S04.E03: Class Pet

[chitowngirl]

Janine gets a budget for class pets, but Melissa is resistant to taking on the added work and responsibility for her room's guinea pig; an IT rep from the school district arrives to set up new computers.

[Galileo908]

"Jesus was lean. 33. With muscles."

"Mmm. Sounds hot."

Why am I not surprised that Gregory had a pet rock as a kid? And his favorite kind is metamorphic? Somehow Dwayne The Rock Johnson was the pet that died. It looked even better as part of that little rock garden! But he was so sad!

Loved Melissa falling in love with Sweet Cheeks the guinea pig. "What do I look like, April O'Neil?!" She's totally the parent that never wanted a pet. And I was cackling when I realized that Sweet Cheeks didn't die, but Melissa just took it home with her.

Lol, everyone crushing on the IT guy.

[Annber03]

Never had a guinea pig, but I can't blame Melissa for getting attached to Sweet Cheeks. He was cute.  Melissa driving away wiht him while singing her version of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" made me laugh XD. Also loved the kid throwing a kiss up to the sky when Melissa was telling them about Sweet Cheeks. 

I did love Janine interrogating her about lying to the kids and claiming Sweet Cheeks was dead, though. LOL at the whole M. Night Shamalyan thing ("There are other directors, guys..."). Gregory's little talk with Melissa was nice. 

Of course Gregory had a pet rock. Of course :p. 

Loved Jacob and Barbara ogling the IT guy, and Jacob trying to flirt with him :D. He lookedd like Shemar Moore back when he had hair. The "kiss Me" bit was great - even Ava couldn't be immune to his charms. Course, the fact that they came to an agreement to allow the school to keep the computers certainly helped. He was right to call her out on the shady way she got the computers, but I can also sympathize with and appreciate Ava wanting to make sure the students get the best materials possible to benefit their education. It'll be interesting to see if anyone else will find out about this blackmail setup as time goes on. 

[Seelouis]

I really like the growth in Ava over the seasons. She’s really become invested in the school and the kids and is actually doing a good job as principal. 

[possibilities]

Why can't they accept donated tech? Those kids need computers.

---

I loved Janine's green striped dress in the scene where she's confronting Melissa.

[JeanJean]

I loved Melissa loving the guinea pig, even though it was predictable.

The kids using her hand gestures at the end was priceless.

Good episode!

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, Seelouis said:

She’s really become invested in the school and the kids and is actually doing a good job as principal. 

I'd say it's more like she does occasional good things as principal, rather than her doing a good job as principal. 

[EtheltoTillie]

Amici per la pelle.  Bwahaha.  

[Harvey]

Ava may be crazy but she legitimately seems more helpful and more caring than most principals that I have ever interacted with.

[peeayebee]

I thought it was immediately clear that Melissa would fall in love with her classroom pet. I loved when that one student was doing the stabbing-betw-the-fingers thing, so Melissa decided he was not going to take Sweet Cheeks home. 

"I don't feel pain. Do guinea pigs?" :D

As usual, Ava had some great lines:

"Some call it gaslighting. I call it kids have computers in their classrooms."

"Some IT wonk is coming by today to get the computers 'putin."

I also liked Barbara saying to her phone, "Hey, Shirley, order me a little 
fish mirror for Queen LaSeafah." And then later to the IT guy, "If we run out of computer chips…?"

So I guess Gregory's rock was a geode. Very pretty inside.

[EtheltoTillie]

Melissa riding in her car with Sweet Cheeks on her shoulder was the cutest thing ever.

I believe Barbara said something like "Of course I can CHECK email.  I need to know what is an email."

[Crashcourse]

I find it hard to believe that Barbara didn't know what an email was.  

[Seelouis]

I loved Barb in the cold open. “I will call your mother!”

[atomic]

Ava: disses O'Shon for wearing glasses
Also Ava:

So on brand for her. 😆

[txhorns79]

2 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

I find it hard to believe that Barbara didn't know what an email was.  

I thought she was just trying to distract the IT guy so he didn't take too good a look at the new equipment and wonder where it came from. 

[Galileo908]

5 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Melissa riding in her car with Sweet Cheeks on her shoulder was the cutest thing ever.

Top ten best shots in the whole series for me, if not top 5.

 

2 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

I thought she was just trying to distract the IT guy so he didn't take too good a look at the new equipment and wonder where it came from. 

Yeah, I saw it as Barbara playing dumb for the IT guy.

[EtheltoTillie]

I thought it seemed like one of Barbara’s malapropisms but you all may be right. 

[Galileo908]

If Barbara knew how to ask "Shirley" to order a fish mirror, she knows how to turn on a computer and knows what email is.

[atomic]

Barbara explained directly to the camera that she was "throwing him off the scent."

[kathyk2]

I loved this episode. Jacob can't flirt to save his life. Ava was great making sure Abbott could keep the computers. My favorite part was Janine getting angry with Melissa for lying to her. I like how tolerant Janine is of Gregory's quirks.

[bettername2come]

I thought I couldn't love Melissa more and then she made an April O'Neil reference.

[tennisgurl]

Gregory growing up with pet rocks explains a whole lot about him. I thought for a minute that Melissa's guinea pig would die right away and she would blame Janine for making the kids sad, but this was way better. Melissa driving around with Sweet Cheeks in her car was too cute.

Barbara and Jacob both thinking the IT guy was hot was great, complete with Jacob's questionable flirting and Barbara playing the tech blind old lady card to distract him. Then of course its Ava he's into, because of course.

The kids on this show are hilarious, they feel so real while also nailing the comedy bits they get. "I don't feel pain. Do you think guinea pigs do? 

I was glad to see the librarian again. 

Edited October 25 by tennisgurl

[mrsbagnet]

2 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I was glad to see the librarian again

And she had the clever idea to turn up the heat to get O'Shon to take off his jacket. Nice.

[DearEvette]

Okay Ava and O'Shon!  I see you.

He really was hot.  LOL.

I LOVED the Melissa subplot.

On 10/24/2024 at 1:40 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

Amici per la pelle.  Bwahaha.  

With the hand gestures is what put it over the top for me.

Gregrory having a pet rock and dissing sedimentary rocks is so on brand. LOL

Glad Cree Summer keeps popping up.

 

[ribboninthesky1]

5 hours ago, DearEvette said:

He really was hot.  LOL.

Right? I hope we see him again. 

Gregory was UPSET about his pet rock.  Poor thing.  I was ambivalent about Janine/Gregory as a couple and I'm usually not a shipper, but I like the way they're handling it so far.  

On 10/24/2024 at 12:07 AM, txhorns79 said:

I'd say it's more like she does occasional good things as principal, rather than her doing a good job as principal. 

Yeah, after all, only she got the fancy SFX software on her PC. Plus, it's not like she was the one who got the country club lawyer to donate the PCs, she just benefited from it. That was all Jacob, Melissa, and Barbara. 

Sweet Cheeks chilling in Melissa's hand as she was driving off was hilarious! She fell hard. 

The students always nail their scenes. 

 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

I normally hate class pet storylines. I’ve had mice and a turtle foisted on me before, and keeping the damn turtle clean was an undertaking worse than keeping twenty preschoolers occupied. Plus his enclosure was too big to move comfortably so he stayed at school and I had to figure out how to take him home during long breaks. Half the families wouldn’t take home the mice because they thought their cats would try to kill them, so I had to take them home over the weekend, where my dog definitely tried to kill them. Plus those cages are not large enough to be permanent homes, animals need more space than that and they need lots of stimulation. Constantly going back and forth between the schools and the different kids’ homes is also super stressful for them. Not a fan of the concept, no matter how great this episode was. 

Maybe we can spin Dwayne “The Pet” Rockson breaking open as giving birth instead of dying? Poor Gregory. He really loved that rock. 

[Snapdragon]

2 hours ago, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

I normally hate class pet storylines. I’ve had mice and a turtle foisted on me before, and keeping the damn turtle clean was an undertaking worse than keeping twenty preschoolers occupied. Plus his enclosure was too big to move comfortably so he stayed at school and I had to figure out how to take him home during long breaks. Half the families wouldn’t take home the mice because they thought their cats would try to kill them, so I had to take them home over the weekend, where my dog definitely tried to kill them. Plus those cages are not large enough to be permanent homes, animals need more space than that and they need lots of stimulation. Constantly going back and forth between the schools and the different kids’ homes is also super stressful for them. Not a fan of the concept, no matter how great this episode was. 

Maybe we can spin Dwayne “The Pet” Rockson breaking open as giving birth instead of dying? Poor Gregory. He really loved that rock. 

Thank you!  My mom had a few class pets and the first year, she did the whole "kids can take the pet home on the weekend" thing, until one Monday the pet came back and was obviously traumatized.  No more having the kids take the pet home after that.  

[Joimiaroxeu]

Ava said Jesus was hot. I can't even make a comment on that without feeling sacrilegious.

Melissa's guinea pig was huge. If it was a cat they'd say it was chonky.

Sowing doubts and confusion by creating a memory that doesn't exist. It's gaslighting Ava!

The librarian is still kind of extra. "Grand rising"? (On reddit a poster said it's used in some African countries instead of "good morning.")

Janine trying to go all hard at Melissa. Pshht, Melissa  is a few degrees of separation from the mafia. Janine would be light work but for Melissa's crush on Sweet Cheeks.

Yeah, I liked Janine's green sweater dress too. It must've been leftover from her district office outfits.

Melissa Night Shyamalan. (I didn't know M. Night was from Philadelphia. I figured NYC for some reason.)

Dang, IT guy O'Shon stepped right to Ava. And she folded like a weak poker hand, lol.

There must've been more wrong with Ava than her vision. O'Shon is foine AF, and clearly ready to match her freak. Sorry, Jacob.

Gregory broken up over the "death" of his pet rock and Janine comforting him. They are the perfect couple.

[Bookish Jen]

Melissa must act like a tough girl, but of course she turned to mush and became a total softie when it came to Sweet Cheeks.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 10/24/2024 at 2:12 PM, EtheltoTillie said:

I believe Barbara said something like "Of course I can CHECK email.  I need to know what is an email."

 

On 10/27/2024 at 7:58 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Gregory broken up over the "death" of his pet rock and Janine comforting him. They are the perfect couple.

It does make me wonder what Gregory would think about having children, if Janine were to eventually want some. They are notoriously messy.  And Gregory's dad was not a great role model.

Now to the part that takes me out of the show: I don't think $50 would get you all the cages, bowls, equipment and initial food supplies, never mind the pets (even with a free guinea pig.) And the teachers are supposed to pay for additional food and supplies themselves, when they're always short of school supplies? Do the parents show up at school on a Friday to get the guinea pig, cage and food, or does a little kid take it on the bus? (I certainly hope the fish aren't going back-and-forth.) Also, guinea pigs aren't hamsters and can't live cooped up in a cage that you can easily carry.  They need a larger enclosure, or to come out of the cage frequently. Maybe they're doing that in the classroom, but it's tricky when sending one to a home with unknown dangers, like dogs. 

Finally, kids with asthma may react very poorly to a guinea pig. Lots of inner-city kids have asthma.

Edited October 29 by ItCouldBeWorse