Abbott Elementary – Season 2 Episode 12 “Fight” Recap & Review

Fight

In Abbott Elementary Season 2 Episode 12, Gregory’s dad, Lt. Colonel Martin Eddie, is in town for a landscaping job. It’s when he stops by the school that Barbara and Jacob figure out Gregory has been secretly tending the school garden.

The revelation makes his father proud. Impressed that Gregory has continued his landscaping legacy, Martin asks him to help him out on the job he’s currently working on. While doing the job, he asks Gregory to start working with him. Someday he’s going to retire, and he wants Gregory to eventually take over the business.

When Jacob checks in with him later, Gregory informs him that he refused. Even his dad noticed how confident he is lately because he is doing a job he loves. He never even liked gardening before; he just likes doing it at Abbott.

Meanwhile, Janine’s students Zara and Joya have been getting into more arguments than usual. As a solution, Janine makes them spend more time together–but it only leads to more fighting. They even draw their older sisters into the mix, and they fight in the cafeteria.

Janine confesses to Barbara she doesn’t know what to do about Zara and Joya. People not getting along makes her uncomfortable. Her mom and sister used to fight all the time and make Janine choose sides, so she’s always had to be their peacemaker. Barbara advises her it’s time “to become comfortable being uncomfortable.”

At the end of the day, Zara and Joya don’t become best friends (although their older sisters do), but they are able to watch a movie together without getting into a fight, at least.

After school, Janine calls her sister Ayesha and suggests she come visit. She promises not to tell their mom; she’s not going to try to force them to get along.

All the while, Mr. Johnson has been busy beating Melissa and Ava at fantasy football. And he had someone secretly helping him the whole time–Jacob.

The Episode Review

It’s a bit anticlimactic for Gregory’s dad to be built up as such an intimidating character and then to have zero conflict between him and Gregory the first time they interact face-to-face in the show.

It felt like their relationship should have been the primary storyline in this episode, when it may have gotten even less screen time than Ava’s fantasy football plan. I’m glad at least for solid acceptance that Gregory is where he wants to be.

It’s always good to see growth for Janine too. Assuming Abbott Elementary will eventually rope her family into a few episodes, those hopefully won’t go the same way Gregory’s storyline with his father played out.