S04.E13: The Science Fair

[chitowngirl]

While supervising the kids making their science fair projects, the teachers' competitive sides come out.
 

Airdate February 5, 2025 on ABC, next day Hulu

[bosawks]

I looooooove adults losing their minds during children activities!

I completely understand why people don't but, sigh, I adore them.

[Annber03]

"You've heard of Wayne Newton, right?"

"..ummm...I've tried his cookies..." 

"That's Fig Newton..." 

LOL. These poor, confused kids. I loved them rebelling against the adults at the end like they did. Good for them. 

I know Ava was just messing with Janine with her fake emotional moment, but that scene with her and Frank did genuinely make me feel for her regardless, especially when she flinched away when he went to touch her arm. I'm glad they had a nice conversation at the end. 

(I did like Janine trying to have a serious conversation with Ava all while having that thing around her neck, though XD. And poor Gregory. "I'm going to start shaving my head.") 

[Galileo908]

A Mr. Morton episode?! And he's got two ex-wives? That tracks. And while everyone piles on Jacob (no shock everyone wrote his name for the hat), he insulted Barbara and she was right to go off on him. I can see how she took a swing at that kid's dad. And Jacob's hatred for Mr. Morton outweighs his care for the children?! But I get it now...he's like Gregory if he was smug. Insulting all the kids' science projects and making Barbara and Jacob go along with it and turned Barbara into a hater...first time I ever said "oh FUCK YOU" to someone in this show since the Smith Playground episode.

"Can't believe you need permission to be a nerd."

"I hate it when men talk to each other."

Ava was on fire this week. Of course she'd be all over the project about water filtration because it relates to her doomsday prepping. And of course she makes Science Fair into a competition because she got involved. And man, Gregory still going to Ava's dad's shop. Ava's pain about her dad runs DEEP. It just made me think about how much of her "jokes" and sniping and showmanship are just coping mechanisms.

And yay, Courtney won the science fair! Diabolical bastard, her project was demonstrating that all the adults go too far with competition and staged a kid coup.

Love that Mr. Johnson still thinks Melissa has a thing for him. And of course he was one of the Hidden Figures at NASA (he was hidden really well in the movie)

Edited Yest. at 02:19 AM by Galileo908

[kathyk2]

I didn't understand why the teachers were helping the students instead of their parents. My heart broke for Ava it explains so much about her character.

[Crashcourse]

The kids ruled this episode.

[kathyk2]

9 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

The kids ruled this episode.

Was I the only one who wondered where Lila was? She would have rocked a solar system project.

[JeanJean]

I felt that, for Abbott, this was a kind of "med" episode. But a "meh" episode of Abbott is still fun and better than most other shows.

I didn't like Jacob psyching out Mr. Morton. The guy was trying. Are they a little too comfortable being mean to anyone who's not in the clique?

I did enjoy Ava psyching out Janine, though! Although I kind of saw it coming.

Full Disclosure: I was working while watching, so I'll have to watch it again.

Edited Yest. at 03:41 AM by JeanJean

[txhorns79]

So was the idea of the episode that the adults are almost all assholes?   

I really am tired of Ava's treatment of Janine.  I feel like it's at a point where she's just essentially kicking a puppy.  

On the positive side, Mr. Johnson's claim to have been one of the hidden figures at NASA was pretty funny.  I checked to see if William Stanford Davis had been in the movie, but sadly, he was not.   

[Harvey]

“I used to work at NASA. I was one of the Hidden Figures.”

“I saw the movie and you weren’t in it.”

“That’s how hidden I was.”

🤣

[peeayebee]

12 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Of course she'd be all over the project about water filtration because it relates to her doomsday prepping.

Ah, I wondered what she was doing with those jars of beans and such.

So now we clearly see why everyone hates Morton. In a way, I preferred when the reason for the hatred of him was unstated.

Barbara: You are tap-dancing on my last nerve, Morton. And I don't like the choreography.

I really liked this...

Morton: I know I can come across as harsh…
Jacob: So you're aware of it and you still do it.

... because it's annoying to me when a person says they're aware of something bad they do. So, like Jacob suggests, then why keep doing it?

Everyone writing down Jacob's name was funny, but even better was Jacob saying, "I wrote down 'Barbara'."

I loved this exchange:

Janine: What's your experiment?
Student: I'm gonna make a volcano.
Janine: Oooo, that sounds like a blast.
Student, not appreciating the pun: Okay.

Janine's face was great.

As usual, Ava had a lot of funny lines.

Janine: I'm going to kick your ass tomorrow.
Ava: Please. You couldn't reach my ass to kick it.

I hope we find out what exactly happened betw Ava and her father. I assume it's really something serious, at least to Ava, rather than just her 'being Ava.'

Mr Johnson cracked me up a few times, too. Saying he was one of the Hidden Figures. Agreeing that googly eyes on a potato was a great idea, and then making that face like he was a potato with googly eyes. Saying at the Science Fair, "Too late. We already whooped in agreement."

As far as the plot itself, it was predictable. I knew that the social experiment the girl was doing would be about how the adults acted in the fair. The teachers making the fair all about them rather than the kids was also predictable. I don't like when they're petty, like Melissa refusing to lend Janine the hot glue gun. (But certainly other teachers have one, right?)

And it really bothered me how Barbara and Jacob fell in line with Morton re their critiques of the students' experiments. 

 

[jah1986]

12 hours ago, kathyk2 said:

Was I the only one who wondered where Lila was? She would have rocked a solar system project.

Isn't Lila in Janine's class, 2nd grade? Morton said the fair was for 3-8 grades, so she could participate next year.

I enjoyed this episode. I'm tired of Ava being mean all the time to Janine, it's getting old.

Loved seeing Barbara and Jacob work with Morton, seems he never really considered he was the problem.

[marceline]

My big takeaway is what a badass Courtney has grown into. She's grown out of her disruptive phase and instead has emerged as a kind of student leader. She's a strong, smart girl who is unafraid to speak up. I love it!

I still don't know what to think of Morton. I agree with him that science doesn't bend the rules and kids need to learn that but I've always thought that the point of science fairs was to get kids excited about science and his harsh judgment was counterproductive to that goal.

I don't know where the story with Ava and her father is going but I do know that you don't bring on an actor like Keith David unless there's some heavy lifting coming.

[Seelouis]

44 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

 

 

 

 

I hope we find out what exactly happened betw Ava and her father. I assume it's really something serious, at least to Ava, rather than just her 'being Ava.'

 

 

Ava said something about his “other family” so I’m thinking he left her and her mom and started a new family 

[dmmetler]

I’m glad Courtney is back-and I appreciated getting to see the kids in action. 

[peeayebee]

48 minutes ago, marceline said:

I still don't know what to think of Morton. I agree with him that science doesn't bend the rules and kids need to learn that but I've always thought that the point of science fairs was to get kids excited about science and his harsh judgment was counterproductive to that goal.

Exactly. When Morton announced that there was no winner, and Barbara and Jacob both made discouraging comments about the students' efforts, I'm sure none of the kids would have wanted anything more to do with science. Good thing they decided to do the fair all by themselves and by their rules.

The children should be encouraged, not held to a standard set by Morton. Obviously, the more fun they have, and the better they feel about their accomplishments, the more they'll want to do it again. And they'll learn.

[MicheleinPhilly]

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and laughed out loud quite a bit. But my biggest laugh came at the very end when the build up to the volcano really blowing turned into a whimper and a fart immediately followed by the production company's "Delicious" tagline. 

 

[kathyk2]

4 hours ago, Seelouis said:

Ava said something about his “other family” so I’m thinking he left her and her mom and started a new family 

I think Ava was the result of an affair that's why she blackmailed the superintendent. She mentioned growing up poor which makes sense if her father wasn't there while she was a child.

[UGAmp]

Tyler James Williams directed this episode. His directorial debut. When he was not in it very much, I was curious if that could be the case but forgot to check but I saw a post on Reddit of him with a bunch of the kids. Very cute! Wonder if others will follow suit?