S02.E06: Candy Zombies

[DanaK]

Quote

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26 9:00-9:31 p.m.

It's Halloween at Abbott Elementary! When a student steals a bag of candy meant to be given out to the kids at the end of the day and starts distributing it during school hours, the teachers band together to find the culprit. Meanwhile, Janine is invited to a Halloween party by an old friend and starts to reconsider her personal life.

[Annber03]

"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from Airplane?"

I almost spit out my food at that XD. 

(And shallow aside, but damn, Gregory looked good in that costume.)

Also, "Thank ypu for your donation to my mouth." Wow :p.

I liked Gregory and Janine bonding over their respective friends' attempts to take them out and have some fun post-breakups, and their debate over Sully. That little moment when they were laughing together was super cute, and I get the feeling it wasn't entirely scripted, either :D. 

Loved all the costumes. It was fun to see the kids get into dressing up, too - of course they'd all get hyped up on sugar and crash :p. And I've figured out who Melissa reminds me of - Roz, from "Frasier". I can totally see those two hitting it off :). 

I want to go to Barbara's church's movie night just out of sheer curiosity :p. 

Good on you, Janine :). Hell, I'm single and I can sympathize with how hard it is sometimes to make or maintain friendships as an adult. Hopefully we can see more of this friend group she's spending time with, it'd be nice to see  more of what she's like when spending time with people outside of work. She looked cute in the Monroe outfit at the end.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

A dress that fits Janine like that one did would not fit Ava.

3 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

She looked cute in the Monroe outfit at the end.

Gregory thought so, too.

[DrSparkles]

What was the thing on the Mr Johnson's forehead?

Edited October 27, 2022 by DrSparkles

[peridot]

4 minutes ago, DrSparkles said:

What was the thing on the Mr Johnson's forehead?

He was playing Vision from the Avenger movies.  They quickly mentioned it in the beginning, but I forgot about it until Melissa made that overwrought response when Baby Thanos ripped the gum off his head.  Ashley is very annoying.  I would hate to be around someone who copied all of my movements.

I liked the little villain.  I laughed when they tried to make it like a horror movie when he quickly ran behind Mr. Johnson.

I'm glad Janine is venturing out trying to do something for herself. 

I can't believe Ava actually had the Storm contacts!

[irisheyes]

I loved this episode. I mean, it was pretty unrealistic, but I still loved it. 
The kid dressed up as Mr. Johnson?  and Mr. Johnson telling him he better #@&! lawyer up?  Perfection. 
Ava actually supervising kids?  And then helping Janine with her costume? Great

And everyone not knowing Gregory’s costume while guessing Jacob’s was nice too. 
I loved Mrs. Howard as the ABC bee. And her church shows Hocus Pocus “without Sarah Jessica Parker”. 😂🤣

I think I liked that this was special ep, but it still kept the characters who they are. Janine is still full of anxiety and trying to fit in. (And I hope she has FUN at that party).  It just all worked for me. 

[Night Cheese]

16 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from Airplane?"

I howled! That might be one of my favorite one-liners from this show.

I need to rewatch this tomorrow because I got a phone call halfway through, but I really enjoyed seeing everyone's costumes, including the kids'. Janine's James Harden was especially inspired.

[callie lee 29]

I really liked everyone on this episode, except the aide, but seeing how and now has to deal with the fallout of her being and idiot maybe she's gone?? Please?? 

I liked Erika too. Janine needs a friend.  

[PepSinger]

“I am inedible!” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

excellent episode

[BAForever]

Ava finally did something!! Monitoring the kids in the gym and staying after school to help Janine with her costume. Shocked!

Was watching and folding laundry when show started. I thought Janine as James Harden was a student. She really is petite.

Edited October 27, 2022 by BAForever

[Aileen]

This may have been among the funniest half hours of television I've ever seen. It was just so good.

[SilverLake0315]

“I fully wasn’t listening.” The way I LAUGHED at that 😂

[ItCouldBeWorse]

18 hours ago, peridot said:

18 hours ago, DrSparkles said:

What was the thing on the Mr Johnson's forehead?

He was playing Vision from the Avenger movies

People thought he was playing Vision, and Baby Thanos mimicked what Thanos did to Vision in Avengers: Endgame (ripping out the Mind Stone, thus killing Vision), but Mr. Johnson said he was Lil Uzi Vert .

Edited October 27, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Boofish]

The kid in the Mr. Johnson costume and if you blinked you missed it little girl as Beyonce at Coachella was worth the price of admission. 

[kathyk24]

This episode was so much better than last week. Gregory Sully was played by Tom Hanks that's all the respect he needs. I'm so happy that something good happened to Janine. Melissa was great I'm not mad at her Massachusetts jokes. I loved how she got rid of Ashley who is useless.

[DrSparkles]

7 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

People thought he was playing Vision, and Baby Thanos mimicked what Thanos did to Vision in Avengers: Endgame (ripping out the Mind Stone, thus killing Vision), but Mr. Johnson said he was Lil Uzi Vert .

TY for these! I haven’t seen any of those movies, so I was soooooo confused.

[Empress1]

10 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Hell, I'm single and I can sympathize with how hard it is sometimes to make or maintain friendships as an adult.

I can’t count how many think pieces I’ve read about how hard it is to make friends as an adult (and I agree, it is hard).

10 hours ago, irisheyes said:

And her church shows Hocus Pocus “without Sarah Jessica Parker”.

Her face as she delivered that line is why she has an Emmy. That was PERFECT church lady pursed lip.

[twoods]

“Kevin Hart on Soul Plane, but he didn’t even play the pilot.” Hee! I was waiting for someone to call him Snoop from Soul Plane but that line was even better because Gregory kept getting more and more annoyed. 
 

The kid that was Mr. Johnson was fantastic. 

[krankydoodle]

Gregory only eats candy that's 96% cacao. Of course, but also yuck.

[Black Knight]

I loved the way they played on horror movie tropes with the sugared-up kids as the "villains" necessitating all the running around, searching, hiding and so forth of the teachers.

And also big props to Quinta Brunson for getting this bit in. I loved that she did it fast instead of calling attention to it.

Of course Jacob's costume was wage theft. LOL

[msani19]

That's genuinely one of my favorite gifs! It was great that she did it so quickly too, it worked really well.

[amarante]

14 hours ago, irisheyes said:

I think I liked that this was special ep, but it still kept the characters who they are. Janine is still full of anxiety and trying to fit in. (And I hope she has FUN at that party).  It just all worked for me. 

Why was SJP singled out as needing to be censored?

Never saw the movie but aren't they all witches?

[tennisgurl]

Baby Thanos was just killing me, this episode was awesome. I cant decide which one was better, him or baby Mr. Johnson. I will need to watch it again to get all of the kids costumes, and everyone's outfits were so in character. Everyone instantly knowing that Jacob was wage theft while no one recognizing Gregory was hilarious, and say what you will about Ava, but her Storm costume was fire. She even got the contacts, that's commitment. 

It really is rough to make adult friends, that struggle is very real. I hope that Janine had a great time at the party, she looked great in her Marilyn outfit, which Gregory sure noticed...

3 hours ago, amarante said:

Why was SJP singled out as needing to be censored?

Possibly because she was the star of Sex and the City? I really want to see Barbara's church edited version of Rocky Horror. That 26 minutes is a hoot! 

Not a fan of Ashley. We already have one Ava, we don't need another one. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by tennisgurl

[Black Knight]

SJP plays the sexpot witch of the trio. Her character's also the one who sings the "come little children" song that lures the kiddies, so maybe Barbara's church is taking that one lunatic mom who was ranting about the power for spells to come through the TV too seriously.

[amarante]

9 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

SJP plays the sexpot witch of the trio. Her character's also the one who sings the "come little children" song that lures the kiddies, so maybe Barbara's church is taking that one lunatic mom who was ranting about the power for spells to come through the TV too seriously.

Old age and missing topical pop references.

I remember years ago going to The Big Chill with my parents and their not realizing the organ was playing You Can't Always Get What You Want at the funeral 🤣

Same as when I am getting a pedicure and don't recognize various *famous* people in the gossip mags - and realize I don't care. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Johnny Dollar]

I lol’d when Melissa/Wanda Maximoff screamed in horror when the kid ripped out Mr Johnson/Vision’s “Mind Stone”. 

[DearEvette]

Ok, so yeah, this was hysterical.

Mad props to Quinta and her James Harden costume, the BEARD!  OMG.  The one scene of her scratching at it and of course the recreation of the very famous gif had me rolling.  Also I loved it when she took it off and Gregory said 'Oh you shaved."

Baby Thanos and Baby Mr. Johnson were great.  Especially Baby Mr, Johnson.  Oh, that kid killed it.  I wonder if he had been doing an impression all along BTS and they incorporated it?  Because he was just too perfect.

Hi Amber!  Good to see her again.  And, you know what?  I loved the fact that Janine and her old HS friend  when they had the whispered conversation about Amber it was very complimentary and not catty:

     "Now that is one bad bitch."

     "I know right and she looks amazing every day."

     "Does she do pilates?"

The running gag of people not knowing Gregory’s costume was great: From Airplane to Soul Plane etc. And they went from the tallest person Kareem Add Jabbar to the shortest Kevin Hart.  LOL

Meanwhile he is the only one who thought to guess The Hamburgler for Jacob?  I thought that was on point.

I died at the re-creation of Thanos removing Vision's eye and Scarlett Witch, a.k.a Melissa, doing the scream.  Ha!  So excellent.

Also liked the little scene in the janitor's closet where Baby Mr. Johnson comes upon Baby Thanos and the kid had every color ring pop on all his fingers, mimicking the infinity stones.

Ava looked great as Storm and she did Janine a really nice solid in the end there.

Ashley is a needle scratch.  I am not liking her at all.  We already have an Ava we don't need another, less funny, more annoying one.

[Night Cheese]

I liked the little bit of continuity with Amber. Last year she was was dropping her son off in Gregory's first grade class and now she's dropping him off in Janine's second grade class. I really appreciate the little things like that in this show. 

[Bookish Jen]

When I saw Janine dressed up as James Harden I thought to myself, "Please let her do the GIF." And she did!!!

The student dressed up as Mr. Johnson had me reeling. He was so on point!

Ava looked great as Storm and she actually proved she could be competent and kind. Janine looked smoking in the Marilyn outfit. I hope she had fun with Erika at the part.

[Crashcourse]

55 minutes ago, Night Cheese said:

I liked the little bit of continuity with Amber. Last year she was was dropping her son off in Gregory's first grade class and now she's dropping him off in Janine's second grade class. I really appreciate the little things like that in this show. 

I liked seeing her, too.  I thought it was sweet of her to have a candy gift for Gregory (even though he didn't like the candy) with a note with her telephone number on it.  Props to Janine for giving him the note.  However, while the setup appears to be Gregory and Janine, I'd like to see him with Amber.   I'm tired of the workplace romances on tv.

I didn't get a lot of the costume references because I don't watch Marvel and other fantasy/superhero stuff.  I did like the kid dressed as Mr. Johnson, and Janine dressed as Harden, even though I never saw that gif before. 

[MicheleinPhilly]

This episode had me howling from Janine's first appearance as James Harden. I kept having to rewind because every time she was on screen, I was laughing too hard to hear any of the lines. 

Mr. Johnson and his mini-me were comedy gold. I especially loved that Mr. Johnson called Ashley out in front of all of the adults. She's so useless and supremely annoying. You can go now, girl. 

Definitely one of the stronger episodes of the season thus far. I can see myself watching this one multiple times. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

8 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

I lol’d when Melissa/Wanda Maximoff screamed in horror when the kid ripped out Mr Johnson/Vision’s “Mind Stone”. 

I wouldn't have predicted that she'd have been an MCU fan.

7 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Hi Amber!  Good to see her again.  And, you know what?  I loved the fact that Janine and her old HS friend  when they had the whispered conversation about Amber it was very complimentary and not catty:

     "Now that is one bad bitch."

     "I know right and she looks amazing every day."

     "Does she do pilates?"

Even on Mondays! (paraphrasing)

7 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Also liked the little scene in the janitor's closet where Baby Mr. Johnson comes upon Baby Thanos and the kid had every color ring pop on all his fingers, mimicking the infinity stones.

Yes, loved that!

The writers must have had a blast thinking up all the clever visual jokes in addition to the fantastic verbal ones.

Edited October 28, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ItCouldBeWorse]

59 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I liked seeing her, too.  I thought it was sweet of her to have a candy gift for Gregory (even though he didn't like the candy) with a note with her telephone number on it.  Props to Janine for giving him the note.  However, while the setup appears to be Gregory and Janine, I'd like to see him with Amber.   I'm tired of the workplace romances on tv.

I think she'd ultimately have the same issues with him as Barbara's daughter did, and I don't mean the lack of significant income.  He would not be exciting enough for her, and she'd be too extra for him.

[SnapHappy]

Really hating the "assistant" of Melissa's, but it was a fun episode.  

And agree, the 26 minutes of Barbara's church movie extravaganza sounds hilarious!  

I haven't seen a single movie with a superhero since the original "Thor" back in 2011, so a lot of the references were beyond me.  But since so many are interchangeable, I still got the gist!  *LOL*

Edited October 27, 2022 by SnapHappy

[Crashcourse]

37 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I think she'd ultimately have the same issues with him as Barbara's daughter did, and I don't mean the lack of significant income.  He would not be exciting enough for her, and she'd be too extra for him.

Oh, I think she already knows he's kind of dorky and that doesn't seem to bother her.  I think she likes the fact that he's intelligent and a teacher.  She showed there was more to her when the issue was her son being late for school. 

[callie lee 29]

19 hours ago, callie lee 29 said:

I really liked everyone on this episode, except the aide, but seeing how Ava now has to deal with the fallout of her being and idiot maybe she's gone?? Please?? 

I liked Erika too. Janine needs a friend.  

Edited October 27, 2022 by callie lee 29
Sorry don't know why this posted again.

[Duke2801]

That was such a fun and clever episode! Janine looked so gorg as Marilyn! 
 

Barbara probably cracked me up the most. From her love for the 26-minute version of Rocky Horror to her saying she “fully wasn’t listening” to her calling the candy thief “Baby Theranos!” She’s just hilarious!

As an avid horror movie lover, “The Shining” reference at the end was the cherry on top! 

[cincivic]

This episode was gold! I loved watching Jacob climb through the window and then getting pelted by the balls. 

[Turtle Wexler]

This was a lot of fun! What was Mr. Johnson referring to re: getting the photo at Dorney Park? I couldn’t tell what we were supposed to be seeing when the camera zoomed in on the photo. 
 

I don’t really understand the point of Ashley’s character. Her incompetence hit a new low with this episode, and I’m guessing she won’t be fired yet. She’s annoying; she doesn’t listen to Melissa; and then she fell down on her one job and the kids went bonkers. The actress is great at making her unlikable, but Melissa doesn’t need a foil. She sometimes clashes with Janine or the others, and obviously, she and her sister can’t stand each other. 

[mansonlamps]

1 hour ago, Duke2801 said:

That was such a fun and clever episode! Janine looked so gorg as Marilyn! 
 

Barbara probably cracked me up the most. From her love for the 26-minute version of Rocky Horror to her saying she “fully wasn’t listening” to her calling the candy thief “Baby Theranos!” She’s just hilarious!

As an avid horror movie lover, “The Shining” reference at the end was the cherry on top! 

Awesome to see a religious person not treated as the antichrist because she's happy in her beliefs. Barbara is 100% who she is, I love that and I'm not the least bit religious

[P2C2E]

Having just watched Rocky Horror, I desperately want to see the 26 minute version. Omg, I'm dying at the thought of it.

[LisaM]

Best episode of this season. Ava finally did something constructive with the students. Loved Janine admitting how hard it is for adults to make friends. The costumes were fabulous.

[Harvey]

Can someone explain the final scene with Mr. Johnson? Why were we shown that photogrpah for such a long time? And then the camera suddenly turns to him and he says something - I re-watched it 3 times but I don't get it.

[mrsbagnet]

5 hours ago, Turtle Wexler said:

This was a lot of fun! What was Mr. Johnson referring to re: getting the photo at Dorney Park? I couldn’t tell what we were supposed to be seeing when the camera zoomed in on the photo. 

1 hour ago, Harvey said:

Can someone explain the final scene with Mr. Johnson? Why were we shown that photogrpah for such a long time? And then the camera suddenly turns to him and he says something - I re-watched it 3 times but I don't get it.

It was a reference to the movie The Shining. I think the credits sort of blocked it, but Mr. Johnson appears in the photo at the bottom center, just as Jack Nicholson's character does in the movie.

It implies that Mr. Johnson has been at the school for decades and that he's the ghost janitor or his reincarnation (spooky). But then he says he got the photo made at Dorney Park, which means it was just a gag photo that he bought at an amusement park.

This episode was a miss for me, but I'm realizing now that was because I got none of the Marvel jokes. Melissa looked great in her costume. I have to rewatch because I missed Janine doing the Harden gif. I was yelling at the TV, "Go to the party!" So glad she did.

Edited October 28, 2022 by mrsbagnet
Added my comments about the episode

[Crashcourse]

8 hours ago, mrsbagnet said:

This episode was a miss for me, but I'm realizing now that was because I got none of the Marvel jokes.

Same here.  I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had understood the Marvel jokes.

[BusyOctober]

I’m not a Marvel fan, but I understood who the costumes were.  Once I saw there were several references to Marvel characters, I remembered ABC and Marvel are both owned by Big Daddy Disney.  I hate that Disney uses ABC shows to promote themselves and the entire universe it lords over.  I wish they would just leave it at running a few ads about the parks, the cruises and the movies they own. Like Disney needs more advertising by inserting its branding throughout a show.  

Aside from that, this show is one of the best on TV!  The writing is sharp, the actors are amazing, and the comic timing is on point every single week.
 

[DearEvette]

I didn't even think about the Disney thing, because most of the kids who come to my door on Halloween are superheroes of some sort, usually the most recent super hero movie released before Halloween, be it Marvel or DC,  or a Disney princess of some sort.  I remember when Frozen came out there were like a billionty-12 Elsas.  So it is actually quite realistic, imo.

Out of all the characters, the only real visible Marvel costumes were Melissa's, Baby Thanos and Ava's.  And while that end piece where they re-create the one scene from Endgame was funny from a referential standpoint, I actually think the funniest costumes throughout the episode were Janine's and Baby Mr. Johnson's.

Gregory's costume was good  because of the running gag that nobody knew who he was and all the movie pilot references.  Jacob's was, well, Jacob. And Barbara's was exactly what a Kindergarten teach would wear. 

[MicheleinPhilly]

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

I didn't even think about the Disney thing, because most of the kids who come to my door on Halloween are superheroes of some sort, usually the most recent super hero movie released before Halloween, be it Marvel or DC,  or a Disney princess of some sort.  I remember when Frozen came out there were like a billionty-12 Elsas.  So it is actually quite realistic, imo.

Exactly. Cue me saying, "Wow, you look great! Who are you dressed up as?" and a billionty-12 superheros looking at me like I need to have my head examined. 

If they do Batman or Superman I'm good. Anyone else, forget it. 

👵

[Blakeston]

On 10/27/2022 at 3:07 PM, Crashcourse said:

Props to Janine for giving him the note.

I love that Janine gave Amber's note to Gregory. On just about any other sitcom, she would have withheld it (and then learned a cliched lesson about honesty later). The writers took that tired trope and tossed it aside.

I don't want to see Gregory and Amber date, though. I don't think they'd be right for each other at all. Amber seems sweet but dim - last season she was under the impression that first grade was like daycare, where the kids just play all day, and you can drop them off/pick them up whenever you like.

[kathyk24]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

I love that Janine gave Amber's note to Gregory. On just about any other sitcom, she would have withheld it (and then learned a cliched lesson about honesty later). The writers took that tired trope and tossed it aside.

I don't want to see Gregory and Amber date, though. I don't think they'd be right for each other at all. Amber seems sweet but dim - last season she was under the impression that first grade was like daycare, where the kids just play all day, and you can drop them off/pick them up whenever you like.

Janine ended a relationship I don't think she wants to date Gregory or anyone else. Someone needs to tell Jacob that he doesn't have to be serious all the time. It's ok for him to have fun