Abbott Elementary Season 4 Eps 16+17 Recap

[00:00:17] Abbot Elementary Season 4 Episode 16 Books and Season 4 Episode 17 Karaoke are over but class is back in session here again on Recap Kickback. It's me your host Chappelle and I'm going to take you through another two episodes of Abbott Elementary and these were bangers and so of course we have to bring back our principal of the podcast. It's Gia. Gia, welcome back.

[00:00:40] Thank you so much Chappelle and I must say first of all when we last recorded there were a couple things I said that I was missing about this season namely Tariq and Erica and Zach and we got all three of them in these two batches of episodes and I also just think these episodes were particularly strong.

[00:01:03] So I am so excited to finally be talking about this like this. This is what we've been building up for. I've seen some theories about how they think Season 4 is going to end. We only have a few episodes left. I'm a little scared. Gotta admit but but I am I am loving the season we are getting so far and I can't wait to talk about everything in depth. Let us get Chris Perfetti his Emmy also.

[00:01:29] He's fighting for it okay this man is doing his things this season. This episode was so good for him that I'm thinking that yeah give him what he deserves. It's time. Yes I mean listen there are no bad actors in Abbott Elementary right like there are no there's nobody here that doesn't deserve an Emmy. Right down to the children. But down to the children. The children should have already gotten an Emmy. Like they just like the collective of them.

[00:01:56] Mm-hmm. But I feel like they I feel I thought Season 3 was his time to get an Emmy nomination but very vocal about it. I thought this is where he really shined. He needed to get an Emmy. I feel like they stepped up their game to specifically get him an Emmy nomination because really what are they doing not giving him an Emmy nomination.

[00:02:17] Yeah it's time. It is time and um in these two episodes yeah I thought this was great work from him um and so yeah we got a lot to talk about but thank you all for listening. First of all thank you if you're watching this on YouTube hi what's up this is our beautiful faces but if you're only listening to the audio then check us out youtube.com slash at recap kickback and you can find our Abbott Elementary playlist where we're gonna drop all the stuff that we talk about with Abbott. So that when season four rolls around it'll all be right there tied up in the bow or season five I guess uh rolls around it'll all be there for you.

[00:02:47] Uh so make sure you check that out and then also come like the video all that good stuff too. Now we have to get into books. Gia this cold open was probably the best one I've ever seen of my entire life of any show. I think this this this felt like a personal attack it was so real it was so raw and it was literally Gregory talking to children about music.

[00:03:11] And he talks to the kid about oldies and he said oldies are songs for from another era. Now Gia these songs that the kids are suggesting 50 Cent in the Club, A Millie by Lil Wayne, Umbrella by Rihanna. And they asked what were iPods like. How old do you feel right now Gia? I felt listen now I work with college students right.

[00:03:36] They make me feel old on a regular basis and I am at the most like 12 years older than them. Like not a huge difference between our like the incoming freshmen and me. Yeah. When they said Umbrella by Rihanna was an oldie. I felt that in my chair. I almost fell out of my chair in pain.

[00:04:00] I could just see my life flash before my eyes because what do you mean Rihanna is an oldie? Nothing Rihanna has done is an oldie. Be serious right now. But it's very upset. Very upset here. But it's very true to form because if there's one thing students younger than you love to do, it's remind you of your age. Yeah. And now that you brought that up, I do want to play a little game with you, okay? Yes.

[00:04:29] So in this moment, one of the kids does bring up a Millie. And Gregory points out that that song was from 2005. And the young lad says that was 13 years before I was born. He was born in 2018. And so I have gone and I have found songs from 2005, okay? Oh my God. And I would like to compare them to songs that were 13 years prior to you being born, Gia. Okay?

[00:04:59] Oh my God. All right. You ready? Wait, wait, wait, wait. So there are songs that are made 13 years before I was born. Right. And you got to tell me if they're oldie or not. Or if you considered them oldies when you were growing up, okay? Okay. Okay. All right. Now, songs from 2005. We Belong Together by Mariah Carey.

[00:05:29] Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani. Oh my God. Let Me Love You by Mario. That was 2005? Yeah. I went to the Billboard end of the year charts to see. Since You've Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson and One Two Step by Ciara are our baseline here, okay? Okay. Now, 13 years prior to Gia being born, the number one song on Billboard charts end of the year, Physical by Olivia Newton-John.

[00:05:59] Oh my God. That was the era you were born in, right? 13 years prior? I was born in 1905. Uh-huh. And 13 years prior was 1982. So, also, this song might mean a lot to you. Survivor's Eye of the Tiger was 13 years before you were born. That really puts it into perspective because I do consider those oldies. And they were oldies our whole life. Like, they were never not oldies. They were easily. Like, physical?

[00:06:28] Like, what movie was that on a soundtrack for at some point? Like, oh my God. Well, there's more. I love rock and roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. I used to do really well on Guitar Hero to that song. It's a good song to play on Guitar Hero. It really is. And then, finally, Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, our fave.

[00:06:57] So, I actually had that song on my, like, Spotify playlist for a really long time. Like, my car song one. And the reason for it is because... The reason I had that song on there specifically was because there is an SNL skit with Eddie Murphy on there. And I forget the other guy that's playing Paul McCartney on there. But Eddie Murphy's impression of him is so good.

[00:07:25] Like, unbelievably good. That man is so talented. But I do consider all of these oldies. And they were oldies our whole life, okay? Yes. And so, not to leave you hanging. But there are some songs from 13 years before I was born as well, including Silly Love Songs by Wings. Don't Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John. Zah! Disco Lady by Johnny Taylor. Play That Funky Music, White Boy by Wild Cherry.

[00:07:56] And Oh, What a Night by The Four Seasons. And so, also, songs that I have always considered oldies. Yeah. Those are the equivalent to We Belong Together by Mariah Carey and Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani for these kids. Gia is crazy to me that this is where we are. And these kids highlighted it in Abbott Elementary so well. Now that you've put it into perspective, right? Mm-hmm.

[00:08:25] I get it. I get what they were trying to do here. I feel a little put on the spot having to compare the oldies. But those kids are still wrong. They're still wrong. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. The, they were born 13 years after Rihanna really does put it in perspective as well because

[00:08:47] I think that a lot of our, of the songs that were, I think of like oldies as like, like 80s, right? Like 90s is nostalgia. Uh-huh. And then 2000s are like the throwback songs, you know? Like there's levels to this. But oldies? Oldies? Oldies. Yeah. I mean, you're a 90s, you're a 90s kid.

[00:09:12] And if you think about, I don't know, 30 years prior to you being born, that's the equivalent. Okay. So the songs of the 90s that grew, that you grew up to, think back to 30 years prior. The songs of the 60s are what these kids are equating them to. That's not fair. Because I feel like anything that happened when there were segregated water fountains isn't oldie. Okay. That's completely different.

[00:09:39] We were in a completely different, that is oldies situation. They had, we had television, colored photos. Uh, oh my God. We had beepers. We didn't even have cell phones during that time. Right. The quality was trash. Yes. You know? But that was our trash quality. That was part of the appeal. Yeah. I just thought it was very fluid. I saw the kids talking about that and I was like, Lord. Yeah. That's, that's tough.

[00:10:04] Um, so this episode is about books and banning books in school. And so we know this is a hot topic debate all around the country for a number of reasons. You know, some people are questioning the literature that we put in front of our kids and, uh, other people are questioning whether or not we should allow kids to read certain things because one, it could be good literature or, or two, it could, uh, instill some thoughts into the kids' heads and make them act a certain way.

[00:10:31] And so we see Crystal, uh, one of our favorite parents here as a member of the PTA and she doesn't like magic. She talks about getting the magic out of the schools and, uh, she's going after the sassy wizard kid books, Gia. Now everybody else, the teachers seem to love this book. It actually sounds like a crazy good premise, like a, like a sassy wizard kid who goes to the barbershop and gets like sage wisdom. This sounds like a book I would want to read. I love it.

[00:10:59] And I need a actual book adaption to be created. They put the, they put the concept in my head. I need the books. I need this, not just one book. I need the series to be published right away. I need a Netflix adaptation. Adaptation. Personally, I would prefer a Hulu miniseries because that's the one you pay for. Um, Netflix really has been trying me lately with like, you are not in your designated area.

[00:11:29] Um, yeah, they, they really do. It's like, someone is paying for it. I just need you all to mind your business at some point. Not me, but someone's paying for it. Um, I need, I need the Hulu miniseries here. I need like, I need us to create our podcast highlighting the each episode of the Sassy Wizard Kid miniseries. Uh-huh. And then the inevitable movie where I'm assuming we're going to have Cynthia Erivo in there as well.

[00:12:01] We have to. The crossover pill is right there. We do. Um, who would be a good, who would be a good Sassy Wizard? I think one of these kids makes the obvious choice of like the future Sassy Wizard kid in theaters. Like that's the star. Um, I, I just think we need to really think about it. Keith David obviously comes back to play a barber. I feel like that makes sense as the sage barber of this series.

[00:12:25] I'm already doing the heavy work for the Abbott Elementary crew. So I just need them to think about this. Yeah, we'll trade back that's on the low just so we can make sure we get our credit for the, uh, the IP here. But there's people who doesn't want this book to see the light of day. You know, it's on the shelves, but, um, Crystal wants it down and Tariq wants it back on the shelves

[00:12:49] because he says he needs his kid, his son, uh, who we know is not his son to read him a bedtime story. And so there's a moment here where Barbara, Ava and the crew are kind of torn because they're already on bad terms with the district and they really shouldn't be getting a lot of complaints from parents. But they have to decide how to put this book back on the shelves or to keep this book off the shelves and to potentially start a little division here amongst the parents.

[00:13:18] What did you think about Tariq though, stepping up and being like, nah, put the book back. I love it. And I also, so first of all, I, we have said for a couple of times that we love these two as the head of the PTA, right? Fantastic choices, but they're usually, we haven't really seen them disagree to this point a lot. You know, like they both have their ideas.

[00:13:47] They may not agree on everything, but we haven't seen it actually be like a, a civil war of the PTA yet until this episode. But I find it interesting because we are able to start talking about maybe, I feel like this is a light version, one of those like super special episodes where we start talking about some relevant topics of the time. And I think right now censorship and banned books are a very big topic,

[00:14:15] not just in general, not, you know, not just in general of like how us like going day to day. You may know that, you know, I read, you know, so banned books are a topic special to my heart. However, and I think for something like this with schools, people are very sensitive to what their kids are or are not reading. And people have a lot of opinions about it.

[00:14:42] And some people, their opinions go to the point of, I don't think this book has lessons in it that are appropriate for kids or some, something along the lines of that. And even people that we would think would be against it may not necessarily care. Like we have this great moment with Barbara being like, well, I'm a Christian, but I think a little magic is fine. You know, like who, this is a good series for them.

[00:15:07] So this, this is where, you know, some of the stressors of teaching and parenting come into play here because a lot of times teachers are trying to give people the benefit of the doubt. They're trying to give the students all of the options they have available. And it becomes really difficult when parents get involved here. Yeah. And here they are. Tariq uses the 48 laws of power as a way to get that book back on the shelves. He said, well, if I can't have that, I want the 48 laws of power.

[00:15:37] Causing Ava to be like, nah, we got to shut this down. And they basically, Ava folds. She says, let's put it back on the shelves. But they create a book speakeasy on the top shelf behind a secret book curtain in the library. And I finally got this kid's name, Andrew. Andrew, what are we doing? He just completely outs the book speakeasy. Crystal shuts it down. I thought this was so funny.

[00:16:04] You know, just the idea that like, yeah, the book is on the shelf, but you don't have to read it. You do not have to read the book. Your kid can be informed of what, you know, you can parent your child outside of the school. You know, they read a book and you can tell them, talk to them about the things that they consume. But just because the book is there doesn't mean it's going to get read. Obviously, they had hidden it behind the curtain. So it probably gives it even more allure to make the kids want to read it. But Crystal did not like this at all.

[00:16:32] And they decide to put it in the hands of Ava and the teachers to make sure it got resolved. Because if the district gets involved, based on what we talked about last time, this could end really badly for them. Yes. And I, first of all, I think part of the problem with banned books, right? Not to bring in other shows to this, but I'm going to. Something like South Park did the episode on this where, what book was it? I think it was The Catcher in the Rye, one of those. Okay.

[00:17:01] Is a banned book. But the fact that it's banned makes kids want to read it more. Absolutely. Because they want to know what is in there that makes it banned. And also just the idea of, yeah, if we have it behind a curtain saying like, this is a special book, people are going to want to know what about it is so bad that it needs to be blocked off, segregated, if you will, from the other books in here.

[00:17:27] And so, I mean, I don't even want to blame the staff for going about it this way. But it's just really not like there. There's really no good way to handle this because everybody has different opinions about what their kids should or should not be reading or what should or should not be available to them in classrooms. Yeah. And there isn't a real solution for this. They call a PTA meeting.

[00:17:55] And at the meeting, they take a vote. It's a tie vote. Some of them want it down. Some of them want it up. And so then they end up discussing, you know, the kind of things that they're looking for in their books and the things that they don't like. One parent suggests adding Steve Harvey's entire repertoire up there. Tariq talks about banning Clifford the Rig Red Dog, I think. Or someone does. Yes. Not quite sure what Clifford did, but, you know, I'd like to hear both sides. And then also a woman talks about how she wants to ban the Little Prince because it's French and promotes French values.

[00:18:25] And she ain't going to stand for that. You know what? She has a point on that, though. Because what have the French been doing all this time? Right. And they kind of wilding right now anyway. So, yeah, I agree. Keep that book off the shelf. But they talk the book. They talk about the book. And the book teaches the kids how to have a growth mindset, how to read, how to, like, it establishes some agency in the kids where they're going to learn something about themselves and how to move in society. And so Crystal eventually kind of folds and says, well, damn, I didn't know the book was about that.

[00:18:53] You know, I think the thing with banned books is that they get banned for like one thing, right? There's one part of that book that I really just cannot stand. Like, for Crystal, it was the magic. But for other books, it could be one other thing, right? And it happens. And then they miss the entire point of why we have the book on the shelf in the first place. And so for that particular book, The Sassy Wizard Kid is supposed to help the kids. But you're so blinded by the magic, Crystal, that you can't see that. And so eventually she does and she folds.

[00:19:21] And I guess this was a great episode for Tariq because he got what he wanted. I still want to know if 48 Laws of Power is also on the shelves now. If that was a stipulation. It cannot be. No, absolutely not. I just think we need to revisit it. The Steve Harvey collection needs to stay off of the shelves, okay, though? The kids don't need to know about that. Right. Now, Tariq does mention the 48 Laws of Power a couple times. He said he used rule number 21 to get the book back on the shelves.

[00:19:49] And that's called Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker. And it's about playing dumb to get what you want. And I mean, he kind of ate, you know? He played dumb. Was he wrong? Playing dumb? Yeah. Like, look, he made a good argument for why some of them rules are used. But I agree that has no business on a lot of bookshelves. Like, honestly, it's just no disrespect to Robert Greene. But no, stop it. No. Put that book away. Keep it off. Keep it where it...

[00:20:18] Keep it far away from many people. Please. Yes. Gregory is on LinkedIn. On the clock, which I respect, okay? Number one, if you're going to be looking for a job, you do it on the company's time, not yours. Oh, absolutely. Because it's their fault I'm looking for another job. Mm-hmm. He needs a part-time. He needs to make more money. This is a tale as old as time for teachers, okay? He has a master's degree. He's thinking that's going to bring him a part-time job. Let me tell you something, sir. Look at me, Gregory.

[00:20:48] No, it won't, okay? Let me tell you, as someone who lived that life, okay? Who has that master's degree. No one gives a shit about your master's degree. As someone with a master's degree. Same. They don't. No one cares. They don't. They don't care. They don't want to hire you. I care, but no one cares about my master's degree. It was for me. I did it for me. I didn't do it for a job. I had to know that it was going to get me nowhere. And if I didn't, I was delusional because here we are. I did it to one-up my family members. And now- That part. Yes. And now my sister also has a master's degree,

[00:21:17] so I will consider getting a PhD in the future, just in case. I'm going to keep it in the back burner, just in case. You never know when you're going to need to pop out. It seems like a lot of work that I don't necessarily want to do, but my middle brother is also kind of threatening, potentially doing a PhD in the future, and I can't stand for that. Ooh! Yeah. Yeah. We may need to revisit that in the future. Yeah. Me and my cousins are like the Spider-Man meme.

[00:21:45] We're all pointing at each other because the moment somebody decides to get one, we're all in. Everybody's in because I'd be damned if I'm the last one to get it. Like, no, no. Not only, yeah, no. So, Gregory, I'm sorry. Those PhDs that we're talking about aren't going to get us a job, and neither is his master's degree. He needs to just try to, you know, cast a wide net. He's obviously a teacher. He's going to be very busy during the day working in education, and so there's not a lot of stuff he can do in his part-time. Mr. Johnson does suggest a ride share,

[00:22:15] and at first Gregory shuts it down, but we will see that eventually he folds, and the way we find out about this fold is hilarious because he said that he works at a gym. Now, he had to know that Janine was going to find out, right? Like, there's no way he was going to have a part-time job that she didn't know about, right? I'm shocked that, I mean, I'm not that shocked because Janine trusts Gregory because they're cute like that,

[00:22:43] but I just, maybe he just assumed that, like, Janine would never go to the gym. I feel like that's a safe bet. Which is crazy. That's not, not for Janine personally, but I feel like if I was dating someone and they were like, I got a job at the gym, I would never, I would never find out because I'm not setting, I am not stepping foot in that gym. Yeah, see, the thing with Janine though, she might not be going to work out, but she is just head-ass enough to show up like,

[00:23:10] hi Gregory, and like, yeah, like what a sign. Happy first day of work. I brought you a drink, yes. Right, exactly. Like, there's no way she doesn't pull up to Planet Fitness at 11 o'clock. I really don't know what his plan was here, especially because he was, it was, we find out later he was delivering pizza or was it our Uber Eats situation or something like that? Yeah, he was doing both. He was doubling up. But, like, he didn't think that,

[00:23:38] he knows Abbott Elementary, like, orders food. You know they mispanish their funds like that. So, Gregory, where was, there was no critical thinking skills used in these decisions. No, he just needed a really quick lie and it will all come crumbling down because Melissa's storyline is going to intersect with his eventually. Her and the machine, the vending machine guy, they're talking, right? We got him back and he invites her to the wedding.

[00:24:07] To me, Gia, this is interesting. We know that he once proposed to Melissa, essentially, and she was like, nah, I'm good. Like, I'm good. I don't need that. But now here he is inviting her to the wedding. Is it, is it appropriate to invite your ex that you propose to, to your wedding? I mean, I guess if your future spouse is cool with it,

[00:24:35] I think there are some situations where it's not weird to people, to the people involved. To me, it's always weird. Yeah, this is crazy. Like, I could never, I would never. Stop it. Never. I would never. I am not chill. I am not a chill person today, okay? I know my limits. But no, like, it's weird. I, I don't know why this was, like,

[00:25:05] I'm glad we got Gary back, right? Like, I'm glad we got to see him again because, yeah, we want to see that he's, like, moved on. He's getting married. We like that for him. But I'm, I'm curious as if, are we going to actually see the wedding taking place? Or are, was this just a plot device to, for Melissa to have her storyline here? I don't know.

[00:25:31] But I am not, I guess if the fiance is okay with this invite taking place, and that's one thing, I would never. I, and I don't know too many people. I would never even pretend to be that chill because I'm not. And I don't think people should have to pretend that this is okay either. Like, if I would, like, no marriage is worth that, like, right? Like, having to, how do you know them? Yeah.

[00:26:00] The groom proposed to me once, and now we're, we're buddies. And, like, be so for real. Right. Well, here's an added layer. Not only is Melissa going to go to the wedding, but she's going to invite her new guy to the wedding. Her situationship. Yeah, her situationship to the wedding of her ex. See, this is where, this is also something I think, I do think the invite to Melissa is weird, right? Yeah.

[00:26:29] Like, let's just get that out of the way. I think it's also weird to bring someone that you are either in a situationship with or, like, that you barely know just for the sake of having a wedding date. Like, y'all don't have friends. If you get a plus one and you want a buddy there, you guys just can't invite a friend. It didn't have to be Jacob, Melissa. That wasn't your only art. I'm sure Barbara would go at some point or somebody would be there. We could have had, like, Ava and Melissa

[00:26:58] stealing the catering food part two in there. Like, we, I get why she wants a date date there, but I don't think that, like, y'all get some friends because that's what you want at a situation like this. Who, there was, someone got so mad at me one time because I said that I would not bring somebody I just started dating to a wedding and they thought that was, like, so offensive. I'm like, but then that person could be in all the wedding photos

[00:27:28] and if you guys break up, then they're stuck in all the wedding photos with you. It's just, who wants that? Yeah. Like, you gotta have to establish a relationship or you at least need a title before you bring somebody to a, like, you gotta have a title. Y'all are dating. I even think it needs to be, like, you know, like, you're not obligated to a plus one for something like that unless you have been, like, together for, I would say, like, at least 10 months.

[00:27:56] Like, no, well, like, a year feels a little aggressive, but I feel like anything less than 10 months is, like, that's still kind of casual. Like, you're not really dating yet. Right. She invites her situationship, Gia. This is so messy because you haven't, you told them to keep it casual. Melissa, you said, let's keep it casual. And yet, here you are bothering Captain Rob being like, all right, let's go to this. You're my date

[00:28:24] to my ex's wedding? Yeah, this was just a mess all around. Melissa, what? And then just when I thought it wouldn't get messier, the firefighter says, he has a date that day to go to the symphony. With some slut. Oh, I'm sorry, those were the worst, not mine. With some hussy that I assume he met, like, on the street, on an avenue somewhere. Right. Who knows where he found her?

[00:28:54] Mm-hmm. Melissa doesn't like this. She wants to go exclusive. I'm sorry, all of this, Melissa's storyline is, like, my worst nightmare. Like, imagine, like, you, like, oh, you moved on and you got married? Damn. Okay, I'm happy for you. Oh, you want me to come? That's crazy. Oh, okay, well, let me bring my plus one who I kind of really like and I was hoping to kind of make this exclusive at some point. Hopefully, they're still exclusive. Oh, they're not exclusive. I, I, I thought I was keeping it casual. I didn't know you were outside, you know,

[00:29:24] living life. Yeah. And then you're too busy for me too. Ooh, I just want to rip my skin off. If I invited a situationship to an event like that and they said, I have plans, I would jump off the nearest. You're not allowed to have plans. Only I can have plans. Like, wait a minute. What do you mean you have plans? You don't get plans. Ooh, this is stressful. If you have plans, I, I trump

[00:29:53] all other plans. You have to have there's an clarity here. Yeah, I do. Ooh, this was stressful. This was stressful. I was so, I was so irate during this storyline. It was so rough to watch. Like, oh, this is hard. And I can't even say that I would do better. No. Because I know I wouldn't, but I would be irate. Yeah. This is just, all of this is bad. All of this is bad. She has to admit that she wants to go steady. You know,

[00:30:23] she wants to be exclusive. And, um, during the PTA meeting, uh, there's a mysterious pull of the fire alarm. And this is where I'd say, like, her storyline aligns with Gregory's because Gregory's outside pretending he's not a pizza man and has to come inside the building. Janine runs into him outside and finds that he's a pizza man. Turns out, Melissa paid Mr. Johnson to pull the fire alarm. And I thought it was just so she could get out of the PTA meeting. No, no. She did this

[00:30:51] so that the fire captain would show up at App Elementary pulling a fire alarm so that the fire captain could show up to the school, to school. I, so your date can come to your job essentially. Ah, Melissa! This was embarrassing. I can't even, I would have, I would have had more respect for the situation if she pulled the fire alarm to get out of the PTA meeting. Right. I just, and the fact,

[00:31:21] she spent money on this operation. She said, Mr., she had sent Mr. Johnson to do her dirty work. Melissa! Oh my God. This is so bad. I just, if I'm, if I'm Captain Rob and I didn't came over here on the clock thinking I had to fight a fire at this school that this woman that works at that I like and I get here and there is no fire and I know she pulled the alarm. How do you not run for the hills? You know, he was like, ah,

[00:31:51] it comes with the territory. I'm like, no one does it. No one does it. No one does not, sir. And also, like, Chappelle, I don't know what you would have done in this situation as the Melissa, but I feel like the minute they say they have plans, I would have broken up with them right away. Right, that's it. Well, I was like, so do I. Yeah, so do I. No, I'd be like, so do I. Also, I'm not really feeling this anymore, so we need to just end it. Like, sorry, we gave the relationship our best shot. It just wasn't, like, I can't see you again. You have other plans that you told me about. Can't,

[00:32:21] I can't do it. Because, because it sounds like Melissa's starting to like him a lot, and that's the worst feeling is when you like somebody, it might, and they, you might like them more than they like you. You know, like, that's where you're like. Immediate breakup. Ooh, I gotta get out of here. I gotta get out of here. You gotta reciprocate or beat me there. You cannot have me, like, waiting on you. I don't yearn, okay? I'm not long, I don't long for somebody, okay? The minute I start having feelings for someone and it may not be reciprocated or it's, like, casual to that,

[00:32:51] immediate cut off. This is not gonna work out. Absolutely not. Yeah. We'll just say it's like, uh, the chemistry's not there. You know what I'm saying? Like, the chemistry has to be there. I'm just not feeling it anymore. Like, mm, sorry, it's just, it's just the vibes. The vibes are off. I can't do this. Yeah. Um, so, the strategic false alarm does work out for Melissa. Uh, Captain Rob says, yeah, he's down with being exclusive. In fact, he doesn't really even like music right now, so he's gonna go to the wedding with her.

[00:33:21] And Gregory and Janine have to talk because, yeah, he, uh, he has a job. He has two part-time jobs. He's doing a ride share. He's delivering pizza. Uh, because having a girlfriend costs money. Okay, so I can't speak on the having girlfriend costs money, um, portion of it because I am usually the one that costs money. And, however, I, I, I felt Janine in that moment. Oh, I feel like I actually spent, relationships aren't expensive. I feel like I spend less money when I'm in a relationship.

[00:33:50] I'm like, so for real, Janine. But also, I don't see, I feel like the two part-time jobs is excessive. Like, maybe just start with the one and see how it goes. Like, ride share seems like quite enough, especially when you live in Philly. Like, can you live in Philly? Like, it's a buzzing, like buzzing metropolitan era. Yeah. Like, you can make some money. And Philly's pretty close to, is it Baltimore or something? Like, they, like, they had a couple

[00:34:20] areas nearby. Like, he, I think he, in the next episode, he picks up a ride to, like, Jersey or something like that. Right, right. He, they're fine. Like, I think the ride share is enough. I, I almost think they gave him the pizza position as well, just so they could have these storylines intersect. But I think just the ride share logistically makes more sense. And I'm not one to criticize the Abbott Elementary writers, but just, I do, I feel like it's also on brand

[00:34:49] for Gregory to go all out with it. But, you don't want to struggle that much. Like, having no free time where you're doing ride share or delivering pizza? No. Right. That's the thing. You took the job so you could have a girlfriend and it costs money, right? And so it's kind of like, all right, I took the job and now I'm not spending time with my girlfriend because I have so many jobs that I can't do that. And so you can't lose sight of the goal here, okay? The goal was to fund the rent and the girlfriend project. And the girlfriend project is not happening

[00:35:19] if you're too busy ride sharing. Yes. I also don't feel like, walk with me here. I don't want other people in my car. Step up, talk, I need to know them. Like, I need, like, if you're my friend, I've already done a mental background check on you. Like, okay, the vibes are there. We're having fun. Like, it's, they can go in my car because they, they've passed the vibe check. The mental, like, vibe background check that I do.

[00:35:49] I can't, I don't want people I don't know in my car. Even some people I do know I don't trust in my car. And I take that very seriously. I have, I have two cars and one of them is for people that I know. And the other one, yeah, you've been in there. You've been in there, you've passed, but my pickup truck, absolutely not. No visitors. It's a four door and when I tell you nobody will open those back doors except me. Exactly. No, it is a,

[00:36:19] that is a luxury. That is a, yes. Nobody gets in that truck. Because even just seeing like little specks of dirt on, in my car just irritates me. Mm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I can see that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay, so, that's the first episode. But this ride share storyline kind of creeps over into our second episode, Karaoke, which, I love the karaoke episode! First of all, you and I have had experiences

[00:36:49] with karaoke. Yes. Okay, professional karaoke singers, both of us, have proven ourselves to be since we've started our friendship as well. So, I thought like, this is perfect for me and Gia to talk about. Great episode. All we were missing is a guest appearance by Mari and Matt Scott here. Yeah, that's it. That's all we needed. We needed, we needed just a little extra. But, this was great. This was great. Barbara wins a karaoke room essentially for the night and so,

[00:37:19] all the teachers will be going there and we get, I think, a little bit of everybody's personality in karaoke. That's why I like it, okay? Everybody gets to, you know, do what feels comfortable for them once they get on stage in front of people and, I don't think anybody disappointed me. Not this time. I think for what we got from here, the, I love the ABBA episodes where all of the main cast kind of gets their moment and something like a karaoke-based episode

[00:37:48] is perfect for that because we actually get to see, see how their personalities interact in here like you said but, like, Melissa waiting for her drinks to get, to start kicking in before she goes. Barbara, being Barbara, we know Barbara loves to perform. So, that was great but, I have to give my favorite of the night and there were a lot of great moments in this episode. Just Erica and Simon as a whole.

[00:38:18] We've been wanting Erica. We've been, we've been asking for more Erica. We have. We have. With Janine and Gregory's relationship blooming, right? Like, I can't even say blooming because they're like full dating now but, like, they, this is obviously, they have difficulties but it's not like this is an unhealthy relationship difficulties. This is like, they're not like on the verge of breaking up. They actually work through their problems here. Ava and O'Shawn

[00:38:48] are starting to get to know each other. That's our, that's like our B couple or other, our side plot couple of this episode and, again, they're going through some stuff but, I don't think any of this is breakup material here, right? Now, and we've, and we've discussed whether we think that could possibly happen in the future if Ava and O'Shawn move forward as like a serious couple in future seasons. But Erica and Simon,

[00:39:17] they're just messy. good. Yes, and I can't, I can't look at Simon without seeing Trent from Never Have I Ever. Never Have I Ever. That's him. Who's just down bad for his girlfriend in there throughout, like, I think they were together for seasons three and four. I loved it. So seeing him in this role with Erica where they, they match each other's freak but also they are so messy. I think that's perfect. Like,

[00:39:46] I love the, the change in dynamics in here. I think Erica is someone that's very unapologetically herself. She's very open about the fact that she does love Simon, like love as in she loves the messiness of this relationship but they do, you know, they get back together, they break up, they get back together, break. I love it. I loved it here. Barbara making them sing, I forget what the song title is but Barbara forcing them to sing that to work their shit out was perfect here.

[00:40:15] I had a great time. Yes. Let's see, where do we start? Let's, let's start with the hard stuff. Ava and Oshon are on a date and we have kind of talked about this. I think everybody in the Abbott universe have talked about this before. Janine was concerned Gregory was concerned. People have expressed how they felt about Ava dating someone who might not be

[00:40:44] well off, might not have money, might not have a lot in common with her. Ava and Oshon have gotten to this point and they have really done a good job of like, no, we're handling this like adults, you know, I'll ask you out, I'm gonna go. Like, we haven't gotten all the back and forth until the date. That, I don't know when Ava decided she was going to shut down for the date, to me, it felt like when Barbara was like, oh,

[00:41:13] that's a fine man right there, that that kind of sent Ava some signal where she was kind of like, yeah, like, I need to show him who's in charge here. You know, like, I just, what was her motivation in this? Because Ava was giving him nothing. Fine for no reason. I get that. I understand. I don't know. I feel like Ava is scared to be vulnerable for the situation and so kind of relied on, first of all,

[00:41:45] restaurant on a first date is just kind of a bad idea unless there is like a, an activity with it. Like, first of all, you gotta order an appetizer, right? Like, you gotta have something, you gotta have a prop in front of you. alcohol. That's not for everybody, but I'm pro-alcohol on the first day. I just, you need that. You need, and I didn't see alcohol there. If it was, it like, was not prominently displayed. Wasn't enough, yeah. And,

[00:42:14] but I feel, you gotta do something where there's like something to break up, like the casual conversation. You need like, like hibachi, I feel like is a good one. Right. Somebody come over making a lot of noise, throwing some fire in the air. Yeah. That restaurant was too quiet, too bougie. You need something where there's like a little activity going on. Like, you can tell that restaurant doesn't sing happy birthday to people. Like, you need to go to a restaurant where that happens if only to break up the awkward conversation a little bit. Right. Because this conversation

[00:42:44] goes nowhere. They talk about, you know, he talks about how he wasn't a great student. She's like, oh, were you dumb? Like, she was like, okay, I like a handsome dumb guy. You're like, oh, a hippo. You know, she was ready. He's like, no, and she's like, oh, well, were you a bad boy? He's like, no, wasn't a bad boy. She's like, oh, well, you know, like, she can't find any opening to where she really cares about what he's going on. And then he asked her about her family life and she completely shuts down. She's like, no, why we got to talk about our family? I'm thinking, Ava, you know, you got to give them something.

[00:43:14] You got to give them something. She was valid in the family part though, but that's not O'Shawn's fault. He doesn't know. He doesn't know about what happened over here. So, I like, and I could tell she likes him, but I think it's hard when you're on a first date and you're nervous and you don't want to do too much. Not even do too much, but like, talk too much about, like, who wants to talk about their family trauma on their first date? I wouldn't. Right.

[00:43:44] Yeah, that could get really deep and really dark really quickly depending on what you're asking and who. But I do think that, O'Shawn was really trying to give her something to work with with the conversation and that's where Ava really messed up here was that she was, I think after, because the family comment happened pretty early in the date. Yeah. So I think this, that's where Ava kind of goes back to her defensiveness because this is

[00:44:13] probably not something she talks about with the people that she dated before. Right. She also tells him he giggles too much for a guy and I was like, Ava would never even look in my direction because I am cackling half the time. Like, giggle should be my middle name. I can't stop. I don't know how to stop. Sorry, I just made it this far. Way back in the days of, you know, what was it? I love rock and roll. I've been giggling since way back then, I guess. Who knows? But yeah,

[00:44:43] he giggles too much for as a man and I was like, Ava, come on, what you doing? And then also we see that he knows Japanese. Now, what did you think about this move to just casually start speaking Japanese? Right. I said, all right, now look, I was team O'Shawn for a second. But when he did that, I said, all right, all right. You were doing too much there, O'Shawn. Like, we get it. You speak Japanese. It's a hard language to learn. I get it. Yeah. He says, well, I don't have a lot of time to practice my Japanese. She's like, it's convenient that we can't

[00:45:13] go Japanese restaurant there, didn't we? Okay. She had a point about that. She got him. Yes. Yeah. I love sushi, but I know my place. I'm not speaking Japanese to anybody. Like, come on now. That's like, go to a Mexican restaurant and just started like speaking in Spanish. It's like, all right, slow down. We can just get to tacos. Frankly, I think it benefits people that I only speak one language because any conversations you have in another, that's clearly not meant for me. You know what? That's not my business.

[00:45:42] You want to talk shit about me in Japanese in your Japanese restaurant? I feel like that's your right. You've earned that. You've earned that. You know what? You ate that. Like, the restaurant business is hard. I respect it. Right. He ends up talking to her about his top five roller coasters. Like, they're not, there's nothing going on between the two of them. He really is trying. He's giving her, like, he's giving it all he got and he ends up calling for the date and I think this is what

[00:46:12] snaps Ava back into, you know, reality because you're like, wait, what do you mean? You want the check to end? You want the date to end? What are you talking about? We're just getting warmed up here. I'm perfect and you're obsessed with me. That's our whole thing. He's like, nah, nah. This ain't how that's gonna work. Oh, Sean, that has been your whole thing. You can't change it up now because she doesn't want to talk about her family. Grow up. Yeah. That shit to work through. Yeah. She finally tells him as they exit that she's triggered by chain restaurants and,

[00:46:42] because she used to go with her dad. We know her and her dad don't really, they're not really on good terms and so she struggles to open up about her family but she does and eventually he does kind of casually drop like, oh, well, when we go on our second date, you know, so there's still hope for these two lovebirds despite him driving what, the lesbian Subaru? I think that- That was a valid concern. That was a, like, what lesbian did you steal the Subaru hatchback for? I would also like to know.

[00:47:12] Right. Whose car is this, sir? Stop playing with me. Yeah. That was embarrassing. Sir, you did not have to buy that car. You could have bought any other, like, I get that money is tight, right? But there are other cars out there. There is no excuse in this day and age to be driving a Subaru. Huh. Well, they ended up deciding to go over to the karaoke bar and this karaoke storyline is so good because like I said, I think we learn a lot about people's personalities.

[00:47:41] I am Mr. Johnson and he is me. I am the type of person who I'm going to sing the most outlandish song that I can think of like that has nothing to do with the vibe or anything. Just spin a wheel, pick an artist and I'm going to sing a song by them. Mr. Johnson, he mentions Fleetwood Mac, Sir Mix-A-Lot, BTS, and ends up performing 3-6 Mafia's Oscar winning hit It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp. I always love when they show the clips of 3-6 Mafia winning their Oscar.

[00:48:11] I watched that clip religiously. It's like, it's just such a great experience. It was incredible. Just great work all around on that part. Right. With Taraji there, of course, we got to give homage to the Queen as well. Oh, absolutely. I do love, what was that? No, I was just saying, Mr. Johnson's me. It's what I do. I just spin a wheel, pick an artist. I got it. Pick me a song. Let's go. I agree. I think that's a good one. I think I have a go-to, like a role. I think I'm more Melissa. Like,

[00:48:42] at first, not really going to partake. After a few drinks, I already have the song picked out. Don't worry. Right. I see you. I think you pulled out Shibuzi the last time we went and did. Yes. That was, yeah, that was about two drinks in and then we had, Lizzo was maybe two drinks later. Yeah, yeah. There's a science to do it. Uh-huh. You got to turn up at some point. The showmanship increases with the more alcohol that there is involved and I think that that works for me.

[00:49:12] Yeah. A few drinks in, Melissa ends up doing Wherever You Will Go by The Calling. I screamed because great song. Barbara finds a worship song to do. She didn't see any BBs or CCs but she ended up doing Never Would Have Made It by Marvin Sapp and yeah, she made Erica and Simon sing along with her because they need Jesus. Yeah. And then we have, yeah, but then we have Jacob and Jacob! Give him his Emmy. Give him his Emmy. This episode alone

[00:49:43] earned him an Emmy. At least. Not even an Emmy nomination. Like, they should have handed him the Emmy after they finished filming this episode. Be like, you've earned it. Just hold on to it now so we don't have to worry about, you know, like getting you a new one when award season comes around. Yeah. So, he's there. He sees a guy. I think this is Jabouki, the comedian. He sees him. Now, I am so happy that Jabouki has now made it

[00:50:13] to the Abbott Elementary cinematic universe because this is the man that changed his profile to the FBI on Martin Luther King Day and said, just because we killed MLK doesn't mean we can't miss him. And, you know what? That's like, that's the type of karma I want in my life. Like, that, like, this is what he deserved and I'm glad he is recognized for his efforts. Like, that is Black history right there. Yeah, Jabouki, come join us

[00:50:42] on this podcast. I talked about Jabouki in other contexts as well. I think he was in Rap Shit, so we talked about him there. And so I was happy to see him over here as a potential love interest for Jacob, but in the meantime, Jacob's got some other issues. He runs into a bachelorette party that thinks he's a stripper. And then, we have the return of Zach. Yes! And, I was so happy. But also, yeah, you know, it really sucks for Jacob, man,

[00:51:12] but bring me my Zach back. Okay? When, when, uh, Jacob tells Barbara and Melissa that he ran into his ex and first she's like, Avi? He's like, no, Zach. And Barbara's like, oh, I love Zach. I'm like, me too, Barbara? What is he coming back? Like, go get him back. Jacob, go get him. Like, you guys don't have to be together, but he should return as our semi-casual, uh, Abbott Elementary music teacher. I, Right.

[00:51:43] Like, I think this, the previous scene with, or the previous cold open with, uh, the oldies, I feel like Zach could have also easily done that cold open as well. And I just, I just think we need to see him more. Yeah, this is a nightmare though, uh, cause Jacob runs into Zach and Zach has a new boo, uh, White, I mean, Wyatt. And, and he has seemingly moved on. Zach has moved on and he changed his

[00:52:13] one man show title to Got Out. Got Out! The layers there, Gia, of him being like, yeah, something about breaking up with you really allowed me to open my mind and my artistry. Can I just make a comment here that he has a show or he has a, a one man show still called Got Out and he is dating Wyatt. White. White. Yeah, Wyatt.

[00:52:42] Um, no lessons were learned in this. I just think that sometimes, you know, if you're going to make a show like that, you know, like something to think about there, you know? He got, got, get out and stay out, you know, or, you know, get out and go somewhere else. Try that, try something new. He said, got out and went right back in. Got back in. Got back in. Yeah. So, this moment

[00:53:12] is tough for Jacob, obviously. Zach, I got his karaoke song too. He goes inside and he sings Take Me or Leave Me from Rent. And I'm like, that feels shady. That was, that was selected for a specific reason. Okay. It's a great song. It's my favorite song in Rent, actually. I love Rent, but, like, that's a very particular song for karaoke, you know? Yeah. And. It is a duet too.

[00:53:42] It's a duet. With White. But it's also a duet that, it's a duet that you could do on your own as well. You know? Like a diss track. The parts are, are separate in there. Enough that I think you could reasonably do this as a one person and I feel like Zach is very much in that zone, but that was why and you could tell and Wyatt was singing with him and we know how Zach feels about Jacob singing. So, this seems like

[00:54:12] a better match for Zach in particular. so I could see even though Jacob was the one that wanted the breakup or initiated the breakup in the previous season, I do think that this is, you know, something that will still sting to see that you are dealing with something that, you know, you may not be completely satisfied in your life and your ex that you broke up with is achieving the things that he wanted to.

[00:54:41] He has a new man, he has his show, he moved to the neighborhood that he'd been wanting to live in for a while, so it's hard to see that when you're still working through some stuff and I feel like this is where I'm worried that I think Jacob is due for a job change soon and I think that's how we are going to end season four and I'm very scared about that. We already talked about

[00:55:10] our concerns before, about Barbara retiring. She brings it up at one point. We know she's about to be a grandma. Jacob, I'm thinking we may either get him as a guidance counselor so we may not be a full-time Abbott Elementary employee or what if we see Jacob in the district moving forward? Oof. Yeah, there's a lot of space to move around. I don't know if Jacob can get away with it because they just F'd the district over not too long ago so maybe

[00:55:40] that doesn't work out. Simon said as he was leaving, the district is wrong about you. I like you. First of all, how did Simon get a job in the district? I need to know. It must not be hard. That man is not qualified. I may make, I need to see Manny's qualifications too actually because he just seems to enjoy stirring shit up. you know, like he, like he doesn't do it intentionally but like what business do you

[00:56:10] have just telling everybody, oh yeah, like we set aside some money for you and now they hate you. Because like, Manny, you knew what you were doing. Right. Set them up. Set them up. Yes. So, I need to see their qualifications but this seems like something Jacob would actually be really good at even if the district is not his biggest fan right now. but I feel like that, we know that Jacob wanted that

[00:56:38] when Janine had that position as well. So maybe this is something that we start to see from Jacob moving forward. Yeah, but the idea of your ex moving on and doing better than you while you are seemingly stagnant living in someone else's home is really like, it's really tough for most people including Jacob and so he ends up changing his song. I don't remember what his song was going to be but he ends up doing Last Resort by Papa Roach which is suicidal. That doesn't cry for help. You're going to

[00:57:08] do that song without questions. It was so good. He performed. Incredible. Yeah. That is something I, my one caveat with this fantastic performance. I loved it. However, that is a song you do in a karaoke room, right? Right. Like, you do that in, and I love the private karaoke rooms. They are amazing. I got, actually, yeah, I went to one in Koreatown in New York

[00:57:38] before and fantastic, but you have your own space with you and your friends or if you want to rent out just a room for yourself, you can do that too. And people bring you beverages. It's literally the perfect setup in there. You just have like an hour to yourself or however long you rent it out for. That is where you sing Last Resort. There are rules to the karaoke etiquette here. Right. Have some decorum because I'm going to call social services if you

[00:58:07] do Last Resort in front of me. If I'm in the bar and I hear it, I'm like, somebody send some help. I'm calling a wellness check for, like, come to this bar right now. Someone just saying Last Resort and I think we need to investigate further. Yeah. Jacob ends up going on and moving on to, I guess, a different Last Resort. He's like, I got to get out there. I got to start making things happen for me. He says he hasn't been doing anything in his life, but clearly he's been just making, you know, changes at work. He was able to help out RJ, got to school of counselor,

[00:58:36] but now he wants to move his own personal life forward and he goes and he hollers at Jaboukie. What did you think about this move? Bill? Oh, no, I'm Elijah. Oh, well, hi, I'm Jacob. Just coming up to somebody with the wrong name and using it as an icebreaker. What do you think about that? I don't know how I would feel about this if it happened to me. Okay? Like, I think if Jacob Hill is different, okay? Like, this is a pure being that, you know,

[00:59:06] has, that is looking for love. I think if someone did this to me at a bar that I did not know, I would call social services as well. I actually don't know how I would feel about it. Maybe. Yeah, no, I think I'd be concerned. Be like, you did this before, didn't you? And it didn't work with the last person so now you're going to me to try it again. Yeah. That's tough. They definitely could be working in the room, you know? Do you? Do you? Do you? Do you?

[00:59:36] I don't think I, I don't think I am trusting enough for this to work well on me. But also, I've never had a Jacob Hill try this on me so maybe we'll see. I was very surprised at how charismatic he was. I really thought that he might have been coming getting nervous but it seemed like, you know, his little pep talk that he got from Melissa and Barbara really worked out because even after that, Jaboukie's kind of like, what would you have done if that wouldn't have worked? And he's like, I would have been like, hey, you forgot to ask me out earlier. I'm the guy you forgot to hit on earlier and I said, Jacob,

[01:00:06] these lines, I'm like writing them down. I kind of feel like Jacob is a little more confident in dating life because we saw, you know, he was in his, he was in a little bit of a slutty era after his dad freaked out. Him and Melissa were both sowing their wild oats, we'll say. And I, like, I mean, that's what you, that's an option. That's what you can do during a breakup and I think it is perfectly valid. I love that for them.

[01:00:36] So, I think Jacob tries to be smooth a lot of the time. I think, I think that's it in the dating scene and it might work very well for him. Yeah, it worked here. He got the number right in front of Ava and O'Shawn as they show up. They, they witness the whole thing and then they run into Zach and White. White played by Matteo Lane, the stand-up comedian. This joke from Ava, it works good the first time, it works good here. Bring it back again. I am so glad that

[01:01:06] they did this again. I don't, like, this was the perfect throwback joke here. It was amazing. I don't know how they can one-up this. Okay? Because I'm, like, thinking about the other options that this could go to. Like, I don't know. Brown? No, it's Brian. You know? Asian? Like, what? No, it's O'Shawn.

[01:01:36] Blasian! It's O'Shawn, actually. I don't know. I don't know if O'Shawn is Blasian, so I apologize that that joke doesn't work. No disrespect. Yeah, I don't know if this could nail a third time, but if they can make it work, you know, I believe in them because I also did not think the Black exactly Zach joke would ever happen again, and I was wrong. Yeah. The one person

[01:02:06] we haven't talked about at karaoke is Janine. She's been dying to do her duet with Gregory. She says she's been working on her Ja Rule voice, and so throughout the entire episode, I was really hoping to hear this duet because I was like, why would Janine be Ja Rule in that duet? And so, eventually, she's got to the point where she's a little frustrated because Gregory's not there. She's calling, she's checking, but he's too busy doing this rideshare thing. The prices are surging. He's making more money, and the two have to have a conversation

[01:02:36] about what happens next. Is he supposed to stop doing the rideshare thing and come to karaoke, or should he continue to do what he's supposed to do and make the money so that he can pay his rent? Janine, you know, definitely says, like, hey, do what you gotta do, make your money, you know, whatever. But eventually, Gregory will come back and pop up just in time to do Always On Time by Ja Rule. And so, what did you think about Gregory's storyline here? Gregory, the Uber driver, is fun. I loved it. The Uber drives

[01:03:06] were funny. And I did love seeing this. I mean, we've talked about it, and in previous episodes, it's come up. Like, a lot of them have had second jobs, second side hustles, like, something along the lines to make extra money at some point or another. So, this isn't anything new. This is something that's very real for a lot of teachers as well. And, which should not be, like, pay your teachers more. Jesus Christ. But,

[01:03:37] they're not going to, but they really should. Because, like, what the hell? Like, these are the people watching your kids for eight hours a day. I'd pay them. That's why I don't have kids. But, like, I pay a lot more personally for that. Like, daycare is so expensive. Mm-hmm. Yeah. If you're doing, if you're doing part of my job of watching the kids and teaching them things, like, please, give them more money. But, that's not what this episode is about. But, I think there's also

[01:04:07] this side of it that is, listen, it does give you more money, which is always good. But, at what point do you say, I am missing out on the other aspects of my life because my life, and this plays into Jacob's storyline, too, is that it's not just about work. Like, your life cannot just be about work and the changes, the positive changes you make in your life cannot just be work-centered. It's great when you make positive changes to your

[01:04:36] work aspect of your life, but it can't be the only place where things are going well for you. Yeah, I feel personally attacked by this entire storyline, so we're just going to move on. I liked Gregory. I liked Gregory the Uber driver because, one, I could never be Gregory, right? He had, one, I don't want people in my car. We talked about this, but two, Gregory had it all. He had the drinks, the assorted snacks, he had games, he had a whole presentation. I would be the worst at this.

[01:05:06] I would be getting my five stars because I'm going to get you there quickly, and you're going to be very happy about that. I'm not going to talk to you. You know, I'm going to be very quiet. I'm not going to speak. Just get in the car and ride. I would only pick the people that want the silent rides, right? Like, that is my bread and butter. I love a silent Uber ride there. Mm-hmm. Let me use my music. I'm going to turn my music on. You can put your headphones in. You can live your life. I'm about to be locked in listening to this music, and we're just going to have a nice little peaceful time. Gregory,

[01:05:36] he was doing way better than me. It's not, no surprise there, Gregory's going to take any job he takes seriously. But do you think this job big, do you think this could be, you know, foreshadowing for things to come, maybe some rocky waters in their relationship? I don't, I mean, I think they worked through it pretty well this episode. Like, I could definitely see a world where this comes up again as a, as an obstacle in their relationship, but I don't think it's going to, like, I feel like this

[01:06:06] was the time when it initially happened to really test out if this is a relationship that can meet halfway here. And I think they both passed the, passed that test that we, we as viewers are giving them pretty well because Gregory is trying to do the right thing and make some extra money for himself and his relationship. Janine was very understanding about the fact that he might not be able to make it to karaoke because he's making money

[01:06:35] for his rent, for his bills and for their relationship. So even though she was upset, maybe a little annoyed, she was very understanding about it. At no point did I think this was going to be a negative in their relationship, just something that happens when money is tight. But I think, and then Gregory did come to the conclusion that like, yes, money is great, I want to make extra money, but also I want to use this time to spend

[01:07:04] with my girlfriend and with our friends and enjoy aspects of it because this may be the one social event they have had at Abbey and at Abbott Elementary in forever that everybody seemed genuinely excited for. So we can't, we can't dismiss that and like say that, you know, like this could be another thing that gets in the way there. I think like Janine and Gregory, every time we have been concerned about what would happen in their relationship, they've passed that test with flying colors here.

[01:07:33] So I feel like they've done very well with this. It could definitely come up again, but I, it just, every episode we get of them, I am more confident and comfortable in the Janine Gregory as a couple dynamic. Yeah, but we do get one breakup in this episode. Simon and Erica do not make it through the end of karaoke. By the end of the episode, they're singing What Would You Do by City High and In Tears. Hey, first of all, these two were

[01:08:03] so funny throughout the episode. Oh yes, so funny. I need, I need them both back at multiple times. I need this to be a recurring on-again, off-again relationship here. I'm obsessed with these two. Erica can come in any episode she wants, right? Yeah, but every once in a while, if Simon wants to tag along with her because they will, you know, they're doing their thing, I love that. So, they were so funny, so messy. I'm glad we got to see

[01:08:32] more of Erica in particular as a comedic character because a lot of the times she's been very funny but she's more of like a charismatic bestie to Janine that kind of provides like her wisdom. it's nice to see Erica be a little messy here. Yeah, she's toxic. They're both toxic together. Yes. But I love the group singing at the end, right? Everybody getting to sing the song. Yeah, they were all putting their different personalities into it. You know,

[01:09:01] Melissa's very drunk. Like I said, Erica's crying and like shooting her like glances over at Simon who's watching her from across the bar. And then when they finish the song, Barbara says, oh, this song is so sad. And I was like, yes, Barbara, it really is. So that's it. That's the entire two episodes from these last two weeks. And I could not be happier. So much fun. Two of my favorite episodes, back to back, a nice little package deal here. So good. Gia,

[01:09:30] we got to do more Abbott. We're creeping up on the end of the season. We got, what, four more episodes left after this. Yeah, something like that. So we got to get ready. We got to get ready for our big old finale. It's coming soon. But until then, Gia, tell everybody where they can find you and what you got going on. Well, I will say this. We are, we're also creeping towards the end of March. Yes. But we have some

[01:10:00] very fun plans in place for the end of March that is related to Abbott Elementary. So stay tuned for that. I'm very excited to put that together. We don't have the exact details yet, so I'm going to hold off on like a formal announcement just yet. And we're also planning to bring in another Brant Steele of our Black cartoon characters, our Black cinematic universe of Survivor that we have created. So stay tuned for some more information on that. Me, Chappelle, and Isaiah

[01:10:29] are working out the details of season two of our Black Soul Survivor segments. We need like an official name for it, but we'll figure out that later. But yeah, we need to figure out a name for this franchise. But we are also in the midst of Survivor 48, so I'm doing a lot of work around that. I do recaps on Silent Podcast, and I also do recaps on Inside Survivor that I co-write with Christine Palin.

[01:10:58] I actually just posted an article today on Inside Survivor about how I think my voting endorsements for this next round of voting that is coming out on, actually tonight, so this might not be up when we do it, but it's fine, it's fine. So just keep an eye out for that. And what else is happening recently? Speaking of books, we, my school, the college that I work for is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair for myself

[01:11:27] and the school that I work at and the Springfield community. So I posted some links that I have posted recently that connect to my eWallet account. We want to raise money for some of the supplies that we very much need for our school and for surrounding schools as well. So if you happen, I know we've been talking a lot about how money is tight, but if you feel like you have some availability to donate, please do so. That is in all my social media accounts at Classically Gia.

[01:11:58] And I think we can put the link in the show notes as well on our YouTube page. So, you know, if you got it in, you go ahead, click that link, show Gia and the students some love over there and then make sure you are tuned in for all the stuff we have coming here on RecapKickback.com. Make sure you subscribe YouTube.com slash at RecapKickback and join our nice, lovely community here. Matt and Mari got some wrestling content coming your way later on this week. And then, of course, we will be back next week to talk about all the other things, shenanigans,

[01:12:27] and Beauty and Black. Tyler Perry's Beauty and Black. We're doing a full season review recap with Matt and Mari too. So there's a lot. There's a lot going on. My crime, my true crime debut also happened recently. I was on the true crime documentary Death by Fame. I was in season three, episode seven. So check that out if you haven't already. And then go and check out the Crime Scene podcast where I did a full interview about the crime and my experiences as a talking head for that.

[01:12:56] But that's about it. That's about wrapping everything over. Class is over. But let's remember the words of the Sassy Wizard Kids when I say you better check yourself before you wreck yourself. We'll talk to you all next year or next week. Peace.