Abbott Elementary Review: Wishlist (Season 1 Episode 3)

All our wishes are granted Abbott Elementary Season 1 Episode 3, “Wishlist!”

The proverbial dust has settled on the third offering from the new ABC series and the characters have, delightfully, found their groove.

A huge contributor to this shift is the decision to minimize Ava’s predatory skeezy-ness with Gregory. On “Wishlist,” we see Ava interacting with Janine and behind her desk. That works well to allow her character to develop in a more quirky and less creepy direction.

Instead of her cougar behavior, Ava is given shades and depth as a shameless social media expert. She knows how to get those views!

Ava’s uncanny ability to use cinematic-level emotional manipulation in her videos is hilarious and it ties directly to the main lesson of the episode: becoming objectified by trauma porn is a reality that children and educators in underfunded schools constantly face. 

Janine gets her whole wish-list fulfilled thanks to Ava’s special effects-laden video. But, the video that goes viral is the one that makes Ms. Howard and her student seem pitiful and hopeless. That emphasis, though, is the antithesis to how Ms. Howard sees her classroom. 

Ms. Howard: My students do not need to feel less than because of what they don’t have.

And here is where we get the lesson AND the core of the season-long joke.

It is an insider perspective joke. Meaning, the ensemble of compassionate educators are on the inside. They know how it really is to teach in a place that is marginalized for students who are marginalized. They know how it is to be in the fishbowl.

Newbies Gregory and Janine show us the journey of embracing and being embraced by the inside. The jokes come from how the outsiders see our Abbott Elementary crew and how very wrong they are. 

Brilliant. Downright brilliant. 

The core humor source of the series locks into place at the same time the show sheds what was holding it back from being five-star. 

Gone are the lulls in plot that slightly weighed down Abbott Elementary Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot.” “Wishlist,” is paced tightly and smartly.

Mr. Johnson, my favorite character, is integrated nicely into the story. He appears throughout the episode for the C-plot.

It’s a subtle, but very wonderful, nod to the fact that all the staff at a school are an integral part of the community. Janitors are key to the success of a school, and Abbott Elementary is smart to heavily feature Mr. Johnson.

Hopefully, we get to see even more of Mr. Johnson and his back story. 

Quinta Brunson shines as Janine Teagues on “Wishlist.” She refines the idealist character she portrays so that her heart and warmth come through more than her thirstiness.

The interactions between Janine and Gregory are slowed down and given space to have a tiny pauses here and there. Those pauses give space for the chemistry to build. They also make the conversations feel more authentic.

The fact is, in real life, romances aren’t all that quippy.

The discussion about the student drawings and how unable Gregory is to recognize the scenes is perfectly timed and acted. The off-camera lines we hear about how Janine knows the picture is Santa are terribly funny.

It is the perfect kind of joke. It’s funny at no one’s expense. We’re in on the joke as an audience because we can clearly see it is Santa. And, importantly, it brings Janine and Gregory closer. 

I ship it. I officially ship it. 

Abbott Elementary has really arrived. Based on “Wishlist,” we can look forward to more five-star episodes for this freshman comedy.  

What did you think of this episode of Abbott Elementary? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Abbott Elementary airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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