Spoilers for Season 4, Episode 20 of Abbott Elementary are ahead! If you are looking to do some homework and catch up, you can stream the series with a Hulu subscription.
Abbott Elementary has been shaking up its staff during its run on the 2025 TV schedule, but now it seems like some of them will be working to return everything back to the way it was. That’s right. After Ava got fired, Gregory took over as interim principal, and the return of Ava Fest, Janine straight up asked the former principal if she wanted to come back to Abbott. Now, while I love to see these two working together, I’m also questioning the impact this gesture will have on Janine’s relationship with Gregory.
Janine Got Ava To Say She Wants To Return To Abbott
Now, Janelle James did say Ava’s firing would lead to “exciting developments” for her character, and this episode alluded to that. It would seem that her termination is leading to some major character growth, because she’s now actually coming to terms with her love for the school.
That became clear to me when she had the following conversation with Janine at the end of Episode 20:
- Janine: Ava, do you want to come back?
- Ava: That’s not an option, OK. That door is closed.
- Janine: OK, but maybe it doesn’t have to be. Look, a very wise person once said, ‘Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.’
- Ava: OK…
- Janine: Look, if you want to come back, we can find a way to make it happen.
- Ava: I want to come back.
I have complex feelings about this.
I love the fact that Janine wants to help the former principal and, more importantly, Ava wants her help. After Ava’s firing, the teacher was trying everything she could to get her job back, however, it was without her former boss’s approval. Now, Janelle James’ character actually wants to come back too, and I love that she admitted that to Janine. Talk about a major move in their friendship.
However, if Janine helps Ava return to Abbott and specifically helps her get her job back as principal, I am worried it could negatively impact her relationship with Gregory.
However, How Will This Impact Janine’s Relationship With Gregory?
After theorizing that Gregory would become principal after Ava left, I was pleased to see him coming into his own in his new interim role in the last episode.
You can catch new episodes of Abbott Elementary every Wednesday on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET or you can stream them the next day on Hulu.
Also, initially, Tyler James Williams’ character wanted to be principal, and Ava got the job over him at Abbott. So, it's nice to see him in the role he wanted so badly.
So, if Ava comes back for her old job and Janine is helping her, I fear for her relationship with Gregory. If he wants to make his interim position permanent, how will he react to Quinta Brunson's character helping Ava? It’s possible it could cause tension between the couple because they are potentially on opposing sides.
However, it’s also possible that Ava won’t be the principal. Maybe she’ll get another job. It’s also possible that Gregory won’t want to keep being principal. In this episode, there was a comment about him not being around his students and that bond being strained. I could totally see him wanting to go back to the classroom and being very open to Ava’s return.
There’s a small part of me, though, that thinks Janine’s gesture toward Ava could spell trouble for her and Gregory, and I guess we’ll just have to wait until next week to see if I’m right or not.
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