Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search
Log-in Changes With Upcoming Upgrade - Update
Forum Reorganization

S04.E12: Girard Creek

chitowngirl

By chitowngirl
in Abbott Elementary

  • Reply
  • Start Topic

Recommended Posts

Galileo908

Galileo908

Mr. Johnson definitely won at the Game of Life. Both metaphorically and literally.

"Pull Michael Jordan out of a golf hole." Space Jam reference!

"But the food. It's got ingredients, and flavor. Together." Poor Gregory can't even handle tuna, whereas Janine can tell when an Arnold Palmer has not enough Arnold and too much Palmer. The laugh I had when she demanded to know what else was in them besides lemonade. (Ohhhh, they're serving Arnold Palmers because it's a golf course. Shoulda known). Very happy there's an episode to finally get him out of the pickiness comfort zone. Him eating the truffles was a hell of milestone. And man, not even knowing what salad dressing is? That's just sad.

Who called that the golf course would use the kids to promote itself and being all performative as hell? Janine and Jacob knew SOMETHING was off. Bringing in the three legged dog for the group photo? (and letting it live was against course policy) And hiding Charlie? I mean, damn that's low. Timely as hell, too. And you just KNOW the course merch had the same colors as Abbott's uniforms was intentional. They were right, they needed a Get Out plan.

Loved Ava and Melissa teaming up to steal truffles. And Jacob finally got some praise! RJ finally found his thing. (and that moment when he's taller than Janine...)

"GREGORY! He fights parents." Great callback!

3 minutes ago, JeanJean said:

The noodles scene with Gregory and Barbara was so sweet!

Loved that so much, and says so much to both characters. I figured Gregory's strict upbringing factored into his very very basic palate.

"It's nice to have hope."

  • Like 10
Annber03

Annber03

2 minutes ago, JeanJean said:

I love Jacob for not  resting on that laurel, instead sad he can't do more.

Yeah, I liked that, too. I am glad that RJ found something he enjoyed, though. 

I also loved all the teachers banding together to get back at gof club guy for using the kids as he did. Especially clever how they tied all the respective stories together during that scene, from Gregory's thing with new foods to Melissa and Ava's whole heist bit*. Janine trying to be all tough and slamming the table was great, too :p. 

(Also liked the nod to Gregory's past scuffle with htat parent with the "He beats up parents" line XD.)

*Melissa and Ava boncing over heist films was fun :D. 

Also liked Janine wanting to adopt the dog, 'cause, yeah, same. And the end scene with her and Gregory was good, too - she looked so pretty!

  • Like 12
kathyk2

kathyk2

17 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Mr. Johnson definitely won at the Game of Life. Both metaphorically and literally.

"Pull Michael Jordan out of a golf hole." Space Jam reference!

"But the food. It's got ingredients, and flavor. Together." Poor Gregory can't even handle tuna, whereas Janine can tell when an Arnold Palmer has not enough Arnold and too much Palmer. The laugh I had when she demanded to know what else was in them besides lemonade. (Ohhhh, they're serving Arnold Palmers because it's a golf course. Shoulda known). Very happy there's an episode to finally get him out of the pickiness comfort zone. Him eating the truffles was a hell of milestone. And man, not even knowing what salad dressing is? That's just sad.

Who called that the golf course would use the kids to promote itself and being all performative as hell? Janine and Jacob knew SOMETHING was off. Bringing in the three legged dog for the group photo? (and letting it live was against course policy) And hiding Charlie? I mean, damn that's low. Timely as hell, too. And you just KNOW the course merch had the same colors as Abbott's uniforms was intentional. They were right, they needed a Get Out plan.

Loved Ava and Melissa teaming up to steal truffles. And Jacob finally got some praise! RJ finally found his thing. (and that moment when he's taller than Janine...)

"GREGORY! He fights parents." Great callback!

Loved that so much, and says so much to both characters. I figured Gregory's strict upbringing factored into his very very basic palate.

"It's nice to have hope."

Tyler James Williams has Crohn's disease in real life so I thought it would be nice to give that to Gregory. I love that Janine has a big appetite I'm sure she was hungry growing up. Ava and Melissa were hilarious.

  • Like 2
  • Useful 5
Galileo908

Galileo908

(edited)
38 minutes ago, atomic said:

I've never had truffles before but Googled how much they cost out of curiosity. Poor Gregory is never going to enjoy those again on his teacher's salary. 😆

The complete irony in that his one acquired taste is the one of the most expensive ones of all in contrast to his diet of buttered noodles.

Edited by Galileo908
  • Like 6
  • Useful 1
Blakeston

Blakeston

Gregory's food sensitivities are pretty extreme, and I suspect that they go beyond just having a military upbringing. If I recall correctly, he said in the past that there are only five foods that he actually likes - and we know that two of them are buttered noodles and boiled chicken sandwiches.

I guess he's up to six now!

Tyler James Williams should use this episode as his Emmy submission.

  • Like 6
jah1986

jah1986

Great episode! Of course the golf course was using Abbott, but they got a golf club out of it and RJ found something he really likes, "like a black Tiger Woods".

Loved Janine's "we can talk about it" when Gregory asked if they could get truffles again. Yeah, that's not happening.

There was a mix of character interaction that worked really well, Ava/Melissa, Barbara/Gregory, very nice.

  • Like 10
ItCouldBeWorse

ItCouldBeWorse

(edited)
13 hours ago, Annber03 said:

And the end scene with her and Gregory was good, too - she looked so pretty!

I was annoyed that they left all that expensive food behind to go eat elsewhere. Gregory know she's a bottomless pit; he should have sat there while she ate and enjoyed both their meals. It was quite selfish of him to take her up on her offer to leave when he knew how much she had looked forward to this meal, and how she has been limiting herself to restaurants that serve buttered noodles when with him.

They should have at least taken the food to go so she could eat it later.

I kept waiting for someone to tell Janine that an Arnold Palmer is just lemonade and iced tea. I'm surprised Jacob didn't know either. I've never played golf, but I feel like it's something that people who read would have come across at some point. But maybe not people their age.

Edited by ItCouldBeWorse
  • Like 2
  • Useful 1
txhorns79

txhorns79

(edited)

I thought the episode was a little clumsy.  I didn't love the golf club storyline.  It wasn't just that he was using the kids for publicity.  He was making a lot of racist assumptions about the kids.  I thought his comment to RJ about being able to work at the club one day as a caddy would lead to the blow up, or his obviously hiding the one white student and white teachers in the group photo to portray the event as being charity for poor black children would do it. 

On the positive side, I did like the Ava/Melissa heist, as I feel like they don't put those two together in their own storyline often, and their grifter spirits work well with one another. 

Edited by txhorns79
  • Like 7
peeayebee

peeayebee

19 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

"Pull Michael Jordan out of a golf hole." Space Jam reference!

Ohhhh. I didn't get that at all. Thank you. It's been a while since I've seen Space Jam.

Quote

"GREGORY! He fights parents." Great callback!

Yes! Excellent callback. While I wasn't fond of the whole thing in that episode where he's going to fight the dad, how great that the writers used it in a hilarious and significant way.

There were lots of good parts to this ep, but I really hated that guy. I know we're supposed to, but he was a mustache-twirling villain. 

Also, I know we were supposed to see that the teachers weren't used to such extravagance, but I thought they were eating like pigs. Melissa eating the noodles with her fingers. Janine eating, well, everything... and eating it all like someone who'd never been to any public function. Yes, I know that's Janine, even from back when she was "going to Bone Town." I don't know why I can't just accept the premise and enjoy.

And really, she didn't know what an Arnold Palmer was? I don't think of that as a high-falutin' drink, and it's certainly not limited to golf courses. My sister drinks those often, mixing them herself (because it's no big deal to make them yourself).

Anyway, love the heist film titles that Melissa and Ava traded back and forth. That was fun. I also enjoyed seeing Barbara trying to get Gregory to try something new, and to do it for Janine. Cracked me up when he actually ran away from the server. I loved his "Dusted, crusted, or not to be trusted" line.

Seeing the teachers and Ava confront that guy (name?) was great, esp loved when Gregory came in to fight him, and then actually ate the truffle -- with hate in his eyes directed at the guy -- in order to force him to relent. 

Early on Jacob mentioned wanting to teach Janine how to play Spades. Is that a card game? Like Hearts? Just going by the title, it seemed a problematic game for a white guy to teach a black woman. Maybe I'm going too far.

Nice to see RJ find something that sparks joy.

  • Like 4
DearEvette

DearEvette

(edited)

This is on one of the Abbott episodes where the plot is rather simple and the story showcases that the Abbott team really is there for the kids, but in all that they throw away some really funny lines.  The dialogue and jokes were really cracking:

" A sneak peak of our pre-grand opening preview"

“How is that fusion Paris and France are the same place?"

Jacob "I'm still teaching Janie spades."

"He fights parents."

Add me to the chorus of loving Melissa and Ava's heist and their heist film quips.

The only thing that really annoyed me is that place was taking pictures/videos of minors without the consent of the teachers or parents and posting them publicly.

Edited by DearEvette
  • Like 9
Galileo908

Galileo908

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

The only thing that really annoyed me is that place was taking pictures/videos of minors without the consent of the teachers or parents and posting them publicly.

1) Yeah, I'd imagine that would've/should've been a point of contention.
2) There's probably permission slips involved. But since that visit was so last minute, it's probably unlikely.
3) The scumbag guy probably would not have cared.

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

This is on one of the Abbott episodes where the plot is rather simple and the story showcases that the Abbott team really is there for the kids, but in all that they throw away from really funny lines.  The dialogue as really cracking:

" A sneak peak of our pre-grand opening preview"

“How is that fusion Paris and France are the same place?"

Jacob "I'm still teaching Janie spades."

"He fights parents."

"But the food. It has ingredients. And flavor. Together."

"How many Arnold Palmers have you had?"
"I had seven...TEEN!"

  • Like 5
ItCouldBeWorse

ItCouldBeWorse

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

The only thing that really annoyed me is that place was taking pictures/videos of minors without the consent of the teachers or parents and posting them publicly.

2 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

1) Yeah, I'd imagine that would've/should've been a point of contention.
2) There's probably permission slips involved. But since that visit was so last minute, it's probably unlikely.
3) The scumbag guy probably would not have cared.

1) I thought the same thing.

2a) Then I thought that maybe the golf course had sent the school permission slips for the parents to sign with photo permission in the small print

2b) Then I thought that the school district would also have permission slips that parents would have to sign before taking the kids off the school premises (I also thought this about Janine driving the kids in a party bus last week).

2c) Then I concluded that there was no way the school could have gotten a signed permission slip for every  kid in one night (remember, Jacob greeted his class on the first day back from the strike, and mentioned that they would be missing class for the field trip the next day)

3) But they could force him to take the pictures down by threatening a lawsuit

4) But I let it all go, because it was about as realistic as Janine eating all that food and drinking 17 Arnold Palmers without throwing up or writhing in pain

 

  • Like 6
Boofish

Boofish

I dated someone who basically hated food. He used no condiments, nothing extra. Salad with no dressing, black coffee - no cream no sugar. Burgers plain. Not even a pickle. But he had none of Gregory's charm or personality. He was just as bland as the food he ate.

On 1/30/2025 at 9:50 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I was annoyed that they left all that expensive food behind to go eat elsewhere. Gregory know she's a bottomless pit; he should have sat there while she ate and enjoyed both their meals. It was quite selfish of him to take her up on her offer to leave when he knew how much she had looked forward to this meal, and how she has been limiting herself to restaurants that serve buttered noodles when with him.

Did I miss something because I thought Janine agreed the food wasn't good and she was pretending as well.

  • Like 7
ItCouldBeWorse

ItCouldBeWorse

4 minutes ago, Boofish said:

Did I miss something because I thought Janine agreed the food wasn't good and she was pretending as well.

I rewatched.  Janine said "I can't eat this" because Gregory kept talking about every ingredient, I think. He misunderstood her meaning and asked if they could go get some truffles, she said they'd talk about it, he said "Thank God!" and got up to go, she realized what he was doing and said "ok" and got up, too. They discussed paying on the way out.  I don't think she was unable to eat the salad, garlic mussels and the osso bucco in red wine reduction because of the flavor; it was because of him, although I can see where her original "I can't eat this" might be confusing.

What do others think?

  • Useful 1
tennisgurl

tennisgurl

(edited)

I knew that something was up with the club guy being all nice and helpful, of course he was trying to use the kids as free PR to look like they were helping charity cases. I love that everyone worked hard to pull all of their subplots together to stand up for the kids and get them to actually give the kids something they can use. Although, even with the sketchy motives, at least the kids had fun and RJ found his passion. 

Good on Jacob for trying so hard to find something for RJ to enjoy, and its impressive that he didn't just celebrate his win and talked about how he wishes he could do more for all students. Jacob gets a lot of slack for his performative progressiveness, even if it is something he very much means, but when it comes to his students its clearly not something he is doing just to feel like he's doing the right thing. 

Janine and her Arnold Palmers were hilarious, especially going on about how there HAS to be some kind of secret third ingredient. 

Awww Gregory finally realizes that food might not be all bad, I am not surprised that his issues with food comes from his strict upbringing. 

Love Ava and Melissa bonding over heists. I would think that the big issue they could get the club on is the legality of using kids in promotions without permission from parents or guardians or even really letting the kids know what was going on. 

Edited by tennisgurl
  • Like 3
Blakeston

Blakeston

1 hour ago, Boofish said:

I dated someone who basically hated food. He used no condiments, nothing extra. Salad with no dressing, black coffee - no cream no sugar. Burgers plain. Not even a pickle. But he had none of Gregory's charm or personality. He was just as bland as the food he ate.

I just learned that Gregory's issues with food are based on an Abbott writer who flat-out says that he hates food.

In the episode where Gregory first revealed his food issues, he was supposed to have a line where he says he hates food. Quinta said that the network sent back a note that it made Gregory sound insane, and that they should re-word it, so they did.

 

  • Like 3
  • Useful 3
mrsbagnet

mrsbagnet

(edited)
5 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I rewatched.  Janine said "I can't eat this" because Gregory kept talking about every ingredient, I think. He misunderstood her meaning and asked if they could go get some truffles, she said they'd talk about it, he said "Thank God!" and got up to go, she realized what he was doing and said "ok" and got up, too. They discussed paying on the way out.  I don't think she was unable to eat the salad, garlic mussels and the osso bucco in red wine reduction because of the flavor; it was because of him, although I can see where her original "I can't eat this" might be confusing.

What do others think?

My impression was that Janine did not like the food. She was playing along since Gregory seemed to be enjoying the experience. She took a small bite and then sarcastically said "Having a ball!" when he talked about the flavors dancing in his mouth. But then she couldn't pretend anymore and blurted out "I can't eat this." She's even the one who says, "Let's go."

Edited by mrsbagnet
  • Like 4
  • Useful 1
mrsbagnet

mrsbagnet

On 1/30/2025 at 4:43 PM, peeayebee said:

Early on Jacob mentioned wanting to teach Janine how to play Spades. Is that a card game? Like Hearts? Just going by the title, it seemed a problematic game for a white guy to teach a black woman. Maybe I'm going too far.

Not really problematic, but more of a joke that Jacob knows how to play and Janine doesn't. He would definitely need to know how to play had he gotten into Morehouse 😂  (I'm only half-joking—I know someone who made it a point to teach her son to play Spades before he left home for his freshman year there).

- signed A Member of the Black People Who Can't Play Spades Support Group

  • Like 1
  • Useful 1
  • LOL 2
peeayebee

peeayebee

(edited)
2 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

Well, she sure liked the food at the golf club. 

I was just going to say this. I didn't really understand the final scene where she suddenly said she couldn't eat the food at the fancy restaurant. She'll eat anything! So I suppose she was just saying that to give Gregory an out. I may have to rewatch that scene.

ETA: I just rewatched that bit. It still seems vague to me. When Gregory brings up the garlic mussels, Janine immediately says, "I can't eat this" which really sounds like she didn't like it rather than just saying it to make Gregory feel better. But it's not even a bizarre food. If it were something like octopus in a cilantro peach sauce, then I would get Janine saying she couldn't eat it. Like I said, she eats everything.

Edited by peeayebee
  • Like 1
dmmetler

dmmetler

On 1/30/2025 at 6:45 AM, Blakeston said:

Gregory's food sensitivities are pretty extreme, and I suspect that they go beyond just having a military upbringing. If I recall correctly, he said in the past that there are only five foods that he actually likes - and we know that two of them are buttered noodles and boiled chicken sandwiches.

I guess he's up to six now!

Tyler James Williams should use this episode as his Emmy submission.

Gregory probably qualifies as having ARFID. Kudos for Barbara for realizing that the mushrooms would chain well with buttered noodles. 
 

Not surprised at the golf course using Abbott at all. Sadly, that’s common for urban schools. 

  • Like 1

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...