"Fight" is the twelfth episode of the second season of Abbott Elementary.
Janine tries to make two fighting students make up. Meanwhile, Gregory's father comes back to his life, trying to get him into the family business. And elsewhere, Ava teams up with Melissa to take down Mr. Johnson in fantasy football.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Absurd Phobia: One of Ava's fears, apart from facing Mr. Johnson in fantasy football, is having to kill her granny during the zombie apocalypse.
- Bittersweet Ending: Janine ultimately accepts that Joya and Zara can't be friends along with how some people just can't befriend one another. But on the flip side, the girls do show respect to each other and their older sisters form a new friendship (though the part about them beating up people does concern Janine).
- Cold Open: Janine sees a flyer for Gregory's father's landscaping business and is disturbed to see that he hired someone to pretend to be Gregory in the flyer. It gets weirder when Ava stops by asking for the fake son's number.
- Badass Pacifist: Mr. Johnson claims to be a pacifist. As in someone messes with him then he'll "pass a fist" to their face.
- Bash Sisters: After their cafeteria fight, the elder sisters become close friends when they learn that they both love beating people up.
- I Choose to Stay: In spite of his father's visit and praising him for his improved gardening skills, Greggo decides to decline his offer and wishes to remain a teacher at Abbott.
- Disappointed in You: A boy in a kufi cap is crushed to see two queens (Kiki and Alexis) fight each other.
- Family Business: Gregory's father returns to promote his Lawn and Care business. But this time, he wants his son to work with him so he can take over.
- Feud Episode: The episode's theme revolves around Janine trying to get two of her students, Zara and Joya, to stop fighting each other.
- Feuding Families: After Janine threatens to take away movie night to her feuding students, the two girls send their older sisters to fight on their behalf. Though it's subverted when the older sisters find common ground with each other.
- Freudian Excuse: Janine has a hard time with conflict due to having spent her entire life mediating fights between her sister and mother, and still having to do it well into adulthood.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: After Janine claims that the relationship between her mother and sister is much better now, Jacob asks if her sister now lives in Colorado.
- Internal Reveal: Jacob and Barbara finally learn that it was Gregory who was preserving the well-being of their school garden.
- Mistaken Age: Keke, Zara's sister, mistakes Miss Teagues for an 8th grader (Joya's sister Alexis) that she's supposed to beat up.
- Noodle Incident: Mr. Johnson once attended a party at the Playboy Mansion in 1986.
- Shout-Out:
- Janine purposefully misinterprets Zara's threat of "beating up" Joya as "beaming up".
- Ava references Stranger Things when she sees Gregory standing like a statue in the hallway.
Ava: What's your favorite song Gregory?!- Janine frequently plays Toy Story movies for her class to watch. Though she can't watch 3 anymore because it makes her cry.
- Stealth Insult: Mr. Johnson stops by the teacher's lounge and looks inside an empty trash bin.Mr. Johnshon: Looking for your [Melissa] fantasy football team because it's trash!
- The Stinger: In the end, Sir Johnson appears to gloat about his winnings and reveals to his rivals that he allied himself with Jacob to secure his football team.
- So Proud of You: Mr. Eddie Sr says this to his son for keeping the family legacy alive through the school garden.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Greggo's explanation for why his father is in town along with predicting how he'll criticize his current job shows how excited he is for the upcoming visit.
- Toilet Humor: Zara's tracing project of Joya features her filled with poop. Joya retaliates by describing how smelly Joya is because she stinks.
- Was It All a Lie?: Barbara is exceptionally heartbroken to hear that it was Gregory who was saving the garden while she and Jacob did nothing to contribute to it's flourishment.
- What's In It For Me?: Melissa says this word for word when Ava comes to her for help in defeating Mr. Johnson. She settles for 20 percent of her winnings and her shelf in the lounge fridge.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Greg's father is highly impressed with his son taking initiative in maintaining the school garden. Greg of course does not like the approval one bit.
