ABC’s hit sitcom Abbott Elementary returned to streaming and network television this week, its third season starting later than usual due to delays in production because of the writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023. The new season began with the teachers in the middle of the school year, following the pattern Abbott Elementary has set with its first two seasons of the air date matching with the real time in the school year. Following another pattern set in its first two seasons, Ava Coleman is once again the best character in Abbott Elementary.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
A Reinvented Ava Greets Us Briefly
As noted, the new season of Abbott Elementary begins in the middle of the school year, and as Ava (Janelle James) explains in one of her confessionals, the documentary crew following the teachers was robbed and it took them five months to save for new camera equipment. Meanwhile, Ava physically spent time at Harvard University while earning her degree from Grand Canyon University via Education Connection, and she learned that, as she hilariously put it, she was doing everything wrong.
New and improved Ava came with a filter on her passes toward Gregory Eddie, more effort in supporting Janine Teagues, a wider vocabulary, and an interest in what’s best for students rather than what’s easiest for her. Thankfully, new Ava doesn’t stay for long. After a brief time spent putting actual effort into her job, Ava returns to her old self after hearing and dancing to Juvenile’s classic “Back That Azz Up.” “I’m back y’all,” she happily tells the teachers.
Principal Coleman Has Even More Potential as ‘Abbott Elementary’ Continues
We were just as happy to see old Ava return, but Ava is incredible in any form. While she was an objectively better principal for a few days, at her core, she was the same. She still hated Janine and was largely dismissive of her staff, and she did it all while wearing an instantly iconic custom Harvard sweatshirt with the letters A, V, and A bedazzled. Whether she’s actually trying at work or up to her old antics (like enjoying a midday box of popcorn while spying on her staff having private conversations), Ava is the funny bone of Abbott Elementary.
This quick arc of Ava’s was important to the series. It showed us that while Ava is a fully-formed character from whom we can expect consistency as the series continues, she’s also capable of surprising us, which’ll make for more great episodes in the future. Whatever Ava is doing at Abbott Elementary, we’ll be watching.
Abbott Elementary is streaming now on Hulu.
