Review: Abbott Elementary, “Halloween Party” | Season 6, Episode 4

The joy of a long-running 22-episode sitcom is the way it becomes part of our lives; something woven into the rhythms and routines that make up each year. There’s no better example of that than Abbott Elementary’s annual Halloween episodes. Early on, the show established itself as a series that would go all-out for spooky season, and that now provides a built-in sense of anticipation about what pop culture and/or Disney synergy costumes the show is going to pull together each year. I wouldn’t say Abbott’s Halloween episode is some massively important tradition in my life, but it is a genuinely nice way to mark this time of year. The days may be getting shorter, but at least we’ve got Barbara as a Cheesecake Factory to get us through it. (Insane timing on that one.)

That sense of goodwill is helpful for an episode that has some pretty intense peaks and valleys. There are a couple touches here that felt like a welcome course correction from last season, one comedic “setpiece” that totally failed to land for me, and a storyline that had me very concerned the show was going to repeat last season’s biggest miscalculation. Yet in the end it all came together a little better than I thought it would, which makes it hard to judge as a whole. Let's toss this one up as both a trick and a treat.