Episode |
"Egg Drop" is the eighth episode of the second season and 21st overall of Abbott Elementary. It aired on November 16, 2022.
Description[]
When the eighth-grade science class participates in an egg drop activity, Janine insists her second-grade class joins in. Even when the science teacher and Gregory tell her that her students aren’t ready for physics lessons, Janine is determined to prove them wrong. Then, when Barbara is shocked at the clothing one of her student’s parent's wears, she learns to not judge someone solely based on their appearance.
Plot[]
All the teachers gather for their Midterm Development Meeting. According to Janine, this is where teachers explore benchmarks for the second half of the year. Ava is presiding over the meeting, and she calls for the staff to talk about their individual goals. Some of the staff go ahead and state their respective goals. Mr. Morton, an eighth-grade Science teacher tells everyone that his class will be needing the gym and a safety ladder next week for their egg drop experiment. Janine chimes in and says that it sounds like a great opportunity to be creative so she asks if her students could participate in the experiment. Mr. Morton warns her that the egg drop is too advanced for her students but agrees to let the join his class.
The following day in Barbara’s class, Krystal, one of her students’ mothers, is dropping off Tamika, her daughter. She happily greets Barbara as she says goodbye to her child. However, all Barbara can see is her “Bitch” tattoo on her bosom which immediately offends her due to its obscenity.
In the teachers’ lounge, Mr. Morton is collecting eggs that the other teachers have donated for the egg drop. Janine goes to him and asks him how much glitter his students usually used on their “egg drop thingies.” Mr. Morton responds that they don’t use glitter because that would add mass which would throw off the equation. Janine presses for an answer, but Mr. Morton ignores her and leaves with his eggs.
Gregory asks Janine if the egg drop is right for her kids since it takes a fairly decent understanding of physics. Janine answers that it is because learning should be fun and about new experiences, and not whether or not the eggs break. Gregory disagrees with her, because he thinks that that is the point of the experiment. Melissa interrupts them, exasperated that her students now also want to join the egg drop because Janine’s students told her kids about the experiment.
The next day, Krystal drops off her daughter in Barbara’s class. Barbara goes to her and politely asks that she cover up when she is around the children. Krystal graciously obliges and closes her jacket, revealing the word “Slut” printed on the front. A student reads the print and asks Barbara what it means which flusters Barbara.
The day of the egg drop has arrived and the eighth-grade students, as well as Melissa and Janine’s classes have gathered in the gym. Mr. Morton is atop the ladder dropping the last of his students’ eggs. Melissa’s class is next, and she climbs the ladder with her eggs. She drops the eggs more than one at a time, with none of them breaking. This is met with cheers from her students. Next, Janine climbs the ladder for her class’s turn at the experiment. She drops the eggs one by one and one by one they all break. This failure makes her students cry. She tries to reward their creativity with medals but the whole class is too sad to acknowledge her.
Later in the teachers’ lounge, Janine demands to know how none of Melissa’s eggs broke during the experiment. Melissa tells her that she cheated and hard-boiled her kids’ eggs because second graders would not be able to understand the science behind the egg drop. This is all better than having a class full of crying second graders. Janine feels terrible because her students feel awful and now, they need to have a successful egg drop to feel better. Gregory chimes in saying that they feel bad because they failed, but it is all part of science. He offers to walk Janine through the science behind the egg drop so she can help her students with the experiment.
Barbara vents about Krystal to Ava and Melissa. She is still offended by her “Bitch” tattoo and is convinced that the young mother just needs a little guidance. When Krystal drops her daughter off the following day, Barbara offers her a pamphlet about a support group for single mothers. She also offers her information about a monthly clothes swap, if ever she wanted some nice clothes. Offended, Krystal retorts that she is still married to her husband of six years and that she had no plans of trading first-run items from her own clothing line.
Meanwhile, Gregory is about to teach Janine about the scientific principles behind the egg drop, which he says are fairly complex for second graders. Janine responds by saying that she believes in her students and that she wants to show them that if they believe in themselves, they can do anything. Gregory tells her that positive thinking your way through physics is not possible and that failure is part of science. If you cannot accept failure, then you can never learn from it. She shares with the camera that when she was younger, she had trouble keeping her shoes tied and was made fun of for it which is why she wears Velcro shoes. She says that if there’s anything she’s learned about failure, it is that it sucks and that she doesn’t want her students to feel it.
In her class, Janine is helping her students with their second round of their egg drop experiment. Mr. Morton comes to her class to retrieve his scales which Janine took earlier. She tells him that her students are building new egg drop contraptions and that she would like to request that he put on another egg drop event. Mr. Morton rudely rejects her request and tells her to just stick to lessons that are more up to their speed such as tying their shoelaces, a likely jab at her Velcro shoes.
Janine goes to Gregory to vent her annoyance with Mr. Morton’s unwillingness to help with the egg drop event. Gregory suggests that she conduct the experiment without him. Janine tells him that that isn’t the point. She wants to shield her students from people like Mr. Morton who keeps telling them what they cannot do, and she plans to do so with positivity. Gregory tells her that her approach of too much positivity is toxic, and the truth is, the egg drop is just too advanced for her students. Janine relents and accepts this as she readies herself to tell her students the truth.
Barbara is in the teachers’ lounge, browsing Krystal’s clothing line website which consists of lingerie and apparel with cuss words written on them. Ava comments that Barbara must really have a problem with Krystal if she is cyberstalking her website. Ava asks if the child is in danger and how her grades and attendance are. Barbara answers that Tamika is fine, and her grades and attendance are stellar. Ava says that she doesn’t really see anything to worry about if that is the case. Barbara admits that she misjudged Krystal when she was confronting her, but she just doesn’t understand why a grown woman would act the way she does. Ava asks her if she really needs to understand.
Later, Krystal picks up her daughter from Barbara’s class. Barbara apologizes for making assumptions about her character when she has been showing how good a parent she is. Krystal says that people have always been quick to judge her, but that is her inspiration for her apparel line. She then admits that she sometimes forgets that her clothes are not for kids, and so moving forward, she will be wearing PG-rated clothing.
Janine brings balloons to her class for an age-appropriate science lesson. They go to the gym and conduct the “egg lift” experiment where they learn about mass using the eggs and the balloons she brought. She releases the balloons and most of them pop after hitting the ventilation fans. This time, however, the kids take this in stride and cheer in the name of science.
Starring[]
- Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues
- Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie
- Janelle James as Ava Coleman
- Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti
- Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill
- William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson
- Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard
Guest Starring[]
- Jerry Minor as Mr. Morton
- Raven Goodwin as Krystal
Co-Starring[]
- Royce Lewis as Tamika
- Lennox Simms as Eli
- Peyton Turner as Nia
- Shy Avery as Barbara's Student #1
- Miranda Lark Winans as Joya
- Tiberius Byrd as Etienne
- Myhonesty Ross as Barbara's Student #2
Ratings[]
"Egg Drop" was watched by 2.657 million viewers, earning a 0.46 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale.[1]
Media[]
Episode stills[]
References[]
- ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (November 17, 2022). SHOWBUZZDAILY'S Wednesday 11.16.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated. ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved on December 12, 2022.
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