AlthoughAbbott Elementaryhas largely ignored one element of Gregory’s character since season 1, season 4 of the sitcom can bring back this subplot.Abbott Elementary’s cast of charactersare all reliably hilarious, but this can be a problem for the series. With such a large faculty and so many funny supporting stars, the workplace sitcom sometimes struggles to give everyone a moment in the spotlight. Melissa’s disastrous proposal and subsequent poignant breakup dominated season 3’s premiere, but her relationship with Mike O’Malley’s charming fire chief was barely even acknowledged. Similarly, season 3 saw Principal Ava largely sidelined.
Luckily,Abbott Elementaryseason 4can make up for this. The mockumentary has sufficient screen time to give everyone a character arc but, likeThe OfficeandParks and Recreationbefore it, the show needs to work on this balance. Janine’s fellowship at the school district got a lot of focus in season 3, but this was well worth it as Quinta Brunson’s heroine emerged as a more confident, well-rounded character. This did mean one element of her love interest Gregory’s arc was almost entirely forgotten, but season 4 has the perfect excuse to foreground this arc again.
Abbott Elementary’s Season 4 Crossover: 6 Shows It Could Be With
The news that Abbott Elementary season 4 includes a crossover is exciting, but it is tough to guess what other show the sitcom will collaborate with.
Gregory’s Principal Ambitions May Impact Abbott Elementary Season 4’s Romance
Principal Ava Threatened The Couple’s Burgeoning Relationship
Gregory’s desire to be principal was effectively forgotten afterAbbott Elementaryseason 1, but its return would make sense in season 4. Now that Gregory and Janine have finally hooked up, the perpetually anxious Gregory may well be worried about how an office romance will impact his professional future. Principal Ava has already made it clear that she won’t tolerate any interpersonal messiness among the faculty, which is likely to become a problem for the pair as their romance blossoms in season 4. This could pit Gregory’s old plans against his new relationship with his long-time crush Janine.
Gregory and Janine’s return to school after the summer is likely to bring new conflict.
Chris Perfetti
Jacob Hill
WhileAbbott Elementaryseason 4’s crossover episodesounds fun, the real attraction of the upcoming outing is Gregory and Janine’s romance. The pair shared a “Will they, won’t they” dynamic for three long years, eventually acknowledging their attraction to each other late in season 2. It took the duo another entire season to finally hook up thanks to numerous rom-com misunderstandings and miscommunication, resulting inAbbott Elementary’s most satisfying season finale so far. However, things can only go smoothly for the characters for so long. Gregory and Janine’s return to school after the summer is likely to bring new conflict.
Abbott Elementary Season 4 Already Avoided One Tired Plot
Gregory and Janine Are Unlikely To Compete Over Principal Ambitions
An obvious way to endanger Janine and Gregory’s fledgling romance would be to pit the pair against each other by making the principal job available. If Principal Ava left her post or was dismissed, the two love birds could both reasonably be expected to apply for the position. However,Abbott Elementaryhas already shut down the tired prospect of Gregory and Janine vying for Ava’s old job.Janine’s satisfyingAbbott Elementarycharacter evolutionsaw her spend an illuminating few weeks at the school district in season 3, and she learned that she missed the children too much to enjoy administrative work.
There is no reason to think that Gregory and Janine would compete over a possible principal vacancy.
Janine was offered a full-time administration job and realized at the last moment that she preferred teaching, leaving her contract signing to attend 2 Ava 2 Fest. Thus, there is no reason to think that Gregory and Janine would compete over a possible principal vacancy in the eponymous school. If anything, Gregory would be more likely to go up against his colleagues Barbara, Jacob, or Melissa. However, Barbara has repeatedly stated that she prefers to stick with kindergartners, Jacob is content with teaching teens, and the straight-talking Melissa already struggles to remain polite with parents and other administrators.
Abbott Elementary Season 4 Must Justify Its Funniest Character’s Role
Principal Ava’s Meddling Draws Attention To Her Professional Issues
As proven above,Gregory is the best principal candidate inAbbott Elementarysince Janine doesn’t want the job. However, he never had a chance at the role in season 1 as Ava blackmailed her way into the role. SinceAbbott Elementaryseason 3’s riskiest episodeproved all the teachers have their vices, it is easy to ignore how unprofessional Ava is most of the time. However, her insistence on policing Gregory and Janine’s romance foregrounds just how unqualified she is and calls her future into question. The events of season 3, episode 13, “Smith Playground,” underline this.
Season 4 must justify how Ava has managed to hold onto her principal position since losing her leverage.
In this outing, Ava interrupted Gregory and Janine’s sweet reunion to admonish them about the dangers of office romances. This sequence was hilarious, as she enlisted Mr. Morton to describe his failed marriage to a former colleague in excruciating detail. However, the fact that Ava ignored both the children in her care and the concerns of her fellow teachers to focus on breaking up Janine and Gregory’s reconciliation proves that she isn’t overly concerned with her work as a principal. As such, season 4 must justify how Ava has managed to hold onto her principal position since losing her leverage.
Why Gregory Shouldn’t Become Principal In Abbott Elementary Season 4
Gregory’s Promotion Would Jeopardise His Romance With Janine
Although he is well suited to the job,Gregory should not become Abbott’s principal inAbbott Elementaryseason 4. This would cut Ava out of the show, depriving the sitcom of its funniest character. At the same time, it would place a major imbalance between Janine and Gregory, something neither of the cautious, fastidious characters would be able to handle. The series would be better if Ava simply dropped her grudge against the pair and allowed Janine and Gregory to have their romantic relationship, since the sitcom is not short on other sources of reliable conflict for new episodes.
Abbott Elementaryseason 4 premieres on Wednesday, October 9.
DespiteAbbott Elementaryseason 3’s problems, the sitcom did a remarkable job of justifying Janine and Gregory’s continued romantic separation without making the wait interminable. The show shouldn’t take its central couple for granted in season 4, even if this does mean that Gregory’s principal ambitions may need to wait a little longer. The character’s love life is more important than his professional plans after the pair spent so long missing each other’s signals, soAbbott Elementaryseason 4 needs to give Janine and Gregory a break instead of jumping into their next contentious conflict straight away.
