‘Abbott Elementary’: Quinta Brunson Talks Janine & Gregory’s Fight

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Wednesday night’s episode of Abbott Elementary.

There’s trouble in paradise for Willard R. Abbott Elementary’s favorite couple.

Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) and Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams) are on the rocks after their attempts to plan their first getaway together go awry on Wednesday night’s episode of Abbott Elementary. It’s not entirely unexpected, considering that the couple has seemed to be on different wavelengths for much of Season 5, but it’s certainly their biggest fight so far.

Since Gregory made a move in Season 3, audiences have so far enjoyed watching the couple settle into their relationship for nearly two entire seasons. Creator Quinta Brunson tells Deadline she felt it was time to shake things up.

“I think that it was time just for them to have some tension in their relationship. It’s not very often that people their age and at this point in their lives don’t go through something,” Brunson said. “I think it’s been interesting, because this show is about a school and it’s about a workplace. Ultimately, we like to keep it about the workplace, but Janine and Gregory are a couple that a lot of people who are fans of the show are invested in. It was interesting to me to get a peek into what’s going on there, with what’s possibly been hiding underneath the surface that we haven’t seen yet, that Janine and Gregory haven’t seen yet.”

After settling on a trip to the Outer Banks, they can’t seem to agree on how to get there. The utterly practical Gregory insists on saving money by driving, but Janine is ready to splurge on plane tickets. When they can’t find common ground, they decide they need to compromise. Gregory suggests they go to Atlantic City instead, since its a reasonable driving distance from Philadelphia, but that decision doesn’t sit right with Janine, who feels as though she’d be giving up her preferred destination to appease her partner. Toward the end of the episode, she tells Gregory her version of a compromise on the issue is that she would be willing to pay for his plane ticket to the Outer Banks.

Gregory (rightfully) points out that, while this might solve the issue at hand, their fight has exposed a pretty fundamental difference in his and Janine’s views on money that is likely to resurface. Also, on principle, he still thinks they should drive. When Janine hastily suggests amid her frustration that maybe the pair should break up, Gregory is clearly caught off guard. He remains speechless until Janine walks out of the room, leaving viewers to question the fate of their relationship going forward.

Brunson remained coy about what will happen next but she assures “we’re gonna find that out”.

“I think that they both have some growing to do, and I think that these kinds of fights for these characters and for young relationships can show you the areas where you need to hear each other out, where you need to learn to understand, where there may be bigger issues,” she continued. “They’re out of their honeymoon stage. [They’ve] been together for a while. Now is when the real things start coming up. You have two people who want to try to stand their ground…we see what it looks like when it’s not that easy to get over the hump.”

It’s unclear how long this storyline might extend. The Season 5 finale is set for the end of April, but the series has already been renewed for Season 6. After nearly five seasons of Abbott, Brunson says the writers room is following its instincts by exploring this side of Janine and Gregory’s relationship. She also argues that, especially working within the structure of a 22-minute network sitcom, it’s more important than ever to surprise audiences nowadays.

“I think it’s important for all of us who make television to just tell the story that we want to tell…and we hope for the best,” she said.

Brunson knows that the decision to put Gregory and Janine’s relationship on shaky ground might bring mixed reactions, but, she says, “ultimately, I just think it’s interesting to take the audience on a ride they didn’t expect”.

“I’m very interested in what people’s responses to this will be, and I don’t really want to control that response. I know what I’m trying to convey as the showrunner and creator of this show, but I don’t necessarily want to control the audience’s emotions to this,” she told Deadline. “I think some people will be upset. Some people will be sad. Some people will think it’s hilarious. Some people won’t. Some people will feel seen. Some people won’t. I think all of that is okay. I think it’s okay to let people feel how they feel about it.”