Abbott Elementary Season 3 Episode 5 Review: Breakup

Abbott Elementary Season 1 did an amazing job of introducing the school and the teachers to the audience. But Abbott Elementary Season 3 is doing a great job at letting us see more of the teachers’ lives outside their jobs.

Abbott Elementary Season 3 Episode 5, “Breakup,” is particularly good at highlighting the power of the friendships the teachers have created with one another. Gregory is Jacob’s support in navigating his breakup, and Ava is Barbara’s motivation to stand up for herself.

The entire episode is a great reminder of how important work friendships can be to survive the craziness of your life.

Barbara and Ava are two completely opposite women on Abbott Elementary, yet this time around, they seem to find common ground. As Ava puts it, the church choir is the Lord’s sorority, which allows the principal to give Barbara the advice she needs.

At Abbott, everyone turns to Barbara for advice. She is the more experienced teacher, the one everyone trusts. But at church, things seem to be different. On the contrary, the ladies constantly comment on how inappropriate she is.

When Ava asks why the ladies don’t like them, Barbara gives her a list of things she does that upset the other ladies. Even though the episode focuses strongly on Ava and Barbara’s friendship, this list highlights Barbara’s strongest friendship: the one with Melissa.

The church ladies don’t like her because of her friendship with the “more colorful teachers.” This is clearly a nod to Melissa’s unholy behavior. What stands out is that Barbara cares more about this friendship than she does about church, which is extremely remarkable for a woman like Mrs. Howard.

All through Abbott Elementary, the friendship between Barbara and Melissa has been highlighted as one of the most important ones on the show, and Abbott Elementary Season 3 Episode 5, “Breakup,” proves this further.

Even though it pains her to be robbed of the solos in the choir, she refuses to change who she is to satisfy a few church ladies. Surely, Melissa would be proud of her friend for this.

If Barbara and Ava’s friendship is unlikely, Gregory and Jacob’s follows in its footsteps. The two men have grown quite a lot since Abbott Elementary Season 1, and we have witnessed their bond grow stronger as a result.

We must admit it is quite sad to see the only queer relationship on the show come to an end. But the relationship between Jacob and Gregory and the way Gregory shows his support make navigating the breakup a bit easier for both Jacon and the audience.

Gregory has always been the odd duck at school, but Jacob has been there to make him feel part of the group and stop him from isolating himself. So, it is nice to see this reciprocated as Gregory shows up for him during a difficult time.

It is also great to see their bond be explored beyond Janine. On previous episodes of Abbott Elementary, it felt as if the two men were only together when Janine was around. However, the two of them are learning to be at Abbott without her, and their friendship clearly helps.

Abbott Elementary Season 3 is separating itself from previous seasons of the show. The tone seems different, particularly with Janine working at the district and a long line of subs taking her place.

One thing we can absolutely highlight from this season is that Abbott Elementary Season 3 Episode 5, “Breakup,” finally gives Sheryl Lee Ralph the room to showcase what a great singer she is. Even though we previously heard her sing “Happy Birthday,” she can now sing several songs, proving her immense talent.

As the season goes on, we hope Abbott Elementary Season 3 continues to give the teachers the screen time they deserve to show why this is the best school on TV.

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

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