Despite audience expectations for a continued focus on the romantic will-they-won’t-they of Gregory and Janine, Abbott Elementary switched gears to emphasize friendships and hint towards what the trope can look like in a platonic context
Currently on its third season, Quinta Brunson’s “Abbott Elementary” appears very similar to what viewers have come to expect out of a workplace sitcom. Characters look into the camera with exasperated reactions while giving short interviews in between scenes, creating the show the familiar mockumentary feel. Although we see the teachers’ lives outside of Abbott, the show primarily takes place inside the school.
Another expectation of the workplace sitcom is a will-they-won’t-they-trope romance, such as Jim and Pam from “The Office” or Ben and Leslie from “Parks and Recreation”. As of the first season, it seemed that the trope was coming into play between Janine the protagonist, and new teacher Gregory. As of early season one, their developing relationship is given narrative weight with hints towards romance while the characters are both in relationships with other people. Fans tuned in each week to watch the assumed love story unfold with romantic developments occurring in second season episodes “Teacher Conference” (where the pair had their first kiss) and “Franklin Institute” (where they confessed their feelings). The will-they-won’t-they continued as Janine asserted a need to work on herself before getting into a relationship, causing Gregory and her to remain platonic.
Yet, even when all presumed obstacles to their relationship are taken away as of the season three premiere, the pair don’t get together. Gregory rejects Janine and, following some initial awkwardness, there’s no indication of romantic development between the pair.
In place of Janine and Gregory’s relationship progressing, the narrative takes the time to develop platonic bonds instead. In addition to trying out new pairings on an episodic basis, the season gives narrative weight to the friendships between Jacob and Gregory & Janine and Ava, giving insight into what a platonic will-they-won’t-they might look like.
A platonic will-they-won’t-they may not come with a big kiss or declaration of love, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be interesting. While the beginning of friendships typically comes easy in sitcoms, the journeys of Gregory and Jacob & Janine and Ava showcase the obstacles that come with platonic bonds and can allow for interesting storytelling.
One such obstacle is the case of one person being way more into a friendship than the other. Jacob quickly latches onto Gregory, excited to have another male teacher at the school, but Gregory often brushes him off or makes an unamused look at the camera. The first two seasons see Gregory pursue a friendship with Janine while Jacob invites himself to their hangouts, dubbing them all the “after-school crew.”. Yet parallel to big romantic developments between Janine and Gregory, we see genuine signs of friendship with Gregory and Jacob: in the same episode as the Janine-Gregory feelings confession, Jacob and Gregory share a heart-to-heart and a hug.
In season three, Jacob and Gregory’s friendship thrives in Janine’s absence. Jacob is no longer inviting himself along to hangouts; instead he and Gregory are the ones inviting Janine, or just hanging out by themselves. The third season answers the will-they-won’t-they question with a firm “Jacob and Gregory are friends now,” always with the possibility of conflict down the road, especially given Jacob’s close bond with Janine.
Interestingly, the actor who plays Gregory on the show, Tyler James Williams, sees the true will-they-won’t-they of the show as the friendship between Gregory and Jacob, not any romantic developments between Janine and Gregory. Williams also doesn’t root for Janine and Gregory to get together, wanting instead to explore what deeply caring friendships in the workplace can look like, even if two people have romantic feelings.
Similar to Williams, Janelle James, the actress who plays Principal Ava, doesn’t see Gregory and Janine as the will-they-won’t-they, slow roll-out relationship of the show. Instead, it’s the friendship between Janine and Ava. While Gregory and Jacob developed into an affectionate best friendship, James acknowledges that Ava isn’t quite there yet. James described how while Ava started complimenting Janine more this season, with the “Janine is sexy on a good day” speech, Ava is still hesitant to consider Janine a friend.
Ava, while loud and unabashedly herself as a character, doesn’t have close bonds with any of the teachers at Abbott. While she spent the first two seasons making inappropriate comments towards Gregory, they faded away in the third season, with James commenting how “it was mainly for laughs,” not out of any genuine attraction.
With this in mind, a friendship between Ava and Janine would be the first genuine bond for Ava at the school. It’s possible that she isn’t ready for that, creating stakes on her side of the will-they-won’t-they.
Janine arguably knows Ava better than the other teachers do. While indicated a few times, it is perhaps clearest in the season three premiere. At the end of the episode, Gregory and Jacob meet up with Janine, lamenting about Ava’s new attitude towards being a principal and how difficult it was for them to change her behavior back to normal. In response, Janine immediately suggests playing “Back That Thang Up”. It took the teachers at Abbott a whole episode to come to that conclusion, yet Janine knew the solution immediately. Although not a romantic bond, there is so much narrative potential in where they take Ava and Janine’s friendship from their current developments.
While the romantic will-they-won’t-they is tried and true and is likely not going away anytime soon, it is refreshing to see the trope put to use in the different contexts of platonic relationships. Platonic relationships can be just as interesting, if not more so, in fiction and it’s amazing to see that reflected in shows as popular as “Abbott Elementary”.
