Janine is looking forward to a new school year. She’s broken up with Tariq and is determined to start fresh. This year, she won’t let her personal problems interfere with her studies. ..

Other teachers are also gearing up for changes. Jacob learned ASL over the summer and is excited to teach it in a class. Barbara appropriated grant funds to install a ramp for an incoming student who uses a wheelchair. She still needs to find the student an appropriate desk–but the school district is not complying with her request. And Melissa prepares to take on extra students, for whom there isn’t room enough for their own class. ..

Gregory is approaching the new year with a newfound excitement to be a full-time teacher. But he’s immediately overwhelmed by all the curriculum the district expects them to get through in one year. He puts together an intense schedule that should allow him to get through everything, but Barbara comes up with several scenarios that would slow him down. ..

Janine surprises her friends Melissa and Barbara with the ways she’s matured. Unlike the old Janine, she’s able to lay down the law when they don’t like her idea for the mixer she’s organizing. ..

Jacob and Gregory, two friends who live in the same building, notice that Janine has been late on her rent payments for a while. They try to get her to open up about her struggles now that Tariq is gone, but she insists that everything is fine. ..

Janine is an impressive mixer, but her confident attitude is quashed when someone calls her outside. Her car is getting a boot put on it because of Tariq’s unpaid parking tickets.

Gritty, the mascot hired to come surprise the kids, shows up a week early. Janine scheduled him for the wrong day. ..

Teachers surround Janine as she begins to cry. She tells them that she’s sad and can’t afford to pay her bills, but what really bothers her is how much she misses Tariq. ..

Barbara tells her friends and co-workers that breakups are hard, but part of becoming an adult. “You just have to go through it, not over it,” says Melissa. “And you’re at the beginning of the process, not the end.” ..

Jacob lends her the money for rent, and Janine admits that some things (like grief after a breakup) just can’t be rushed through. Jacob agrees to help Janine with rent, but says that he won’t pressure her to do anything she doesn’t want to do.

Later, Barbara finds Gregory, who is still upset over the curriculum. “Everything is chaos, and we all lose,” he says. In just one day, before school has even started, he’s already fallen behind on his schedule. Barbara tells him they’re simply going to have insane challenges. They just have to show up and try their best. They’ll still have successes. For instance, she didn’t get the desk she wanted, but she did get the ramp. “That’s true,” Gregory admits, erasing his unreasonable schedule.

The first day of school is always a joy for the wheelchair-bound student. Jacob is able to greet new students and sign them up for classes. Gregory was able to find a desk for Barbara in the storage, and they are all looking forward to the new year.

Gregory notices the new part in Janine’s hair and compliments her, making her smile. ..

The Episode Review

The Abbott Elementary crew returns for another season of their beloved school-setting comedy mockumentary. We return to Abbott for “Development Day,” an apt episode title which not only denotes the teachers’ responsibilities before school begins, but also several developments in their personal lives–most especially, Janine.

Janine’s arc is especially heart-wrenching when we see the blunt denial of her pain clash with the ways she has genuinely matured. As the episode writer, Brunson navigates a fine line to deliver, in such a short runtime, a story that both respects how far her character has come and also how much growth she has yet to experience. ..

In a recent interview, Abbott said that she is expanding her reach to include disabled students, but also realizes that there are still challenges to be faced. Brunson’s script emphasizes the importance of winning and losing, as well as the importance of being inclusive.

Abbott Elementary’s second season premiere was as warm and witty as ever. ..