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Episode

"Mom" is the twenty-first episode of the second season and 34th overall of Abbott Elementary. It first aired on April 12, 2023.

Description[]

Janine prepares to take a solo trip over Memorial Day weekend, but her plans get derailed when her mom appears unannounced and asks for help. Elsewhere, Gregory notices his colleagues are great at small talk and realizes he needs to brush up on his people skills.

Plot[]

Jacob is performing magic for Ava and some students in the library. Ava is so amazed by Jacob’s tricks that she calls Melissa to watch. Melissa, however, is unimpressed tells them that what Jacob is doing is just cheap gimmicks. Undeterred, Jacob asks Melissa to pick a card from the deck and he wrongly guesses her card. As Melissa walks away, Jacob reveals that Melissa’s actual card is stuck on her back. Then Ava and the students cheer, their minds blown.

In the teachers’ lounge, everybody is sharing their plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Janine shares that she’s going on a trip by herself to Ocean City in Maryland. Janine is surprised that everyone, including Ava is supportive of her solo vacation. She starts to detail her plans for her trip which includes booking a room at the Princess Royale, a three-star hotel and a massage. She shares to the camera pictures of the room she booked, when she notices a missed call from her mother. She thinks it is just a butt dial, so she says that she will just call her back.

Meanwhile, Gregory is rummaging through the cupboards and Jacob notices and offers to help. Gregory tells him that he is looking for sliced almonds for his otherwise plain oatmeal. Jacob informs him that they are out but Shanae in the cafeteria has a secret stash and that he and Shanae are very close. The two go to the cafeteria where they find Shanae preparing for lunch. She did not seem approachable at first and Gregory starts to back away, but Jacob starts to sing-chant. Shanae goes along with it and she and Jacob start to laugh and talk about her recent move to another apartment. The whole thing takes surprises Gregory as he watches on. Shanae finally asks what she can get Jacob from the kitchen. Jacob asks her if she can spare some sliced almonds for Gregory. Shanae’s pleasant demeanor disappears as she looks at Gregory. She tells him that they stopped serving almonds just a minute ago. Gregory tries to laugh it off thinking it was a joke. However, Shanae remains straight-faced, turns her back and resumes preparing for lunch.

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Vanetta shows up to Janine's class unannounced.

Janine is teaching Geography in her class when she hears a familiar clacking of a pair of heels. A student sees a woman by the door and asks Janine who it is. Janine sees her mom, Vanetta, and her face lights up. Happy, yet confused, she asks her mother what she was doing at Abbott. She had called her mother back but was unable to contact her. Vanetta tells her that what she called Janine and the latter didn’t answer, she got so worried that she had to come and check on her. Janine points out that they haven’t spoken in six months. The bell for recess rings, so Janine sends her students off. She also decides to take her mom to the administration office to get checked in since Vanetta did not have a visitor’s badge on.

During recess, Jacob approaches Gregory and confronts him about the tension between him and Shanae earlier. Gregory brushes it off, saying that it’s whatever. He says that he will just go back to avoiding her and never asking her for anything. He then adds that it’s not a bid deal because he doesn’t need to talk to every single person at school. Jacob scoffs at the remark, pointing out that those were pretty strong words for a wannabe principal. Gregory doesn’t seem to see the connection between small talk and leadership. Melissa chimes in, saying that he didn’t need to be best friends with everybody but that it doesn’t hurt to have a casual conversation once in a while.

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Vanetta meets Barbara and Ava.

On their way to the administration office, Janine and Vanetta run into Barbara and Ava. Ava sees how cool Vanetta is and remarks how wild genetics are since Janine is nothing but. However, she does not finish her sentence when she realizes that Vanetta would beat her up. She retreats hurriedly. Barbara engages in small talk with Janine’s mom and wishes her an enjoyable visit.

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Vanetta and Janine take a selfie before the former's phone is shut off by the phone company.

When the Janine and Vanetta are alone once again, Janine shares that she will be taking a trip to the Ocean City to unwind. Vanetta remembers that Janine had always wanted to go there since she was little, and Janine is happy that her mom remembered. Janine then asks how her mother has been. Vanetta updates her about getting a new job which was work from home. That her mother has finally found a job makes Janine very happy. Vanetta then “casually” brings up being unable to pay her phone bill of $639.17 and that the phone company is threatening to turn her phone off. Janine asks if her mother just came to Abbott because she needed money. Vanetta vehemently denies the accusation and tells her daughter that she just wanted to see her. She takes a selfie of them both, and as she is about to send the picture to Janine, Vanetta’s phone is shut off by the phone company.

Later, the school is having an Earth Day activity at the gymnasium. Janine asks Barbara if she could watch her students while she goes and checks on her mom. Barbara expresses to Janine how lovely it was that her mother has finally come and visit her. Janine tells her how happy she is that her mother has finally made time to visit. She also mentions the drama with Vanetta’s cellphone bill and how her phone just got turned off just now. Barbara is skeptical of Vanetta’s intentions for visiting, although she does not voice this out. Janine shares that she is thinking of using her trip money to help out, since she’s worried about her mother.

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Gregory awkwardly starts a conversation with Nurse Makiah.

Elsewhere in the gym, Ava is engaging in small talk with Nurse Makiah and Shanae. Jacob notes to Gregory that Ava can really work the room. Gregory takes this as a challenge and goes up to Nurse Makiah to start a casual conversation. However, the conversation is stiff and Makiah leaves immediately.

Meanwhile, Barbara expresses her concern over Vanetta’s visit. She finds it convenient that Janine’s mother is visiting her daughter on the day her phone bill is cut off. She knows Janine’s vacation is important and Barbara thinks Janine’s mother is just there to get that money. Melissa agrees with her, but that nothing good ever came from getting involved in another family’s business.

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Janine walks in on Barbara and Vanetta in the teachers' lounge.

Barbara finds Vanetta in the teachers' lounge taking some medicine and food from the drawers. Barbara confronts Vanetta about her bill situation, but Vanetta immediately becomes defensive and tells Barbara that being a personal matter, it is none of her business. Vanetta adds that she didn’t ask for her daughter’s help, but that Janine will do what is right. Barbara agrees that Janine will be helping her at her own expense and in doing so, will be foregoing a very important trip. Barbara then offers to pay her phone bill instead without Janine's knowledge. Before the two can come to an agreement, Janine walks in on the two.

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Janine and Vanetta share a hug.

Janine asks to speak to her mother in her classroom. On the way, Vanetta rants about how Barbara was overstepping her bounds and how judgy she was. She then adds few more (false) details to how things went down before Janine showed up. Janine, unable to believe what her mother is saying about Barbara, asks her mother the real reason why she came to Abbott. Janine had been trying to call her for months, but never got a response. Vanetta insists that she just missed her daughter but was unable to return her calls because she was busy. Accepting the real reason for why her mother was there, Janine offers to help her mother out with her phone bill. She says that she is going to call the phone company to set up a payment plan so that they can turn her phone back on. She also says that she is going to give Vanetta the money, but only for the first two payments because she doesn’t have the rest of the money to spare. Vanetta insists that she was going to figure it out but accepts Janine's offer, nonetheless. Somehow seeing what her daughter is sacrificing for her, Vanetta tells Janine that she loves her and the two share a hug.

Meanwhile, the activity for Earth Day is finally over. The teachers and staff are all helping in cleaning the gym. Gregory accepts that he is bad at small talk and that there are some things that just can’t be taught. As he is cleaning, he overhears Makiah and Shanae talking about the latter’s recent move and unpacking woes. Shanae tells the nurse that she was so busy that she missed the Orioles game and that she hasn’t even had the chance to check the score. Gregory butts in and gives Shanae the low-down on last night’s game. The two then share a brief conversation on their love for baseball and the Orioles. Shanae is pleasantly surprised that Gregory was actually an Orioles fan this whole time.

A while later, Barbara goes to Janine’s classroom to apologize for meddling in her family affairs. Janine, however, is moved that Barbara cared so much that she would do that for her. She shares the compromise she reached with her mom regarding the latter’s phone bill and reassures Barbara that her trip is still on. Unfortunately, Janine had given her mother her massage money, but even so, she is glad she finally set some boundaries which she hopes will lead to them getting closer. Barbara gives Janine some tips for her upcoming trip and decides to accompany the young teacher in buying a new swim cover-up.

In the teachers’ lounge, Jacob is trying out the magic trick of bending a spoon in front of Melissa, Janine, and Gregory. Melissa remains unimpressed and annoyed at Jacob’s new hobby, while Janine and Gregory ignore him. Janine and Gregory share how their days went. Seeing that Janine is heading out, Gregory offers to walk with her. In the background, Jacob manages to bend the spoon. Melissa sees this and drops her bag in shock.

Starring[]

Note: Although William Stanford Davis was credited, he did not appear in this episode.

Special Guest Star[]

Co-Starring[]

Ratings[]

"Mom" was watched by 2.737 million viewers, earning a 0.53 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale.[1]

Media[]

Episode Stills[]

References[]

  1. Metcalf, Mitch (April 13, 2023). SHOWBUZZDAILY's Wednesday 4.12.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED. ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved on April 15, 2023.

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