"Abbott Elementary" Season 3, Episode 4 Review

Wednesday night was wild this week. There is no other way to describe what episode 4 of “Abbott Elementary” was this week: absolutely wild.

This week's episode was titled “Smoking” and revolves all around a young student at Abbott Elementary getting caught smoking in the bathroom.

This is the first time these teachers have experienced drug use in the school system, and it is so obvious they are unsure of how to handle the situation. Barb is thrown off and disgusted by what has occurred, but Melissa is reminded of her childhood.

Simultaneously while a drug crisis is occurring in the school, Janine is going through turmoil as she is witnessing a substitute teacher ruin her classroom. This teacher is played by famous TikTok comedian Sabrina Brier, who is known for her iconic “Oh!” in her skits.

The substitute teacher, Jessca, is simply not teaching the students anything correctly and in line with the curriculum. Janine is wildly upset about this development in her classroom.

There is wonder if this anger in Janine will lead to her coming back to Abbott Elementary as a teacher, and the audience can only hope that is true.

As the smoking situation is being assessed, the teachers begin to discuss in the breakroom which drugs they have used. This is quite possibly the funniest scene in television history.

Laughter was heard all around the world when Barb referenced Jesus as her drug of choice, calling him by his street name “Christ.”

F.A.D.E is brought in as an emergency intervention to the drug issues at the Elementary school, but Tariq is no longer working with them. It is severely obvious that F.A.D.E has gone downhill tremendously.

Also, it becomes apparent that F.A.D.E is an honest spin-off of the D.A.R.E program in American elementary schools. It’s known that D.A.R.E has actually caused an increased amount of youth drug use, and it’s easy to understand that in this episode.

Sadly, throughout this whole episode, there was practically no development with any relationships on the show. Janine and Gregory share a moment where he consoles her after the substitute teacher dilemma. However, that is basically it.

Melissa doesn’t bring up "vending machine Gary" once, but she flirts with the policeman who was called to assist with the smoking issue. Gary is severely missed and Melissa needs to bring him up in conversation.

Grace Bowman is a third-year majoring in biology. To contact her, email gab5585@psu.edu.