Review: Abbott Elementary, “Safety Day” | Season 5, Episode 15

Even at its best, Abbott Elementary has never been a particularly structurally tight sitcom. Its strengths are strong characterization, a sensitive eye for social issues, a touch of absurdism, and a general sense of feel-good sweetness rather than true thematic cohesion. Those highs and lows are very much on display in “Safety Day”—a charming but slight episode that lacks a sense of structure to anchor its many disparate threads. Despite the fact that there’s a titular throughline and some very funny individual moments, it all winds up feeling a bit meandering.

It's odd because the episode opens with a fittingly sitcom-y core: to save money, the district has combined all the school’s safety presentations for the year into one day. That means an improv-er from Story Samurai is there to advocate against texting and driving; Melissa’s firefighter boyfriend Captain Robinson is there to talk about fire safety; and a representative from the D.A.R.E. parody group F.A.D.E. (“friends against drug exposure”) is there to “rap about the dangers of drugs.” The writers even make sure to get ahead of a potential nitpick: While the subject matter is a little “dark for an elementary school,” budget cuts mean all high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools are getting the same presentation.

It's a high-concept premise that could easily be subdivided into A, B, and C plots built around each of the three presenters. Yet, for some reason, “Safety Day” winds up treating the presentations themselves as background comedic runners, while the meat of the episode is built around largely unrelated storylines like Melissa’s dating concerns, Jacob’s obsession with a local school board race, and Barbara trying to figure out what her dreams mean.