'Abbott Elementary' Season 3 premiere: New jobs, new characters, and cameos from Jalen Hurts and Jason Kelce
Quinta Brunson's Emmy-winning series has a triumphant return
The Emmy-winning hit show Abbott Elementary has returned with its Season 3 premiere on Wednesday night, full of surprises and a new position Janine Teagues, played by the show's creator and star, Quinta Brunson.
Where to watch 'Abbott Elementary'
In the U.S., Abbott Elementary Season 3 airs on Wednesdays (beginning Feb. 7) at 9:00 p.m. ET. The show is also available to stream on Hulu.
Canadians can watch the show on Global, at 9:00 p.m. ET on Wednesdays as well.
For fans in Canada without cable, watch Abbott Elementary by adding the STACKTV channel through Prime Video. You can also watch the show on Fubo.
Previous seasons of Abbott Elementary are available to stream on Disney+ in Canada.
Spoiler warning: Details of Abbott Elementary Season 3 premiere included beyond this point.
Abbott Elementary starts five months in the future during career day at the school, led by Janine who has taken on a new position, working for the school district.
Still referencing the group of camera operators, we find out that this camera crew was robbed, after going out with Janine, Gregory (Tyler James Williams) and Jacob (Chris Perfetti), in the "rough" area of west Philadelphia.
"Here we are five months later, because that’s how long it takes for three people with art degrees to save up for new cameras," Ava (Janelle James) says at the beginning of the episode.
But to explain what happened, we go back five months earlier to Development Day at the school, with a visit from three representative from the school district, Manny (Josh Segarra), Emily (Kimia Behpoornia) and Simon (Benjamin Norris).
Ava boasts to have just come back from Harvard, where she sat on the campus and used the school's free wifi to get her degree in education through Education Connection.
"I've learned what it actually takes to do the job of principal," Ava says, admitting she's been doing it all wrong.
With these new skills, Ava has turned into a strict principal, getting rid of things like free periods and off-campus lunches for teachers.
Ava is also dismissive of Janine's idea to bring back Career Day, but Janine piques the interest of Manny, who ends up offering her a fellowship to leave Abbott to work for the school district. But she's initially apprehensive.
Where do Janine and Gregory stand in 'Abbott Elementary' Season 3?
In the present day timeframe, we know that Janine ultimately took the fellowship, which seems to have created a bit of awkwardness with Gregory.
But Ava shows us why, playing security footage video taken months ago, that shows Janine telling Gregory that she still has feelings for him, but he responded by saying he had "mentally moved on" after she seemingly didn't reciprocate his feelings after last year's museum trip. So the pair agree to just remain friends.
On career day, the pair admit they've both missed spending time with each other, with Gregory thinking Janine took the school district position because of their previous conversation, but she reassures him that wasn't the case.
Philadelphia Eagles stars Jalen Hurts, Brandon Graham and Jason Kelce make cameos
Meanwhile, Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) has been pointing out that Gary (Bruno Amato) has been leaving hints that he's going to propose to Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter), including leaving a ring pop in the staff vending machine. But Melissa made it clear that she doesn't want to get married again.
During career day, a marketing employee for the Philadelphia Eagles has a surprise for Melissa's class, a video chat with quarterback Jalen Hurts. But that wasn't the only surprise, Hurts proposes to Melissa, on behalf of Gary, with Brandon Graham and Jason Kelce also coming into this video call to see what's going on.
But even the Eagles players can't change Melissa's mind on getting married, and she breaks up with Gary.
"I support a woman’s right to stand up for what she wants or doesn’t want," Hurts tells Melissa.
Juvenile sets things back on track
In one of the funnest moments of the whole premiere, we find out what brings Ava back to being the "bad" principal the teacher can tolerate. A dance break to the Juvenile hit "Back That Azz Up."
And with that, Abbott Elementary had a triumphant return with Season 3. The hour-long premiere was funnier than ever, and proves why it's worthy of being among the most successful TV shows on air right now.