"Mom" is the twenty-first episode of the second season of Abbott Elementary.
Janine's plans to go on a solo trip are threatened when her mother suddenly shows up at the school seeking money to pay off her phone bill. Meanwhile, Gregory tries to improve his small-talk abilities.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Abusive Parents: Vanetta uses emotional manipulation in an attempt to trick her daughter into paying her six hundred dollar phone bill. She also doesn't seem too bothered by how she raised Aeysha.
- Age-Appropriate Angst: Janine's mother takes offense to one of the students calling her Grandma Teagues.
- Bait-and-Switch: Ava comments on how Vanetta coming by to swindle money from her daughter is plain cold. Barbara aft first thinks she agrees with her, only for Ava to pull out a phone telling herself to get her own daughter to "play the long game".
- Be Yourself: Accepting that he can't do small talk like the others, Gregory decides to be himself and make casual talk. It ends up working and creates a spark of friendship between him and Shanae.
- Bittersweet Ending: Janine succeeds in not giving all her money to her mom and instead proposes a payment plan that'll force Vanetta to be independent later on. Though she does give some money for the plan meaning that she won't get the massage she always wanted. That and there's no telling whether her relationship with Vanetta will change for the better. Though at the very least, she has Barbara's support who even treats her to a shopping venture.
- Blatant Lies:
- Vanetta frequently mentions how she never got any calls or messages from Janine. The look from her daughter tells that she's used to this.
- After getting caught by Janine trying to shake down Barbara for money, Vanetta actually tries to claim that Barbara threatened her. Janine doesn't buy this for a second, because she knows Barbara well enough to know that Barbara would never do such a thing.
- Book Ends: The story ends with Jacob pulling off magic tricks in front of his coworkers.
- Call-Back:
- Jacob references his boyfriend Zach's shoe collection which has overrun their apartment.
- Janine brings up the light bulb she fixed to her mom.
- She also almost brings up the parent who made her cry.
- Vanetta never knew that Janine and Tariq broke up months ago.
- Cold Open: The Amazing Jacob mystifies his class and boss with regular magic tricks. Melissa passes by and isn't impressed with his standard gimmicks.
- A Day in the Limelight: Shanae the Lunch Lady is given more screentime as Gregory is tasked with making small talk with her.
- Easily Impressed: Ava is genuinely floored by The Amazing Jacob's sorcery tricks.
- Five-Finger Discount: While alone in the teacher's lounge, Vanetta tries to steal whatever her cheap painted nails can grab.
- Funny Background Event: After Ava makes a joke about how the children's Styrofoam projects could be dangerous to the environment, Jacob reacts in silent horror.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Ava recognizes she can't take Vanetta in a fight, and quickly vacates the premises.Ava: The key to not getting your ass beat? Knowing when someone can beat your ass.
- Like Parent, Unlike Child: Ava is surprised to learn that dorky and unappealing Janine is the daughter of a cool, hardcore woman like Vanetta.
- Mama Bear:
- Despite their difficult relationship, Vanetta is protective of Janine and shoots Ava the Death Glare for making fun of her.
- Filling in as her work mom, Barbara politely stands up to Vanetta to convince her to leave Janine alone.
- Refuge in Audacity: Ava considers having her own daughter so can emotionally manipulate her into giving her money, just like what Vanetta is trying to do to Janine.
- Shout-Out: Melissa pays homage to Regina George when "complimenting" a teacher's sweater.Melissa: Hey! Teal sweater! Yeah! (to Greg) You see I'm lying, that sweater's hideous.
- So Proud of You:
- Barbara expresses pride towards Janine for her upcoming solo trip and how she plan to properly treat herself.
- Vanetta says this in order to lower Janine's defenses about her phone bill.
- The Stinger: At the end of the day, Janine and Greg catch up with each other about their respective adventures. They do this while ignoring Jacob using his esper powers on a spoon that Melissa serves witness to.
- Take a Third Option: Not wanting to leave her mother with no phone service, but also not wanting to give up all the money she'd saved for her trip, Janine makes a deal with her mother: she'll help Vanetta set up a payment plan with the phone company and also front her the first two payments, but after that, Vanetta is on her own.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Shanae says this word for word after Gregory misinterprets her refusal to give him almonds.
