Review: Abbott Elementary, “Ringworm” | Season 4, Episode 2

You have to appreciate an episode title that tells you exactly what you—and all of a show’s beautiful characters—are getting. With “Ringworm,” there truly is no muss, no fuss in terms of Abbott Elementary giving the audience exactly what it would expect from an episode with that title. Ringworm. Lots and lots of (disgusting) ringworm.

Admittedly, I never experienced ringworm in my youth and continue to avoid it in adulthood. But this is definitely one of those Abbott Elementary plots that hits as something quite grounded in the reality of the world of teaching—especially in a public school system where not even the school district will allow these teachers to try and fix things before they become a bigger problem. The same goes for the reactions from most of the teachers, in terms of their concern and panic about the situation. (The same also goes for Jacob not considering the ringworm situation that big of a deal, both as a young teacher and as, well, Jacob.) Ringworm—or an outbreak of any sort—in a public school is definitely grounds for things to reach DEFCON 1, and in this case, that means both prepper Ava and planner Janine finding themselves mostly on the same page for an episode.