Abbott Elementary Season 5 Confirms Janine & Gregory Need To Break Up
Abbott Elementary is well on its way to becoming a classic sitcom, joining the ranks of Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, and more, but the show is currently missing one element that it needs to become the best it can be. Abbott Elementary season 1 immediately captured viewers’ hearts and minds when it premiered in 2021. Since then, it’s become a staple of ABC’s programming.
Abbott Elementary has been nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy every year it has been on the air, proving just how iconic the show really is. However, the ABC sitcom is currently missing an important element that has elevated all of its predecessors. Without this plot device, Abbott Elementary might not stay great for long – worse, its endgame couple will stagnate.
Janine and Gregory look confused and shocked at Mr. Johnson on Abbott ElementaryABC via MoveStillsDB
Janine and Gregory were clearly meant to be together from the moment they met. Most great sitcoms feature at least two of the main characters getting into a relationship, and that’s what the audience is rooting for from the beginning of the show. As early as the pilot of New Girl, audiences knew Nick and Jess were meant to be together. Friends had Ross outright tell Rachel about his crush on her in the first episode.
Abbott Elementary was no different, with Janine and Gregory as the obvious choice for a romantic couple. The will-they-won’t-they provided important tension for the show, especially when Gregory started dating someone else while Janine navigated her own relationship with Tariq. Because of the build-up, Janine and Gregory’s first kiss was an exciting, tell-all-your-friends TV moment.
However, now that Janine and Gregory have been together for more than a season, the relationship is wearing thin. Every great sitcom breaks their main characters up at least once, and Abbott Elementary needs to follow suit. There’s a reason Jess and Nick, Ross and Rachel, Robin and Ted (and Robin and Barney) had to break up at some point during their respective shows.
When two characters break up, it instantly creates juicy tension for the show, especially when they’re forced to see each other, as Janine and Gregory would be. Plus, breakups reignite the classic will-they/won’t-they that sitcom audiences crave. This trope is a classic for a reason: it’s necessary for the health of a sitcom.
Janine & Gregory Are Becoming Boring In Abbott Elementary
Janine and Gregory excitedly talk to O’Shon in the hallway of Abbott ElementaryABC via MovieStillsDB
Besides needing to keep the tension, there’s another reason sitcom characters need to break up at least once in a series: it prevents the couple from becoming boring. Cougar Town, for example, was a sitcom that kept the main characters together from the moment they started dating, but a happy, loving couple wasn’t a terribly exciting prospect. Ultimately, the fact that Jules and Grayson never broke up was an easily fixable detriment to the show.
“It doesn’t mean there are no problems at all, but we really didn’t want to mine for problems in their relationship. We wanted it to feel good. I know people in incredible, easy relationships, and I feel like it would be nice to see more of it on TV in general. And we really had the opportunity to do that with Janine and Gregory.”
Instead of breaking her two main characters up, Brunson wants to dive into certain milestones with Abbott Elementary season five. For example, she said, “You can expect to experience more relationship milestones… like you’re gonna see the things that happen to typical couples in their 20s: meeting more parents, meeting more family members, figuring out what steps are next, moving in together — things like that.”
Unfortunately, the premiere of Abbott Elementary season 5 showed the issue with Janine and Gregory’s comfortable relationship: their dynamic simply isn’t as interesting now as it once was. Of course, one episode isn’t enough time to know definitively whether Janine and Gregory’s relationship is becoming a detriment to the show, but some tension would definitely elevate the characters.
It’s admirable that Brunson wants to forge her own path within this genre, but the sitcom break-up is so pervasive for a reason. That character dynamic is relatable and intriguing. Plus, a break-up doesn’t have to be forever.
Janine & Gregory Can Still Be Abbott Elementary’s Endgame
Janine and Gregory smile at each other in the hallway of Abbott ElementaryABC via MovieStillsDB
Just because two characters break up doesn’t mean they can’t ultimately end up together. In every aforementioned sitcom, the characters eventually found their way back to each other. Even Ted and Robin got another shot at love with each other, despite each marrying someone else in the show’s final season.
If two characters are meant to be together, nothing will be able to keep them apart. After all, sitcoms aren’t reality; the writers can make anything happen. Even when Jess and Nick ended their relationship, the audience knew it was temporary. Sure enough, by the end of season 6, the roommates were back together.
Breaking up Janine and Gregory wouldn’t be permanent; everyone knows these two are endgame, and we will hopefully see them get married someday, a la Jim and Pam from The Office. However, some time apart could be good for the couple. If Janine and Gregory each date other people, they could realize why they’re truly meant to be together.
Janine and Gregory are a great couple, but their breakup would make for an even better plot line on an already amazing TV show. Abbott Elementaryis already on track to become one of TV’s greatest sitcoms. That legacy will be solidified if they borrow from their predecessors.
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