"Willard R. Abbott" is the sixth episode of Season Three of Abbott Elementary.
Janine kickstarts a library program and brings a fun and sharp new librarian Ms. Rosalyn Inez (played by the legendary Cree Summer) to Abbott. While the faculty is accepting of the new addition to the team, Barbara is the only one who doesn't like her organized methods which also puts her at odds with Janine who doesn't want to disappoint the woman she strongly admires. As this happens, Jacob turns to Melissa for potential shelter after being kicked out of his apartment and become quick friends with one another.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Ava and Gregory question what Melissa defines as the worst financial decision of her life.Ava: Divorce?
Gregory: Rooting for the 6ers?
Melissa: I became a teacher. - Bait-and-Switch: While checking the reviews for the new library program, Gregory finds Barbara's and insists that Janine read it herself.Janine (reading): I wish I could say that this program has been a positive addition to Abbott Elementary... but that would be insufficient.
- Been There, Shaped History: Manny picks up one of Mr. Johnson's donated baseball cards and is astounded to learn that he was part of the Negro Leagues.
- Birds of a Feather: Jacob and Melissa get along like spaghetti and meatballs when they discover how much they have in common.
- Blind Obedience: Because of how much Barbara has helped Janine throughout her teaching career, Janine is willing to take her side regarding the new librarian and even considers terminating the library program just because Barbara doesn't like it. But as Gregory points out, the school is greatly benefitting from its new librarian and Barbara is being irrational with her disdain for Ms. Inez, meaning that Janine will have to put aside her admiration for Barbara to keep the program.
- Call-Back: Barbara uses a Jamaican accent when voicing a rabbit near the end.
- Calling the Old Woman Out: As much as it terrifies her to talk back against her greatest role model and "work mom", Janine openly tells Barbara that she's wrong about the library program as it is promoting academic success in the scholars and she will fight to keep the program running.
- Cold Open: Melissa openly discusses with her friends about her putting up her apartment space and assures them that she's taken extra steps to be careful while doing so, even using a fake name while doing so. Then Jacob comes in and shocks everyone with the reveal of him being her future renter.
- Comically Missing the Point: After Janine refers to the library project as a "pilot program", Mr. Johnson rambles about having been part of a pilot program in the 70s.
- Continuity Nod: Jacob is looking for a new apartment after breaking up with Zach.
- Disaster Dominoes: Jacob brings up how after he ate lunch made by Melissa, Mr. Johnson decided it was a free for all and decided to steal Barbara's lunch which led to Barbara guzzling all the coffee out of anger which meant Gregory couldn't restock on energy which led to him overflowing his garden with water which led to the Abbott kids tracking mud on the school floors.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Janine decides to stand up to Barbara and makes it clear that she will fight for the program because of all the god it's done. This results in Barbara leaving a positive review thus ensuring that the librarian can stay. She even accepts Ms. Inez's olive branch by joining her in a read-aloud to her class.
- I Told You So: Gregory gives a somber "told you" after Jacob admits that mentioning "great hugger" in his profile would lead to disaster.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Barbara refuses the librarian's help in learning how to use Google Doc by saying she knows darn well how to use a Google doctor.
- Irony: Before Ms. Inez came into his life, Greg mentions having spent two hours finding a book on time management.
- It's All About Me: Barbara was willing to torpedo the very successful librarian program all because Ms. Inez's way of organizing and running the library meant that Barbara couldn't have free reign of the place anymore.
- Jerkass Ball: Barbara grabs onto the ball in this episode as she strongly dislikes the new librarian despite how efficient she is at her job along with encouraging reading for the Abbott Elementarians. She even threatens to give a negative review of Ms. Inez's performance which comes with the risk of sending her away due to Barbara's seniority and the need for all teachers to be okay with her.
- Kick the Dog:
- After Ava is unable to make fun of Jacob's new shirt thanks to Melissa vouching for him, she settles for making fun of Mr. Johnson's shoes which drives him to tears.
- It happens again when Melissa unintentionally invites him out of for dinner only for her to take back the invitation to hang out with Jacob.
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: Melissa and Jacob both discuss how their exes turned out like their parents; Gary turned into Melissa's dad and Zach became Jacob's mom.
- Metaphorgotten: Janine tries to compare herself to clay and Barbara as that one spinning thing used to stir and mold clay into beautiful things. Later she mentions how she never understood the phrase "you can't see the forest for the trees".
- The Needs of the Many:
- Realizing how out of whack the work environment is because of their friendship, Jacob and Melissa decide to hide their new bond in the hope of bringing balance to the universe.
- Janine learns that she'll need to risk losing Barbara's respect for her in order to keep the library program alive.
- Platonic Declaration of Love: Jacob and Melissa ultimately decide to profess how much they like each other as friends and how they'll make their friendship open for all to see, much to the apathy of their coworkers.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Rosalyn Inez takes her job as the new librarian quite responsibly. Along with organizing all the books in the correct order, she provided a schedule system for when each class can come in to read and do research for their assignments, thus boosting their grades. And of course she goes all out when it comes to story time for the little ones.
- Shout-Out:
- Jacob and Melissa begin to bond over their love of The Real Housewives New Jersey edition.
- While Janine is in deep thought, Greggo describes her as Raven having a vision.
- Ava mentions that the only "white on white" friendship she cares about is Ben and Jerry's
.
- The Stinger: Ms. Inez reads The Tortoise and the Hare to Ms. Howard's class and even invites Ms. Howard to read alongside her. Not only does Barbara accept her invitation but she goes all out in voicing her hare character. Janine and Greg watch on in delight though Greg questions why she's giving a Jamaican accent to the rabbit.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When explaining the new library program to the camera, Janine clarifies that this will be a win for Abbott and not for her.
- Tempting Fate: Melissa assures her friends that she feels confident about a potential renter named "Lester" who's interested in her apartment space. Then comes in Jacob who reveals that he's her new renter.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Gregory calls out Janine for considering terminating the very successful library program for no reason other than her Blind Obedience to Barbara.
