SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for the Season 4 finale of “Abbott Elementary.”
Four years in, the “Abbott Elementary” field trip episode is a time-honored tradition. Except for Season 3, when the field trip was the penultimate episode, each of the ABC sitcom’s season finales has taken place off-campus, where the teachers and students run into problems and feelings that don’t normally come up in the classroom.
This year, the group ventured to Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum, a collection of interactive exhibits that allow kids to get their hands dirty, safe from most museum’s “please don’t touch” ethos. But it’s an anxiety-inducing trip for Gregory (Tyler James Williams), whose father, Martin (returning guest star Orlando Jones) is in town to volunteer as a chaperone. Though Janine (series creator Quinta Brunson) is excited to meet her boyfriend’s dad for the first time, Gregory worries that Martin’s no-nonsense sensibilities will inevitably keep him from liking her. So she puts on a suit jacket and pretends to be strict and by-the-book — until she realizes that being goofy and playful is what keeps her connected to her second grade students. When she sheds her square persona and starts to play pretend and get sentimental with the kids, Martin is thrown off at first. But soon, he puts on a funny voice of his own and pretends to be a squirrel to get the seven-year-olds laughing. For the rest of the trip, Janine and Martin are partners in crime.
It’s a weird feeling for Gregory, who was more or less not allowed to have fun as a child due to Martin’s military style. Janine is confused by his discomfort at first, but encourages Gregory to talk it out with Martin. Hearing his father admit that he could have gone easier on him back then seems to heal something in Gregory, especially when Martin says that Janine reminds him of his wife, Faith, who died when Gregory was only nine. Knowing that Janine has also taught him to enjoy life in a way he struggled to before, Gregory leaves the conversation with new empathy for his father and new appreciation for Janine.
Meanwhile, Ava receives a pair of earrings that she hates as a gift from O’Shon (Matthew Law), and eventually realizes that honesty is the best policy. The two share a kiss and seem to commit to trying out a long-term relationship. And while Jacob’s (Chris Perfetti) eighth graders are bored of the Please Touch museum at first, they come together to write a play in which the Abbott teachers play each other, lovingly roasting each one’s quirks.
Brunson spoke to Variety about her goals for Gregory and Janine, why Janelle James deserves an Emmy and what’s percolating for Season 5.
Each season of “Abbott Elementary” ends with a field trip episode. How did you decide on the Please Touch Museum as this year’s location?
It had all the little “Abbott” hallmarks. It’s a Philly staple — niche to Philadelphia, but such a cool thing to show on screen. No one in the writers’ room had known about it. I presented it to them, and everyone really got into the pictures of the museum, how visually stunning it is, and how warm and childlike and fun and colorful.
“Abbott” finales also always bring a new turning point or milestone in Janine and Gregory’s relationship. What motivated you to bring back Martin, Gregory’s dad, for this one?
We just really missed Orlando, and we felt that was one milestone we were missing with them. We had a couple of different options, but one that seemed most tangible for the finale was meeting a parent, and Gregory’s dad is close and in the picture. We probably would make a meal out of him meeting Janine’s mom — a big meal out of it — but we were trying to do something that we’re going to have fun with and that won’t weigh down our our story. Because ultimately, this is happening with them, but it really is about the kids, and the eighth graders who are graduating. We wanted to make sure we could fit it in here, get some character growth out of both of them and still focus on the main story.
What does it say about Gregory and his relationship with Janine that it’s difficult for him to see her get along so well with his dad?
I think it’s something many people express in passing, in a funny way, about their parents being nicer to their partner. But we wanted to go deeper there. What does it really mean for Gregory, as a man, to see his military father open up in this way? In a way that he wasn’t allowed to experience as a child? Which we’ve talked about over and over before. It’s important for him to know that Janine unlocks something in him. Maybe we don’t always know that while it’s happening, so hearing it from someone, especially a parent, makes you appreciate your relationship more, and I feel like Gregory appreciates his relationship a lot more. And I think Janine learned to appreciate that she doesn’t have to change who she is. And quite honestly, she can’t. I really love the moment of Janine breaking. Like, “If this makes you not like me, so be it.” We’re all tempted to be something else every now and then, but she can’t, because it keeps her from doing her job.
It was interesting to hear Martin say that Janine reminded him of Gregory’s mom. We don’t know much about her besides that she was kindhearted and died when Gregory was young.
It’s something we’ll definitely talk more about in the future, but it was nice to learn about Gregory’s mom without having to see her or know her place in his father’s life, and how possibly affected him and Gregory. We found it charming, but weighted. Loaded. Which is always the balance of doing a sitcom: How do we get this information out quickly? How does not weigh down our entire story? We still want people to be having a good time and enjoying the show, but how we learn a massive thing about our characters and in one or two lines? I feel like it told you a lot about Janine and Gregory’s dynamic without having to have a mouthful about what they do for each other.
You’re now coming off of your first full season of writing Janine and Gregory as partners instead of a will-they-won’t-they. How has that changed the feeling of writing the show? What did you learn from it?
It was really comforting for the whole writers’ room to just write them as a couple who is over the hump of, “I don’t know! Who are we? What do we do?” They’re just together. I wanted to show a healthy relationship between these two Black characters. It doesn’t mean there are no problems at all, but we really didn’t want to mine for problems in their relationship. We wanted it to feel good. I know people in incredible, easy relationships, and I feel like it would be nice to see more of it on TV in general. And we really had the opportunity to do that with Janine and Gregory.
It’s also great because it allowed us to refocus on more of their work aspirations. For Gregory, it’s his principal journey, and for Janine, it’s trying to be the best second grade teacher she can be again [after spending Season 3 working for the district]. It also opened up room for us to focus on some other characters’ love lives. It became so fun to build out that world, because we know Janine and Gregory are good, but what can we do with Ava?
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This episode is the first time we see Ava and O’Shon kiss, after a nice moment where they talk through a misunderstanding. It’s a new look for Ava. Should we expect more of O’Shon in Season 5? Might he become a series regular?
You definitely can expect to see more of O’Shon. Matthew Law is wonderful, and gels so well with our cast. That’s really important to us; we love people who become part of the family really easily. I’ve known Matt since college, actually. We were great friends, and it was great to bring him into this world and for him to become such a crowd favorite.
And as far as Ava, not only was it incredible to like build out her love life, but her career. To actually see some motion with what happens if she’s not here. Not just for the show, but for the audience. I feel like, over three years, we really earned the ability to say, “You appreciate her, don’t you?” Because it didn’t start out that way. To me, that’s a testament to character development.
It feels like there’s potential for this to be Janelle James’ Emmy year.
I would love that. I hope people actually focus on the work that she’s doing, and the work of the writers. It’s not easy to do. All props to Janelle for pulling it off, and to the writers’ room for taking such a — people forget this! — a very polarizing character at the beginning and making her this loved on television.
You know, I’ll go even deeper. This is a Black woman, a dark-skinned Black woman, who we are now seeing flourish in love and people rooting for and wanting to win. It’s been one of my favorite things. I’m very proud of being able to bring Ava to life.
The episode ends on a really poignant note, with the eighth graders showing their love for their teachers by roasting them in an original play, and the teachers reflecting on how their students grow up and eventually leave Abbott. What was on your mind while writing that?
It’s naturally where we started to go. The story with RJ was such a big part of this season, and we spent a lot of time with eighth graders. When we landed on the Please Touch Museum, it was like, “Well, we’re K through 8 school, and the big kids are not going to like this baby stuff.” So it became a good opportunity to talk about what happens not just for them, but for the educators, when they move on to the next chapter in their lives. It felt like a story we hadn’t done before, and something I know the educators in my life really deal with. Especially if you’ve seen these kids since kindergarten, it’s surreal to watch. And we are starting to experience it [on set]. Some of our kids are aging out, and it’s sad. We’ve had some kids since the pilot. One of our kids, Andrew, he’s not aging out, but he’s in sixth grade now, and I just can’t believe it. He’s growing up before my eyes. And Lela [Hoffmeister], who plays Courtney. These kids are getting so big. I could shed a tear right now at the thought of them getting too old for our show. It’s just something that educators have to watch happen every year, day by day. Most people only do it with their kid, but educators do it all the time. It just seemed poignant and sweet. This finale feels so charming to me, and I was really into that vibe for the end of our season.
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What ideas are you planning to explore in Season 5?
I can’t give you any well-formed thoughts, but I know some things. We definitely want to see Gregory meet Janine’s mom. And we want to see Gregory’s apartment, which was something we really wanted to do this season, but just didn’t get to. We’re going to see some more of Barbara in music class, for sure.
I’m toying around with some ideas, letting summer break — I call it that, even though it’s April, it’s my summer break — give me some inspiration. I’m talking some teacher friends to see what’s really going on right now. There’s been some major changes in the world of education, yet, for a lot of teachers, the day-to-day is staying the same. I’m really interested in mining out what the new struggle looks like for teachers because of our current administration and because of things like ChatGPT. We have a fast-changing world, technologically speaking, and how does that affect students? I’m just listening and learning, and I’m excited to get back to the room.
This interview has been edited and condensed.