Mom
In Abbott Elementary Season 2 Episode 21, Janine prepares to go on a trip to Ocean City, Maryland, by herself for Memorial Weekend. She’s excited to simply enjoy her own company for a change.
But Janine’s mom, Vanetta, might interfere with those plans. She surprises her at work, which is shocking to Janine, who’s invited her mom to visit several times before with no luck.
Vanetta tells her she got a new job working from home but is struggling to pay her phone bills. Janine thinks she just came to see her for money, but Vanetta insists that’s not the case.
Barbara is suspicious of Vanetta’s sudden attention as well. Janine confesses to her she’s thinking of giving her mom the money for her trip. So, Barbara shares her concern for Janine with Melissa, who also thinks Vanetta is trying to swindle her daughter. But she doesn’t think it’s a good idea for Barbara to get involved.
Barbara doesn’t listen, however. Later, she catches Vanetta for a conversation. She confesses her worries about Janine to Vanetta, who doesn’t care for Barbara’s interference in a family matter. Barbara then offers to give Vanetta the money for the bill and that they keep it from Janine and anyone else. But both Janine and the camera crew catch wind of the conversation.
Janine takes her mom aside to ask her directly why she came to Abbott suddenly when Janine’s been calling her for months without an answer. Vanetta sidesteps the question, so Janine decides to help her out a little, but not to go so far as to pay her bills completely. She’s still going on her vacation. Vanetta accepts the help she’s willing to give and tells Janine she loves her–although she’s still not a fan of Abbott.
Barbara apologizes to Janine for crossing a line, but she isn’t mad. She’s glad Barbara cares enough about her; she’s just embarrassed about her mom’s actions. She also reassures Barbara that the trip is still on–it just won’t be as fancy as she planned.
Barbara then proceeds to give her some motherly advice for her trip, even going so far as to take Janine shopping.
Meanwhile, Gregory tries to smooth talk cafeteria worker Shanae into giving him some almonds, but his awkwardness makes it impossible. Jacob notes the tension between them, but Gregory insist it’s fine. He doesn’t need to talk to everyone in school.
But Melissa overhears him and advises him to try harder to connect with people, especially if he wants to be a principal one day. Gregory then sees how Ava connects with nearly all the faculty at Abbott, and decides to try and follow in her footsteps, without much luck at first.
He may not be good at small talk, but he can talk about his interests. When Shanae starts talking about baseball, Gregory actually manages to hit it off with her.
The Episode Review
Taraji Henson is perfect as Janine’s mother. Her character is more like a sister (a little sister, in fact) to Janine, which sheds more light on Janine and her upbringing. Her being pressured to be so responsible all the time and to support her own mother makes her compulsive need to take care of everything and everyone all the more believable.
The show has been teasing a strained relationship between Janine and Vanetta for a while. I’m satisfied that there’s still some unrest to be resolved later. And I’m very happy to see some touching moments of connection between Janine and her “work mom,” Barbara.
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