S03.E14: Party

[DanaK]

Quote

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 9:00-9:32 p.m. EDT (Season Finale)

It's the last day of school! Ahead of summer vacation, Janine throws the perfect end-of-year party for her colleagues and friends, taking all their interests into consideration.

 

[Crashcourse]

Finally!  It's about damn time. 🙄

[Galileo908]

Oh man, I almost forgot about Harvard Ava. Noticed Our Ava had the stickers switched on her Rubik's Cube. That was great.

And OF COURSE Jacob shows his class Remember the Titans. And of course Janine knows her co-workers so well to perfectly plan how they'd enjoy her party and giving them sections, down to predicting exactly what Melissa and Barbara would say while cleaning her apartment. It wouldn't be Janine if she wasn't micromanaging their places in it so everyone is having fun EXCEPT for her. "Why are people dancing? It's supposed to be a party!" 

Loved that we finally got to see Sea Barbara in action. She went full pirate! Screaming "I AM THE CAPTAIN NOW" and slow dancing that cutout of Allen Iverson? Gold. And I loved that tag at the end. Melissa, Jacob, Mr. Johnson, and Sea Barbara stayed out the rest of the night? Where was THAT episode?! DAMN YOU, WRITER'S STRIKE!!

"Time for the teacher to become the janitor." And I LOVED Mr. Johnson playing bouncer. He really is the best for life advice. And he's right, Mr. Morton should NOT be on the list. Not after last week. 

And right at the end, I was screaming JUST GO TO HER, YOU DUMBASS!! at the tv. And then they finally, FINALLY hooked up! Finally.

Edited May 23 by Galileo908

[Annber03]

"I fixed your light."

Who knew four simple words could be so sexy? Damn, that ending kiss, and the way Gregory and Janine, Gregory especially, kept looking at the camera very clearly like, "Get out of here." That was a really good resolution to the earlier tension when they were sitting on the bed together. Good to see them finally acting on their feelings like that. I hope this leads to some good stuff for them next year. 

I also liked them acknowledging all the things they'd each accomplished this past year, and how much they changed from the beginning of the series. 

The party was fun, too. I like Janine's "sections" idea, ,and I LOVED how perfectly she timed her reaction to everything Barbara and Melissa were saying about her place, to the point where she was mouthing their comments right along with them :D. That was perfection. 

Also, drunk Barbara is a hoot. I liked her slow dancing with the cardboard cutout, LOL. It was nice to see so many of the recurring characters show up for the party, too. 

I also laughed at Ava's, "Oh, that's who that was for" comment about the pottery wheel when watching that video of herself. And the kids' kindergarten graduation was cute. 

On to season four! Look forward to seeing what they've got planned for next year. 

[bettername2come]

Janine's party planning skills are insane. I appreciate that it was no major disaster like so many shows would've done. Her mouthing Barbara and Melissa's responses was hilarious. I'm glad we got to meet Sea Barbara. Melissa looked gorgeous. 

"I fixed your light" was far sexier than it had any right to be. 

[JeanJean]

Eek!

I'm so happy!!!

Finally - they WILL!!!

Edited May 23 by JeanJean

[Blakeston]

I loved this episode!

I wish they hadn't tried to pass that off as a 350-square-foot apartment, though. I knew as soon as they said it that the actual space would be nowhere near that small.

[buttersister]

Thanks, Quinta! ❤️

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 5/22/2024 at 11:10 PM, Blakeston said:

I wish they hadn't tried to pass that off as a 350-square-foot apartment, though. I knew as soon as they said it that the actual space would be nowhere near that small.

Yes, that apartment seemed huge. Much bigger than when she had Game Night there. 

 

Edited May 24 by ItCouldBeWorse

[libgirl2]

Count me in as very happy! Finally! 

The whole episode was a lot of fun. Love drunk Barbara. 

[EtheltoTillie]

9 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Janine's party planning skills are insane. I appreciate that it was no major disaster like so many shows would've done. 

That was a famous trope on Mary Tyler Moore. Mary always gave disastrous parties. This was really fun. I appreciated seeing everyone appreciate Janine when they always rolled their eyes at her in first season. 

[mammaM]

" a 48 second head stand"

Go Mr. Johnson! 

And while it was good to finally (FINALLY) see our couple hook up, honestly I would've taken a whole episode of Melissa, Barbara, Jacob, Ava and Mr. Johnson hanging out afterwards😂😂😂😎

[janeyjay]

Wine coolers are a land drink. Check.
Brown liquor puts wind underneath your sails. Check.

Sea Barbara is GOALS. Especially dancing with a cardboard cutout of Allen Iverson. 

[Badsamaritan]

"I fixed your light". DAMN THAT WAS SEXY!!! 

For all us Janine+Gregory shippers, we were finally fed tonight, y'all!! 😭

Mr. Johnson is a shipper too! I knew it! 😁

Something tells me he's gonna be their biggest supporter. The way he told Janine 'It's gonna be alright', I feel like he's seen the long game, and is prepared somehow, someway, to help them over the 'coworkers dating' issue. Either he's got dirt on Ava that will make her shut up or he'll pull the Superintendent's ho card and we'll find out Mr. Johnson has pride of place in the school district. He's done so many things and knows so many people, I'm betting it's the latter and he knows all the right folks. 

I really loved that Janine's party was a huge success. She really does know her friends, and I'm glad the show has pivoted away from making her a joke. Highlights off the top of my head...

Sea Barbara making land....Mr. Johnson becoming the bouncer and then acknowledging to Janine after that him leaving his area caused a butterfly effect at her party......Janine and Gregory's bedroom convo....Zach and Jacob burying the hatchet and Janine reminding Jacob that Zach is her friend because that's what Jacob wanted....Janine presenting her cousin to Ava because she knows exactly what Ava is like.....the 'prop' vase....Janine steering Erika toward Simon when she complained about Janine hooking up Ava and not her....the serious eye fucking towards the end between Janine and Gregory during the dancing. It was interesting watching their hand placement, both near their hearts....and Ava tryna cock block lol.....And Jacob, because he is a really good friend and for cheering as he watched the eye fucking in real time. 

I loved Janine admitting how she felt, and deciding to go after Gregory. She made her decision and was all in. Very different from first season Janine, and showed her maturity. 

We really won, y'all. 🥹

[peeayebee]

Janine has party-throwing skills! I was getting a little ticked at her fussing over people not staying in their zones and so forth, but that's Janine! And no disaster resulted. I'm so glad it was a success.

When she was prepping her apartment, I wondered why she moved the big vase a bit closer to the edge. Of course it was part of the plan.

Drunk Barbara is the best. Someone remind me: Were there references to 'Sea Barbara' before this ep?

Loved the kindergarten graduation. I used to volunteer at a preschool, and the graduation ceremonies were so sweet and made me tear up every time.

[Enigma X]

I am so glad they finally became a couple, as long as future episodes do not go into breakup/get-back-together territory. Despite the annoying "you are not in your zone," I really liked this episode. It was fun, and Janine, once she let it happen, actually had a fun party.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

When she was prepping her apartment, I wondered why she moved the big vase a bit closer to the edge. Of course it was part of the plan.

Loved the kindergarten graduation. I used to volunteer at a preschool, and the graduation ceremonies were so sweet and made me tear up every time.

I wondered about that too as it was so obviously ready to fall over. 

My son's preschool had a graduation ceremony. The kids wore paper hats. It was really cute. I don't remember one for kindergarten though. 

[Crashcourse]

For me, this could have been a series finale instead of a season finale.  Everybody partying together was great, and it's been a helluva ride, but I think Quinta has done all she can with this show. 

[Boofish]

Despite every sitcom writer in the history of EVER, some of us find healthy happy relationships more fun than keeping two people apart for "reasons" like a soap opera. Janine and Gregory can be happy and the show can still be good. For the love of Sea Barbara, don't Ross and Rachel them. Ross is still the most toxic boyfriend in sitcom history. Ugh I'm getting mad all over again just thinking about Dr. Smugalot 😂

Finally a sitcom where there is only 1 "B" character, Mr. Morton and I hope it stays that way. His quiet feud with Jacob was funny but now he is just mean and annoying. Someone get him a job wherever TA Ashley landed

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, Boofish said:

Despite every sitcom writer in the history of EVER, some of us find healthy happy relationships more fun than keeping two people apart for "reasons" like a soap opera. Janine and Gregory can be happy and the show can still be good. For the love of Sea Barbara, don't Ross and Rachel them. Ross is still the most toxic boyfriend in sitcom history. Ugh I'm getting mad all over again just thinking about Dr. Smugalot 😂

Finally a sitcom where there is only 1 "B" character, Mr. Morton and I hope it stays that way. His quiet feud with Jacob was funny but now he is just mean and annoying. Someone get him a job wherever TA Ashley landed

Watching the whole will they or won't they, I was reminded of Jim and Pam on The Office. It was obvious they dug each other but it took awhile. She was engaged, he dated someone else, but once they got together, they stayed together. So I also hope they don't mess this up and let them be happy. There are ways to do that. 

[DearEvette]

What a lovely, lovely episode!

Lowkey love the idea of sending your one-year-in-the-future self an affirmation (reminder of what you planned)  that you accomplished all the goals!

"They said you couldn't do it!" To a bunch of kindergartners moving to first grade.  LOL. 

OMG! Evil mastermind/perfect party planner Janine is the best Janine!  Her evil laugh "muahhh!" Knowing Barb and Melissa will sjow up early and clean.  Prop vase!  "It's not a party until something breaks." Honestly this is the best of all of her glow ups this season!! And she was wearing another Freakum dress! I love that people had a good time at the party.

I love that Erika and Simon "broke up" before the party was over.

I loved seeing Zach and the district folks and Sea Barbara and wise sage Mr. Johnson.  And Zach was by far the best DJ of the three who DJ'd.

I am kinda cackling that after last week where the writers made everybody all mad about J & G, this week they were like 'Psych!' LOL  They had to know they'd piss everyone off last week.  Only to turn right around and remove the reason.

I am glad they are together, but tbh, I would have liked to see Janine and Manny.  Oh well.

[mrsbagnet]

8 hours ago, Badsamaritan said:

her....the serious eye fucking towards the end between Janine and Gregory during the dancing. It was interesting watching their hand placement, both near their hearts....and Ava tryna cock block lol.....And Jacob, because he is a really good friend and for cheering as he watched the eye fucking in real time. 

That scene was perfect. The eye fucking was intense.

 

8 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Were there references to 'Sea Barbara' before this ep?

Sea Barbara has been mentioned at least a couple of times. I know for sure she talked about it when she misplaced her shoes in the teachers conference episode.

 

20 hours ago, Annber03 said:

The party was fun, too. I like Janine's "sections" idea, ,and I LOVED how perfectly she timed her reaction to everything Barbara and Melissa were saying about her place, to the point where she was mouthing their comments right along with them :D. That was perfection.

That was my favorite scene, particularly her imitating Barbara's dramatic delivery.

Edited May 23 by mrsbagnet

[LydiaMoon1]

19 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Drunk Barbara is the best. Someone remind me: Were there references to 'Sea Barbara' before this ep?

We were first introduced to Sea Barbara in the season 2 opener, Development Day.

Edited May 24 by LydiaMoon1

[Galileo908]

11 hours ago, Badsamaritan said:

Something tells me he's gonna be their biggest supporter. The way he told Janine 'It's gonna be alright', I feel like he's seen the long game, and is prepared somehow, someway, to help them over the 'coworkers dating' issue.

Mr. Johnson spent the whole season wanting to be included in everyone's shenanigans. This time, he was included, and it was amazing.

[mrsbagnet]

46 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Mr. Johnson spent the whole season wanting to be included in everyone's shenanigans. This time, he was included, and it was amazing.

I made an audio recording of his words to Janine at the fuse box. What he said about regrets being worse than consequences was profound. Also, "You kill someone? I won't rat," was hilarious. 

[Boofish]

14 minutes ago, mrsbagnet said:

I made an audio recording of his words to Janine at the fuse box. What he said about regrets being worse than consequences was profound. Also, "You kill someone? I won't rat," was hilarious. 

Yeah Mr. Johnson had me in my feelings with that pep talk. 

I think for me, the best part of this season was Janine finally having it all. She made a difference at the district, returned to her first love - teaching at Abbott, all her new friends and no one taking jabs at her every 6 seconds, those ugly ass clothes are gone and she finally got to be with Gregory. Maaaan I love this for season 1 Janine.

[Lois Sandborne]

"It's not time for white bops!"

I really hate "I'm dancing with them, but I want you" moments, but Janine and Gregory's eye contact was hot, and Jacob was cute so I didn't mind it this time.

[mojito]

Wherever Barb and Melissa are holding red solo cups, that's the section I want to be in. 

 

 

 

[incandescent]

Let this be the final hurrah for the district trio because those characters were NOT funny!

What was funny as hell was Janine getting in a tizzy because her party was becoming even more successful... but not in the manner she had planned for its success. 

[mammaM]

21 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

For me, this could have been a series finale instead of a season finale.  Everybody partying together was great, and it's been a helluva ride, but I think Quinta has done all she can with this show. 

I hope Quinta has more stories up her sleeve😎, but I do agree with this episode. And honestly, I prefer a season finale like this. I have ranted on other threads that I HATE cliffhangers, hate hate hate. Even if I know the show has been renewed. 

[DearEvette]

23 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

For me, this could have been a series finale instead of a season finale.  Everybody partying together was great, and it's been a helluva ride, but I think Quinta has done all she can with this show.

But that kinda signals that the Gregory/Janine romance is the point of the show.  They've gotten together so then end? 

I think there is still quite a bit she can mine from elementary education. We haven't gotten a full on science fair episode, or when the book fair rolls in, field days, the PTA, Ava can get a vice principal, there are other teachers to meet -- the music teacher for instance -- there is a lot that can be said about music.  And like Brooklyn 99 that had annual recurring episodes (Doug Judy, The Halloween contest) we could go on to the Conference every year and we already get a field trip episode each season there are more places to field trip in Philly. We could follow the 8th graders as they get ready to go into high school. On the personal front there is still the mystery of Janine's father, the rest of Melissa's siblings, any of Jacob's family.

For the actual series finale, I would expect that to show the crew moving on/up -- Barbara retiring, Gregory becoming the principal, Janine becoming Barbara, Ava getting famous etc.

[possibilities]

 

On 5/22/2024 at 9:33 PM, Galileo908 said:

I loved that tag at the end. Melissa, Jacob, Mr. Johnson, and Sea Barbara stayed out the rest of the night?

I really REALLY wanted to see more of that. In my dreams, there is footage and we will see it later, in a flashback.

What I liked about the finale is that it brought Janine's journey full circle-- she had victories in multiple areas of her life-- career, social, romance. It wasn't just that she "got the man". She also had a successful party, and returned to teaching by choice, after succeeding at the district job, and saw her students graduate (which is one of her favorite things).

 

 

[meep.meep]

There was so much in this episode!

What did Janine think the fuse box was?  A tiny room for mice?

And everybody heading to the bedroom to watch Wakanda Forever!

[Crashcourse]

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

But that kinda signals that the Gregory/Janine romance is the point of the show.  They've gotten together so then end? 

I think there is still quite a bit she can mine from elementary education. We haven't gotten a full on science fair episode, or when the book fair rolls in, field days, the PTA, Ava can get a vice principal, there are other teachers to meet -- the music teacher for instance -- there is a lot that can be said about music.  And like Brooklyn 99 that had annual recurring episodes (Doug Judy, The Halloween contest) we could go on to the Conference every year and we already get a field trip episode each season there are more places to field trip in Philly. We could follow the 8th graders as they get ready to go into high school. On the personal front there is still the mystery of Janine's father, the rest of Melissa's siblings, any of Jacob's family.

For the actual series finale, I would expect that to show the crew moving on/up -- Barbara retiring, Gregory becoming the principal, Janine becoming Barbara, Ava getting famous etc.

Those scenarios would be fine if the emphasis was more on other people instead of the main characters.  I just find the personality quirks of Ava, Melissa, Barbara, Jacob, and even Mr. Johnson, to be overdone now.  We know who they are, and I'd like to see other people.   

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

What did Janine think the fuse box was?  A tiny room for mice?

Or The Borrowers!

[tennisgurl]

It finally happened! I kept yelling "just kiss damn it" at my screen and they finally listened to me! Turns out that fixing a light can be pretty damn sexy, almost as sexy as all that hard eye contact while they were dancing on different sides of the room, I am really excited to see where they go from here as they actually start a relationship. 

Janine actually knows how to throw a great party, she knows her friends and co-workers so well. I love that she specifically messed up her apartment so that Barbara and Melissa could fuss over it and clean everything, she could even guess exactly what they would say about everything they found. Sea Barbara has made landfall! Of course Janine throws an absolute banger of a party and still gets stressed because its not a banger in the way that she meticulously planned. 

I'm glad that they got so many of the supporting characters back for this, I am glad that Zach and Jacob made up. Zach has some solid DJ skills. 

Kindergarten graduation was really cute.

[Night Cheese]

Y'all, I'm sitting alone at an airport bar (finally headed home after a long work trip🙏) and let me just say, I CACKLED at Janine mouthing Barabara and Melissa's comments (complete with on-point gestures) from the other room. I think I laughed harder at that than anything else on TV this shortened strike season. I thought that little bit of writing basically made up for this so-so season, but the episode *continued* to fire on all cylinders!

We got to witness Sea Barbara!!! In her fuuuulllll shoes off, dancing with the AI cutout, pirate-talking, headstanding glory!! Holy cow I'd watch Sheryl Lee Ralph read a phonebook, but I'm so grateful for getting to watch her in this week after week. Sea Barbara!

I had become indifferent to Janine and Gregory but I guess I'm happy they got together. I learned my lesson so many years ago with Jim and Pam and going all-in on them only to find them uninteresting after a couple seasons, so I haven't been too invested in J&G, but I admit their scenes were really good. I just hope that they don't spend the next few years breaking up and getting back together, etc. That was the really only good thing about Jim and Pam (I stopped watching after season 5 or 6 so I'm assuming they broke that trope mold).

I loved that everyone from the show was at the party. And everyone's designated sections was a Type-A'er's dream, haha. It was inevitable that it would all go south, but I loved all the craziness and chaos. This was also the first time this season that Mr. Johnson didn't annoy me at all. Really enjoyed his sage advise, in fact. 

[Black Knight]

I think there's plenty more Quinta Brunson can do with this show, but she has to be willing to turn it back into the workplace comedy with a dash of personal life that it was in S1 and S2 as opposed to what it's become, which is mostly about the characters' personal lives with a dash of workplace stuff. There are endless stories to be mined from the school.

I'm not really a Janine/Gregory fan, but it's the will-they-won't-they that I actively hated since it wasn't well-done by the writers. So I'm glad it's been resolved, and maybe now that they're together their worst most annoying selves won't come out the way they so often did during the will-they-won't-they part. (I'm shocked Olivia was willing to even interact with Gregory at all after the way he treated her on their blind date.) But honestly, everything really hangs on whether this show gets back to being workplace-focused. Janine/Gregory can work well as a continuing side storyline.

Edited May 24 by Black Knight

[DearEvette]

Moment missed at first watch:  There is a scene ofJanine getting the apartment ready for the party, just before Melissa and Barbara arrive early, we see her move the prop vase from farther back on the shelve to closer to the front edge. She pats it with a satisfied look and smirks at the camera.

I also like the flickering broken light call back to Season 1.  Again, Janine kinda looks at the camera when she makes a comment about not trying to fix it.

[Lois Sandborne]

11 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Janine becoming Barbara

Okay this thought made me misty. I agree that there's a ton left to do with these characters and their stories.

[possibilities]

I don't want Gregory to become principal, though. I really love how he's grown into his teaching role, and I don't want him to be principal while Janine teaches, even if they switch to different schools.

 

[LydiaMoon1]

11 hours ago, Black Knight said:

I think there's plenty more Quinta Brunson can do with this show, but she has to be willing to turn it back into the workplace comedy with a dash of personal life that it was in S1 and S2 as opposed to what it's become, which is mostly about the characters' personal lives with a dash of workplace stuff. There are endless stories to be mined from the school.

I don't think you're taking real life into account with this criticism. To me, it seems to have been practical to have based S3 around the adults. After all, there was a writer's strike followed by an actor's strike that made them lose at least 5 months of production. I imagine that there's quite a bit of rehearsal and preparation, and rules and regulations that have to be completed in order to employ little kids on the set. I don't see how they would have had time to coordinate the logistics of all of that while also meeting the deadline ABC set to air the first episode of the season. 

I read that the finale wasn't completed until 3 weeks before it aired. That means that the writers and the production crew have been furiously pumping out new episodes all season. Given that, I am amazed at the quality and thoughtfulness of the episodes we were given, considering that they had to have been working at a frantic pace.

 

[J-Man]

Is this the first time Melissa was called "Mel"? I noticed that Janine referred to her that way several times and it sounded "off" to me.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Mr. Johnson drives a G-Wagon. How much money does he make as a janitor? Dang.

Lol, Mr Johnson was supposed to be a judge on American Idol but Paula Abdul aced him out.

Janine & Gregory. Finally. Hope this wasn't the last we've seen of Manny though. He is pleasing to my eyes and ears.

Wait, the Abbott gang--minus the lovebirds of course--pulled an all-nighter? That's hilarious. At least it wasn't a school night, ha ha.

Barbara must've still been a little tipsy because if she did a headstand her coworkers probably got to see her drawers. Or they found out the church lady goes commando.

[mrsbagnet]

On 5/25/2024 at 12:29 PM, J-Man said:

Is this the first time Melissa was called "Mel"? I noticed that Janine referred to her that way several times and it sounded "off" to me.

I think it was the first time. I think Janine did it for shock value.

[peeayebee]

14 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Mr. Johnson drives a G-Wagon. How much money does he make as a janitor? Dang.

Oh I'm sure Mr Johnson has other sources of income.

Quote

Barbara must've still been a little tipsy because if she did a headstand her coworkers probably got to see her drawers. Or they found out the church lady goes commando.

I was worried about that at first, but then I noticed she was wearing a pantsuit.

[HyeChaps]

I guess Barbara's husband didn't want to come to the party.

[Crashcourse]

Maybe he figured there would be wacky hijinks and he didn't want to be a part of it.

[Ilovepie]

On 5/23/2024 at 4:49 AM, janeyjay said:

Wine coolers are a land drink. Check.
Brown liquor puts wind underneath your sails. Check.

Sea Barbara is GOALS. Especially dancing with a cardboard cutout of Allen Iverson. 

THE BEST! I think I laughed so hard at Sea Barbara because it's a little like I am when I get my drink on - very Type A usually and then the wheels come off. Related so hard! LOVED IT!

Oh and yay for Janine and Gregory!

[Empress1]

On 5/27/2024 at 9:00 AM, peeayebee said:

Oh I'm sure Mr Johnson has other sources of income.

He’s also had like 57 jobs, so maybe some of them made bank!