"Gifted Program" is the sixth episode of Abbott Elementary's first season.
Janine has the idea of opening a gifted program in Abbott, to mixed results. Meanwhile, Melissa is thinking of asking out the snack machine guy.
Tropes
- Amicable Exes: Despite their messy divorce, Melissa is confident enough to call her ex-husband for love advice and he's more than willing to help her out.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Malcolm sincerely asks Ava what her job is to which she responds that she's the principal. His response?Malcolm: But you don't do anything.
- Commitment Issues: Melissa has a difficult time pursuing Gary as a boyfriend out of fear of undergoing a messy breakup like she did with her first husband.
- Disproportionate Retribution: After being told off that she doesn't do anything, Ava decides to shut down the gifted program. Though thankfully Janine and friends have an alternative solution that doesn't involve completely shutting it down.
- Egg Sitting: Jacob's first lesson in the gifted program is a lesson on how chicken eggs hatch. Janine decides to make her own egg raising lesson so her kids won't feel left out. Unfortunately, she got them from Melissa who ended up providing her with eggs from an endangered species of snakes.
- Hidden Depths:
- Ava used to be part of a sorority. Though she thinks bitterly about her former sisters as they always call just to brag about their successful kids.
- Greg confides in Janine that he was never accepted into his school's gifted program which made him feel like he wasn't good enough compared to his gifted peers.
- Metaphorgotten: Janine attempts to teach a student about subtraction using potatoes, only for the student to get distracted since she doesn't like potatoes.
- New Transfer Student: Malcolm is introduced as a new kid from a private academy. To his dismay, he spends most of the day having to cater to Ava's childish antics and trivial tech needs.
- Noodle Incident: Janine has a habit of stealing food from the cafeteria for visual learning lessons.
- Office Romance: Melissa and Gary seem to have an attraction to each other and Barbara encourages them to get together.
- Running Gag: Ava making fun of how Janine walks or enters a room.
- Saying Too Much: While informing the staff about the school's former gifted program, Ava brings up how she's tried to use that program's money for her own reasons with no avail.
- Shipper on Deck: Barbara can see sparks between her fellow queen and the vending machine guy and encourages the former to give him a chance.
- Shout-Out:
- Ava mentions the film 127 Hours while talking with Jacob and then gives the okay for him and Janine to re-open their "mutant academy".
- Jacob compares himself to Robin Williams as he leads the gifted program.
- Skewed Priorities: Gregory is upset about the program taking some of his kids because they're the most talkative. And without them, he needs to be the one to fill the silence.
