Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column by IGN’s Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. Check out the last entry: Agatha All Along: The MCU Belongs to the Witches Now. This entry contains Abbott Elementary spoilers.
Abbott Elementary has been a joy from the moment its pilot aired back in 2021. Each season has evolved its core group of educators as they go through the motions at their underfunded school, but Season 4 of Abbott Elementary (on its sixth episode at the time of publication) really seems to belong to Tyler James Williams’ Gregory Eddie.
Set in a Philadelphia public school in a predominantly Black neighborhood, Abbott Elementary follows the comedy of errors that often unfold when well-meaning teachers meet a system not designed to support them or the kids that they teach. Quinta Brunson, who created and stars in the show, was inspired by her mother’s 40-year teaching career. The mockumentary format (think The Office and Parks and Recreation) has served the series well over its four seasons, playing into the comedy that comes from a group of people spending all of their time together but, in the beginning, have little in common beyond their profession. The biggest personality gap in the beginning, though, belonged to Gregory. Seeking to be an outsider by design, the character was eventually forced to grow and forge new relationships with his fellow teachers.
Starting as a substitute teacher with aspirations for the role of principal, Gregory was a relatively reserved character in the beginning. After three seasons of will-they-or-won’t-they, Gregory and Brunson’s Janine have finally found themselves in a loving relationship. There have been several factors that dragged Gregory out of his shell, from his bromance with Chris Perfetti’s adorkable Jacob Hill all the way to the simple passage of time, but it’s his relationship with Janine that has resulted in this new side of the character.
Gregory’s deadpan humor and stoic nature are still there, of course. You can’t just fundamentally change a character because you’ve written them into a relationship. Not an adult one, at least. But after finally betting on his relationship with Janine, Gregory has been forced out of his comfort zone this season more than ever. My guy still hates pizza like some kind of lunatic, but now he’s participating in couples costume competitions and counter protesting the loss of a local deli because he loves smoothies so much.
Brunson and the writing team have found balance with both sides of Gregory this season as well, with the perfect example presenting itself in the season’s second episode “Ring Worm.” The scrupulous teacher completely shuts down when the highly contagious fungal infection of the title starts making the rounds at Abbott, giving the writers opportunity to showcase a slightly unhinged version of the character that we’ve rarely seen before. He goes so far as cancelling his planned double-feature date with Janine to avoid getting sick. The moment is a cute callback to what made all of us fall in love with Gregory to begin with, which was telling Janine that he “takes all of your recommendations seriously. I want to know why you like stuff,” and ultimately ends with him deciding that he’d rather risk ringworm than miss out on a date with the girl he waited so long for.
From the beginning, Brunson and the creative team have insisted that this series is as much about the kids as it is the core teaching staff, which rings true for Gregory’s evolution as well. Originally reticent to form relationships with anyone, including his students, we’ve seen the otherwise guarded teacher go from barely willing to let his kids participate in his gardening club seasons ago to nearly ending up in a fight with an estranged parent in Season 4 because they were annoyed that their son connected with their teacher more than their father.
Mastering character evolutions like the writers have with Gregory Eddie is how sitcoms and other long-running series manage to stand the test of time. After all, his stoicism and ambition are what caught our attention in Season 1, but the glimpses of his humanity is what made us all root for him to begin with.
