and pans and then the student in class starts like,

[00:44:38] oh, miss, miss Barbara, can I make a beat miss Howard? And she's like, Samuel, you have no rhythm. And I was like, shut him down. Shut him down. Because boy, is that our, uh, MVP child of the episode? Sam and I having rhythm is a tough, cause I mean, how do you not give it to Lila? Little Lila really loves the solar system. I know, I know that was, I think we have to give it to Lila. Like she was the center of the universe.

[00:45:07] She really was. Now look, Samuel, you was the number two though. I'm glad we both kind of had our eyes on him because Samuel have no rhythm is kind of like the funniest. That might be the funniest Barbara line that I've heard ever. Cause she could have said, stop making noise, but she had to let him know, humble yourself, Samuel. This is not for you. You are out of your league, little boy. Right. Sit down. Stop it. Don't play with me. What, what did you think about some of the employees that were missing? Like I talked about Mr. Morton, but Gregory subbing in for Sinead. What's up?

[00:45:37] Oh my God. I'm so sad. Listen, you can't just mention Sinead and then not show me Sinead. So yes, uh, people filling in for the workers that could not be there. Like Sinead, Sinead cannot be there again. Put Sinead back on the damn show because we love Sinead. She is one of my favorites. I must have her. Um, Daya, uh, Ava got mad at her because she let people in. Yeah. It was a whole thing. Right.

[00:46:07] Um, what was the other one that we had? We had a couple that were. Well, Mr. Johnson went home to work remote. Yeah. Well, that just makes sense. Okay. He was cleaning remotely. Like you have to have that work-life balance. I completely understand. Yeah. Uh, so we see that again, this is affecting everybody. Uh, Janine's really struggling though. Cause her kids are little and they, they have this project and it has to be hands-on.

[00:46:33] And so she's really trying to use whatever tactics that she can use to figure this out. Gregory in the meantime, he's, you know, kind of doing a Gregory thing where he's like in his own lane, like he'll figure it out, but he does have even his students that come and hang out with him at lunch. They're having a virtual lunch with him on the iPads. That was pretty cool. Yeah. That was so funny. Yeah. Cause they're like, oh, Mr. Eddie made a friend and then he just. Yeah. Mr.

[00:47:03] Mr. Eddie made a friend. It seems like Ava's friend. Ocean. And. Ocean was the one that came in to, uh, set up the remote learning. Right. And, uh, also, you know, he invited Gregory to go play basketball. So I wonder how Ava's going to feel with her old boo and her new boo, potential new boo, uh, and fake old boo. The old boo that never happened. Relationship. Yeah. Hanging out. Um, cause that was very fun.

[00:47:29] Um, Janine will decide, uh, after sitting at Rubenstein's with, with Gregory and witnessing Ava pull up in a party bus. That maybe she too should use a party bus to get the kids to school the next day. I love it. I love that this was a thing that happened. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But. But. Also, Janine, what were you thinking? Like. This. Wait.

[00:47:57] Two things before we get into the main storyline. First of all. Okay. I think. This just came to me. Okay. I think Gregory would be an excellent student for remote learning. Like, I think if the pandemic happened when Gregory was a child, he'd be all for it. I don't have to go nowhere. Right. I don't have to touch anything. I can eat my boiled chicken sandwich by myself and not be bothered. Like, I think Gregory would have thrived in the you cannot go anywhere environment.

[00:48:28] Yeah. Also, I'm wondering, do we think Gregory may mess up O'Shawn and Ava for Ava with like maybe some commentary when they're playing. Why? Why are you getting to know Ava's man so badly? Right. Get out of there. That's a good point. I didn't even think about what the show was even trying to give us. Yeah. Like, you have friends, Gregory. You are insisting to everybody that you have friends. Why do you have to have Ava's man be your friend? Right.

[00:48:57] I ain't never seen Gregory had no friends. Tariq. Tariq is his friend. Yeah. He was very adamant about that. Jacob is his best friend. His best friend, clearly. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Listen, whether or not Gregory wants to admit it or will ever admit it, Jacob is his best friend. I believe that wholeheartedly. Yeah. Yeah. But he had, what's that guy's name? Who? He has another friend? Oh, Vince Staples was his friend, but I think Janine ran him off.

[00:49:28] Yeah. But still, like, they were friends for a bit. Maybe he'll come back. I don't know. Yeah, he can come back. What was his name? I was calling him Vince Staples. Vince Staples. Yeah. You're right. You're right. His name is Vince Staples. Mm-hmm. Yeah. They're three whole friends. Three whole friends. So, they're friends. And it looks like he's making a friend here, as the kids point out. But yeah, Ava will save the day again because she is Ava.

[00:49:56] And she shows up to the bar in a party bus because the New Year's pub call that they were going to have was postponed. And so Janine gets the bright idea to take the party bus and pick up the kids the next day. The party bus has a stripper pole. Gia? That is a fireman's pole. Don't be gross. Oh, she left the stank out. And so when you let the stank back in, it's a stripper pole. But when the stank is out of it, it's a fire pole. It's a fire pole.

[00:50:25] Between, let's say, 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., it is a fireman's pole. Yeah. Yeah. And at 7 a.m., they're trying to get these kids to school. Yeah. Melissa rides with Janine and the party bus as they go pick up these kids to try to get them in school for time for breakfast. They avoid the picket line. They take all the kids. Janine's flying around the corner trying to make it happen. And they get there.

[00:50:51] I love Melissa being on the party bus to make sure that no scabs are picked up because I think you have to do this to Janine, right? Because Janine seems like the type to, if you ask her enough, she would just let you on the bus. Yes. No. They needed a Melissa there to reaffirm that we are not scabbing. We are not doing anything other than picking kids up to go to school because I agree. I don't think Janine has it in her too.

[00:51:19] And I also don't think she has the, what is, what's the word? Um, the thought process to be thinking when she sees the picketers on the road being like, I need to, like, I cannot go past them because I do not want to scab. I do not want to break. You need that reinforcement there. And that is, at the end of the day, what else is Melissa the best at other than being the reinforcer?

[00:51:47] Like, that is who I want behind me as I am driving a party bus with a fireman's pole to Abbott Elementary. Absolutely a fireman's pole, right? They get the kids to school and this completely works. This is a success. It's a crazy thing that they did, but it's not the first or won't, and it won't be the last time we've seen the Abbott Elementary teachers going above and beyond to help their kids and to teach their students. Janine gets her whole class there in time for the solar system project.

[00:52:15] It's much to, you know, the glee of Lila, who is just a little star and literally the son of this episode. And then that's it. We wrap it up with, I mean, I don't think we find out that the strike ends, right? Like, we don't. No, I think it's going to continue on at least into the next episode. They kind of just conclude with the fact that, like, not, first of all, Janine forgot that she would have to bring these students back. Right.

[00:52:44] Um, which kind of hints at the fact that, you know, this is not a feasible solution long-term should the strike continue. So this probably is not going to be something that she's going to be able to maintain doing every day. Um, and I think that's part of it. I think that's the lesson they wanted us to have with how we're looking at strikes. But also we come to the conclusion at the end that, you know, none of the solutions that

[00:53:12] they have in the moment are perfect or a fix-all situation to the larger problem of the strike that's out of their hands. But they are trying to make things better for all of their students. And that's the most that they can do. Yeah, no, this is, this is completely right. I, I, I love to see what's going to come next in this strike journey or how much longer it's going to go, because this, this is not a solution.

[00:53:39] This was just kind of like a bandaid on a massive problem that the city is going to have to address in order to make sure that these kids can get to school and that everybody else's life isn't affected. So hopefully it doesn't take too long, but I think they did a good job of giving us another episode that is well thought out and that, uh, is very fun despite, uh, you know, the gravity of the situation. The other kid I wanted to flag up, this is my third placer. Um, his name is Brandon and I have to flag him because he showed up to school just to

[00:54:08] drop off his homework and go back home because he was like, look, it took me too long to get here. Incredible work. That incredible work, boy. Get that boy in me. Where is it? Isn't it? It's reward season. I think he's had a couple really good moments this season too. I think, yeah, we need more of Brandon, more of his logic going on, please. Yeah, for sure. But yeah, that's it. Oh, also though, I had something, I had something, wait. Okay. Wait a minute. It was a good point too. Hold on. Brain blast, brain blast. Uh.

[00:54:37] Work it out. I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I lost it. I'm sorry. You lost it. Oh, no. Oh, no. Never mind. I remember it now. I remember. Also, though, the bus solution, a tad unrealistic because Chappelle, tell me, tell me if this was your class, not as like your classroom, your, uh, like you as a student.

[00:55:03] If I was in a classroom where half of the students that I go to school with was out, we're watching Magic School Bus and Bill Nye to Sky and Sky. Do not. I'm not getting on that bus. We are not learning shit that day if half the class is out. We are watching the Magic School Bus and or Bill Nye, the science guy. And I went to Catholic School. So we might be going into some of those, you know, like little VeggieTales specials and whatnot.

[00:55:31] I really, I did love, I don't think any religious, uh, religious texts has touched me as much as VeggieTales has. Right. We just, VeggieTales truly the goat here. Um, but, uh, you know, we, this would be a movie day, a strong movie day in here. And, uh, we don't get enough of those at Abbott Elementary. Everyone's so active. Yeah. I mean, VeggieTales is basically like the first podcast, right?

[00:56:00] Like Bob and Larry just doing the Lord's work, literally the Lord. Um, can we get that to be Halloween costumes this year? Like, I know it's only January, but I just really, I feel very strongly about this. I, I, I'm with you. Okay. Listen, is one of them black? Let me, let me, let me review. Cause we might need to revisit this. I want to say that Larry is black. Okay.

[00:56:28] But, but I think more realistically, it's Bob the Tomato. It's probably Bob. It's probably Bob. I do think Larry does give off a lot of like silly white man energy. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But he does have a song about trying to find his hairbrush. And I do feel like that was very black of him. Um, I felt seen. Uh, yeah. You know who is actually the, those asparagus that come up every once in a while. They are black. They have a capro. They were rapping, I believe. Yeah. They were rapping at one point too.

[00:56:57] Junior and Archibald. Yeah. Look, look. The only reason. Yeah. They, it's been fresh in my mind recently. Cause I don't know how I got here, but my algorithm on Tik TOK, um, has been a lot of, uh, people ranking their top veggie tale songs in there. And people have a lot of opinions about where certain songs go and like what counts as the Canon songs and what counts as silly songs with Larry. Okay.

[00:57:26] So I do like, it has been at the forefront of my mind for a while. And I think I may need to rewatch VeggieTales at some point. Well, yeah. Well, look, as we wrap, it is a very important, uh, you know, announcement that we have. G and I are working on a cartoon centric episode, as we already kind of alluded to earlier in the podcast, cartoon centric episode for Black History Month. And so we will be exploring some of the Black cartoon characters in a very interesting way. So you want to make sure you tune into our Black History Month coverage.

[00:57:55] And of course, keep tuning in to Abbott Elementary season four as we continue and move toward the end of the season. Gia, this is so much fun. Thank you again for joining me on this Abbott journey. Um, what you got going on? So much. So obviously I'm recapping back. I am, uh, doing the coverage with Abbott Elementary. We are going to be finishing up soon our How to Ruin Christmas coverage.

[00:58:20] And we'll also be covering, um, some things in Black History Month related to animation. So I'm very excited for all of those projects in the future. Also on Silent Podcast, I will be back for Survivor 48. The cast was just announced recently and we, uh, we will be doing regular recaps for Survivor 48.

[00:58:43] And currently on Inside Survivor, we are doing the 50 for 50 coverage with, um, with me and four other writers. We each drafted 10 former players that we want to see return to Survivor. I have two left that have not been released yet that I'm working on. I'm very excited for those two to be released. They're two people that I have met and have really enjoyed getting to know over the years.

[00:59:09] So I feel very lucky to be able to write about why I think they should return for Survivor 50. So please stay tuned for that. And also I filled in for Kirsten McInnes, um, on Mess Magnets. And we talked about a lot of stuff, Sasha and I, but if you want to hear my thoughts on some, uh, award show drama, um, award season drama, I should say, uh, I would give it a listen. Okay. All right. Check it out.

[00:59:37] Check out Gia on Mess Magnets. And then of course, follow Gia on all social media. I was classically Gia on Blue Sky. You still out here in the streets, right? On, uh, in the ski. The other app. Yes. I am, uh, I, I am nothing if not a very serious journalist. You know, I communicate to all my followers on multiple platforms. Yes. As you should, as you should. And me catch me on recap, kickback, uh, on all recap, kickback, uh, I guess on all social

[01:00:05] media platforms at recap, kickback youtube.com slash at recap, kickback, please go to our Instagram page and let Chris summer know that, you know, she should really come here. Just tag her. I'm not saying harass her, but do your thing, do your thing. Let her know that we, uh, we here and that we would love to talk to her if possible. So, um, make sure you check out all the rest of the stuff we have coming here on recap, kickback. Our anniversary is coming up. Mari and I are going to do something crazy for next week's episode. It's going to be a blast. Gia and I have how to ruin Christmas.

[01:00:32] We got special guests coming in soon as well to join us on the black history month and the year, uh, the year anniversary celebration. Uh, and so hopefully you all will be here and you don't miss a thing, uh, until next time class is over, but we will be back to talk about Abbott elementary season, uh, four episode 12 and 13 here on recap, kickback.com. Peace. Peace. Peace.