Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/ABC
It is trying times for school teachers who are just trying to make it to winter break. The team over at Abbott Elementary is no different, especially with an ongoing substitute teacher shortage in the Philadelphia area. That, paired with a bunch of sick teachers, is a recipe for disaster. If Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) can’t lead our next generation of thinkers, who else will?
The answer may surprise you: Principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James), who steps up to the plate in this week’s episode of Abbott Elementary, “Sick Day.” Ava shoots herself in the foot in the first few minutes of the episode. She takes everything out of the fridge to make room for her new skincare line, which requires refrigeration, apparently. Janine’s lunch (a tuna salad sandwich, which probably demands more refrigeration than some eye patches) gets kicked out in the process, moved to the overheated windowsill instead of a fridge shelf.
Janine, foolish as ever, gobbles down the entire sandwich. Not long after, she’s FaceTiming Ava from home on her deathbed, attempting not to barf as she asks for a sick day. Ava grants her one—though Janine attempts to come to work several times—and attempts to call her a sub. No such luck. The district’s out of subs.