Review: Abbott Elementary, “Tryouts” | Season 6, Episode 3
With a shift in perspective, our heroes become villains on a spiky episode of Abbott
The reality of most workplace sitcoms is that they’re not able to focus on everyone who works in said workplace. Unless it’s a tiny office like The Office or Parks and Recreation, there are always going to be other characters on the margins of the story, keeping the hospital/superstore/news station/school running. That’s not such a problem in the early seasons, when it can feel like the show is catching its ensemble in random moments that are part of a bigger, broader life they’re living just off camera. But the longer the show goes on, the more it can accidentally feel like our main characters have formed a clique to the exclusion of everyone else. If Janine, Gregory, Jacob, Melissa, Barbara, and Ava are always doing everything together, it starts to feel like they’re avoiding their other coworkers. And if they are, doesn’t that kind of make them the mean girls of the school?
Abbott has jokingly raised the issue before, including just last week when one of the teachers at Gregory’s check-in complained about how his “little clique” think they run the school. Now “Tryouts” brings it to the forefront with a spiky episode that suggests maybe our kind, caring group of teachers are actually the villains of Abbott Elementary. It turns out when you observe their behavior from the outside-in, it’s a whole lot less charming than when we’re watching them from the inside-out. Bringing in guest stars Ali Wong and Miranda Cosgrove helps shift the show’s comedic perspective to highlight the teachers’ flaws rather than their strengths.
It takes a second to realize that’s what the show is doing, though. The set-up of this week’s episode could easily lead to the same kind of feel-good storytelling we got last week. Ava protectively stops Jacob’s podcast club from invading the gym because step class is “the one thing those girls look forward to.” Melissa and Barbara decide to increase their teaching skills (and score some extra cash) by becoming certified in special education. And Gregory, Janine, and Jacob decide to be extra welcoming to the latest first grade sub so they can finally land on a permanent replacement for Gregory—not least of all because Janine is tired of making new friendship bracelets every week.
