Abbott Elementary Premiere Reveals Janine and Gregory’s Relationship Status — But Not Before Worrying Us
Abbott Elementary finally gave viewers a definitive answer to the “will they or won’t they?” question in Wednesday’s Season 4 premiere. So are Janine and Gregory officially a couple now?
While talking to the documentary crew, Janine says that she and Gregory decided to be just friends… Psych, they’re actually dating now! (Thank goodness they didn’t drag that out for the whole episode. Because for a second there, we were concerned.) For now, only Jacob knows about their relationship — or so they think. Barbara, Melissa and Ava are all well aware of what’s going on between Janine and Gregory, and even the students suspect the two are a couple. So Ava calls in a district HR rep just in case anyone has anything they’d like to get off their chest, because if Janine and Gregory get in trouble, then she does, too. “I’ve got to take action, which is my least favorite thing to take,” Ava says.
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When Janine’s HR frenemy from the district shows up, Gregory is ready to declare their relationship, but Janine is hesitant, leading him to wonder if she’s not as into it as he is. Uh oh, is there trouble in paradise already? Jacob tries to reassure Gregory that he’s wrong, and the peck Janine gives Gregory seems to support that.
After Janine forgets her school year goals speech at home, Gregory goes to fetch it and comes into the presentation with her house keys and a lot of familiarity about her home. The other teachers start to grill him and Janine about how they left school in the same car and returned the next day together, which Janine (very poorly) tries to spin into a carpooling scenario. Mr. Johnson says he knows the truth: those duffel bags he saw them carrying are for drugs!
“We’re not selling drugs. We’re having sex,” Janine blurts out. Well, that’s one way to announce your relationship.
But Gregory is still concerned about Janine’s hesitancy. “Should I be worried?” he asks her. She explains that she’s scared. The last time she made something official, it didn’t work out, and she really wants this to work out.
“We’re not your last time. We’re this time,” he replies. That’s the encouragement Janine needs to make things official with HR — but leaving out the sex part, Gregory suggests.
Following their meeting with HR, Ava says she’s happy for Janine and Gregory, even if her and Gregory’s “situationship is over,” she remarks. She just wants the pair to be smart and safe.
Elsewhere in the premiere, the construction of a nearby PGA golf course brings Abbott Elementary their first white student thanks to all the white people moving to West Philly just to golf there. (“We being audited?” Mr. Johnson asks upon seeing the white family.) But there are downsides, too, like traffic and no water in the school because the construction crew broke a pipe. So Melissa does some digging of her own and discovers that they’re using non-union scabs. Suddenly, a lawyer for the golf course shows up at Abbott with gift cards and promises of new computers, and the teachers are — gasp! — swayed into taking bribes.
Abbott Elementary fans, did the premiere’s fake-out and Janine’s hesitancy have you worried? Grade the season opener below, then hit the comments!
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