The first three episodes of ABC’s original Abbott Elementary, from the new Season 5, provide a promising glimpse into what the rest of the season could look like.
The new season opens with some new changes, such as Ms. Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) transitioning from teaching second-graders to sixth-graders. Because of this, Ms.Teagues (Quinta Brunson) has to combine the second-grade classes, leaving her with over 40 students.
There are also some additions to the cast: the school’s first counselor, Ms. Elena Alamar (Marcella Arguello), and a new teacher named Dominic (Luke Tennie), who also happens to be a former student of Mrs. Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph).
Also, for the first time, the show filmed an episode live at a Philadelphia Phillies game, during which player Kyle Schwarber hit a historic four home runs. Schwarber also appeared as a guest in the episode, meeting the teachers after the game.
Although there are changes, the humor and wit remain the same. The show is up-to-date with the new Gen Z slang that younger kids are using.
It’s easy to ruin a show by continuing to produce episodes when the jokes are old and ideas have run out, but so far in this new season, that is not the case.
The only downside so far is the slow release of the episodes. There are set to be 22 episodes total, but since only one is released per week, the series is hard to binge-watch.
