"2 Ava 2 Fest" is the tenth episode of Season Three of Abbott Elementary.
Abbott prepares for it's upcoming AVA Fest aka Open House. And while Ava is eager to bring in legendary musician Questlove as the show's headliner, her coworkers are worried about her lying again and are preparing to handle the fallout behind her back. And as the district coworkers set up a party in honor of Janine's inclusion, the VIP starts to have misgivings over whether she made the right choice in choosing administration over Abbott.
Tropes in this episode include:
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: The Cold Open focuses on the underutilized cafeteria staff as they prep up for the upcoming festival.
- Been There, Shaped History: Ava mentions that she impressed Questlove with her rhythm and would become the founder of the Roots.
- Big "NO!": Shanae screams this after Mr. Johnson calls her team's main entry trash.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick:
- Janine's parting gifts from her Abbott friends include a heart-felt letter (Barbara), a framed photo of Jacob (Jacob), a bottle of mace (Melissa), and a single strand from a mop (Mr. Johnson).
- While describing Janine's party, Emily mentions that there will be cake and fun only for Simon to add in blood oaths.
- Brick Joke: Mr. Johnson's gift for Janine was a strand from his favorite mop. While dancing at the end, he tells Janine that he'll be needing that strand back.
- Cassandra Truth: No one in the Abbott Crew believes Ava having a close history with Questlove. To everyone's astonishment, he actually shows up and confirms everything that Ava said was true.
- Chekhov's Gun: One of the parting gifts Janine receives is a letter from Barbara. When she's having an emotional crisis during her party, Janine reads the letter which helps her feel more at ease. But it's only reading the additional part of her letter (the one where her students signed) does she make her return to Abbott.
- Cold Open: The episode starts with the Abbott cafeteria staff undergoing a Bear-esque montage as they prepare entries for the upcoming festival.
- Continuity Nod:
- Devon, the cafeteria man, mentions how AVA Fest the Sequel is just around the corner. Greggo also brings up how Ava lied to everyone about Jasmine Sullivan showing up.
- Superintendent Reynolds explains that Janine's library program is a rising success.
- Barbara called in her church choir while Jacob summoned the Story Samurai as potential performers.
- Melissa offers to do an impersonation bit as a performance option.
- Cringe Comedy: Melissa's impressions feel rather jarring as her Abbott friends do their best to tolerate them.
- Crying Wolf: Thanks to Ava lying about bringing Janine Sullivan to AVA Fest last year, no one believes her in regards to Questlove. Melissa even namedrops the titular fable while labeling Ava as both the liar and the wolf.
- Didn't Think This Through: When Janine applied for an administrator position, she assumed that she would only be working with elementary schools. But Super Nintendo Reynolds explains that she'll be covering middle and high schools too.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Even though Superintendent Reynolds accepts Janine's resignation, he does bring up that he will be holding a grudge against Abbott for as long as his heart is pumping.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Janine ultimately decides to return to Abbott Elementary and is welcomed with open arms by her work family. Gregory gets a message saying that his request for funding for his Garden Goofballs program has been approved. And Ava pulls off a successful AVA Fest 2.0 thanks to Questlove showing up to give a spectacular performance.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: The last scene of the episode reveals that the district worker with glasses always hated Janine and won't be missing her. He even knocks out the nameplate from her door.
- History with Celebrity: Ava mentions how she used to hang out with Questlove and can use him as a potential headliner for AVA Fest the Second Reckoning.
- I Choose to Stay: Janine ultimately decides to quit her administration job so she can become a full time teacher at her favorite school.
- Improbably Predictable: Ava tasks Gregory with bringing back Janine's Abbott lanyard knowing that she still has it on her person. And he's quite surprised to see her wearing it after he asks for it back.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: After Simon bitterly comments on how nothing rhymes with "tutor", Manny pulls out various words to rhyme it with.
- Noodle Incident:
- Ava once fought a blue tuna to save Questlove's afro pin when it fell in the water.
- Greg mentions that Tariq is busy moderating a meeting in city hall.
- Shout-Out:
- The food preparation in the Cold Open pays homage to The Bear (2022).
- Emily and Simon chant "One of us! One of us!" to Janine.
- Ava mentions how she had to quit Roots before she destroyed them ala Yoko Ono.
- Status Quo Is God: Janine ultimately returns to Abbott while cutting ties with her old district job.
- The Stinger: Manny, alongside Emily and Simon, both lament on how Janine left them and try to continue onward in spite of their heartbreak. Though one of the district workers, the snooty one with glasses, proudly admits that he hated Janine and is glad that she's gone.
