S04.E06: The Deli

[chitowngirl]

When the neighborhood deli is forced to close to make room for a trendy smoothie place, Melissa, Barbara and Jacob team up to fight the gentrification; the district asks Ava to give a presentation to fellow principals.

[BAForever]

Had to stop watching to comment on the opening! They all know about parachute games! Gotta be an elementary teacher on the writing staff- the motions and Janine running underneath were amazing.  ❤️ this show.

[Galileo908]

Man, it IS weird to explain the parachute to someone who never experienced it. It was sweet seeing everyone go through it at the end.

This was a great Ava episode. "You are welcome for my time." Giving Janine good advice on the paper eater? And calling her students "cool ass"? She's come so far.

Gregory loves extra bee pollen in his smoothies. And he was so hurt that Barbara and Melissa drank his smoothie.

Jacob was WAITING for an opportunity to mobilize. And when he got hooked on the smoothies, mobilizing ended up biting him in the ass. He finally got the respect he wanted from the community but he couldn't even enjoy it.

"You got gloves?"
"No..."
"Good. They'll just slow you down."

Good to see Chad again, now shadowing Mr. Johnson to write an essay about him! Pinning up Chad's gloves on his mantle was honestly heartwarming.

Last one until the two eps on December 4th.

Jacob trash dived for his vape, it's not out of character to dive for a smoothie.

[kathyk2]

Of course Gregory would be excited about a smoothie shop. The Ava and Janine scene was great. They really have grown since the show began. 

[Annber03]

Unfortunately I missed some of the middle of this episdoe because of my stupid cable system glitching out on me, so I'll have to rewatch at some point to see what all I missed. 

But yeah, it was great to see Ava getting some recognitiion and being able to talk up her school and the way they do things to help the students. I also liked how her suggsetion to Janine to help the kid eating paper wound up working out, too. 

Gregory's dejected "I'm gonna get a Mountain Dew" made me laugh. As did all the names for the various drinks. 

43 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Good to see Chad again, now shadowing Mr. Johnson to write an essay about him! Pinning up Chad's gloves on his mantle was honestly heartwarming.

I liked that, too :). 

[Empress1]

Janine’s little “He knows so many smoothie places” was so cute.

The paper eater holding up Peter Rabbit with actual bites taken out had me rolling. So did his classmate’s delivery of “He ate Peter Rabbit.”

Edited 12 hours ago by Empress1

[Blakeston]

Peter Rabbit can't catch a break on this show, can he? First the art teacher chops up Melissa's prized Peter Rabbit books for her project, and now that little boy ate him. 🤣

I was not fully prepared for how hunky Manny would look. Tariq had a glow-up, so I guess Manny gets one too.

The Barbara/Melissa mean girl dynamic remains one of my least favorite things about the show.

[peeayebee]

Loved Barbara's sarcasm about lacrosse to the golf club guy. And his total cluelessness about everything they were saying was great. My favorite part was probably all of them showing him how you play parachute. The joy! I always loved playing that, too.

I keep forgetting how to pronounce acai. Ah-sah-EE. Right?

Cracked me up every time Jacob brought up the B.L.A.C.Ks. "It's the B.L.A.C.Ks!" The look on the students' faces. 🤣

It's always nice to see how Ava has evolved, both as a character and as a principal (and general human). But she still retains the old Ava.

"Yes, double-jacket." (Is wearing two jackets a thing?)

[MaryMitch]

I'm glad that they've evolved Ava so she's not an awful person; I'm starting to enjoy her character.

I've seen the parachute at my 4 year old niece's gymnastics class. Didn't know what they called it.

Edited 11 hours ago by MaryMitch

[EtheltoTillie]

I have never seen the parachute but I’m not a teacher and I have no kids. And I’m old. 

[DearEvette]

Aww. Do they still do the parachute in schools?  I thought that was just a GenX thing.  That was always the most fun gym day!   And yeah, I loved that cold open of them explaining it to the golf course guy.  They look exactly like I think my friends and I would look trying to explain it.

My favorite parts:

"Lower the roof Gregory"  Heh.

"Your thoughts about food are a war crimes." - A reminder that Gregory also hates pizza.  That was a terrific scene.

That little girl's face after overhearing Barbara admonish Jacob for eating out of the trash can.

And then the faces of the student in Jacob's whole class when he said "Oh no it's the B.L.A.C.K.s"

"If people don't like me, it's on them."  Exactly!!

Ava praising Janine during her talk and Janine will never know about it.

Janine being proud about Gregory's smoothie game.   Actually I am really liking how the show is showing in lowkey but cute ways how much Janine and Gregory are sprung on other.  In last weeks episode she mentioned how strong he was with a little smile.

The end tag showing the real parachute game.

[Night Cheese]

Great to learn that the parachute thing in gym class is still happening. I loved them demonstrating how it's done. That really brought me back in a very visceral way. This show is always good for that. 

I need to rewatch because I was watching while getting ready for work and basically missed the smoothie plot. 

I did catch most of the Ava stuff and loved it. She's really become one of my favorite characters. It's crazy that I thought back in the first season that she'd be ousted from her position and Gregory, the more qualified professional, would take over as principle.

[BAForever]

Loved parachute games at school! We didn't do it too often, the specialness would wear off fast. It can be a fairly dangerous game- kids run so fast underneath to try to get to the other side before they got trapped, collisions are common.

We used small balls on it, liking popping corn, we played color games, did pretend stormy weather or waves, so much fun! I was always exhausted after it. 

[Crashcourse]

3 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I have never seen the parachute but I’m not a teacher and I have no kids. And I’m old. 

Same here to all of this.  

I think the kids are adorable and are the stars of the show.  However, it's getting to the point where the school stuff is just going over my head.  While I'm pretty sure this will get renewed, this will be my last season to watch.  

[peeayebee]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

"If people don't like me, it's on them."  Exactly!!

That's a perfect line. Words to live by.

3 hours ago, Night Cheese said:

I did catch most of the Ava stuff and loved it. She's really become one of my favorite characters.

She's one of my favorite characters, too. I did not like her at the beginning of this series. Lots of shows need a first season or at least a few eps to find their way. Parks & Rec went thru growing pains in the first season and became something wonderful.

[anna0852]

4 hours ago, Night Cheese said:

I did catch most of the Ava stuff and loved it. She's really become one of my favorite characters. It's crazy that I thought back in the first season that she'd be ousted from her position and Gregory, the more qualified professional, would take over as principle.

I think in a lot of ways, Ava is exactly the kind of personality that the school needs to get what it needs. Gregory is a consummate professional but he doesn’t have Ava’s hustle or her ability to continually wheel and deal to get what she wants. I could see Gregory always going by the book and going to the district for needs but not getting anything and ending up incredibly frustrated in the process. Ava knows how to work the system in a way that he doesn’t and for all that she is annoying as crap to the staff, her unwillingness to take the “no“ does tend to work in their favor, most of the time.

[Sailorgirl26]

When I read the description, I immediately thought of the Bradley Cooper episode, in which the student ran into him at the deli across the street. 

And they didn't disappoint -- in the scene where Barbara and Melissa were picking up their Italian subs, on the board behind the deli owner? A signed picture of one Bradley Cooper. 

Its those through-details that make a really great show. And this is a really. great. show.