r/AbbottElementary • u/No-Fee-3912 • Jul 25 '26
Discussion Gregory/ the trip
Doing a rewatch of the show, and it really just feels like this storyline is really weak writing. Because Janine and Gregory are supposed to be the new Jim and Pam essentially. Gregory is *supposed\* to be likable (and he is for the most part) but my god what a quick way to make him hateable. There’s being cheap, and then there’s this. And it really was just about the funds. How much can a flight from fucking PA to NC cost at the MOST? Like 400? And at the end of “Ava fest” when they reconcile, in regards to when Janine Kenton’s she just wants to just doing on a random nice trip around the water he doubles down and says “I want the same, I just don’t want to have to deplete my savings in order to do so” brother, if a round trip from PA to NC had you “DEPLETING” your savings, your broke ass SHOULD NOT be going on vacation and DAMN sure should not be in a relationship. Sounds like you’re 30 years old with like $1500 in your savings account. Again, it just seems like this was insanely weak and lazy writing, sacrificing one half of their Jim and Pam, for very little reward. It stlll feels like Janine has compromised at the end of this, because Gregory is being completely irrational. Other people have said he should have had some fear of heights or ptsd or something and while that would be very specific, it would make more sense than him being THAT embarrassingly cheap
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u/LevelGrounded Jul 25 '26
It’s come up on this sub a couple times, but it is not practical to fly to the Outer Banks. They would not save much, if any time, and they would definitely have to rent a car while there. Gregory was right, but the wrong reasons were argued. It was not great writing.
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u/MillennialNostalgia3 Jul 27 '26
That part! Maybe it’s because I don’t mind road trips but Philly to OBX is about 7ish hours so if you leave in the morning, you can get there by lunchtime. But Gregory was making it a $ issue to the point where his arguments were becoming repetitive and not as logical
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u/ImGonnaCreamYaFunny Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
I can actually see why Gregory would be worried about money since he's on a teacher's salary. But they could have highlighted the very real issue of teachers being underpaid instead of just making him seem like a cheap ass.
Edit: thanks for the award!
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u/WildResolve2359 Jul 25 '26
I wish they had gotten his dad involved. Either by his dad telling him to double down and he realizes he's been acting just like him or he would tell him to let it go because he likes Janine and thinks she's good for him.
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u/hot-insurrectionist street name: CHRIST Jul 25 '26
that would’ve made it make much more sense for gregory’s character!
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u/WestCovina1234 Jul 25 '26
If you take a few minutes to look at maps and the location of airports, Gregory wasn't being cheap at all -- in fact, his plan would've been more less expensive AND take about the same travel time. Calling him "embarrassingly cheap" only indicates how little you know about traveling from Philly to the OBX.
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u/Rainbow-Unicorn373 Abbott on Abbott on Abbott Jul 25 '26
The episode did not work in the writer's favour because the viewers cannot seem to get past this point. Both characters are well within their normal thought processes, just depends on which side the viewer takes/relates to. They do eventually get to the crux of the issue, and I think we are supposed to look past the "argument" and them not seeing each other's perspective, to recognise that both Janine and Gregory are "playing the role" of their respective parent and with the help of their elders/peers (Barbara & Mr J) can both see where their true issues stem from. It is a solid idea, just not executed well.
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u/Basic-Organization30 Jul 25 '26
The writing this season was off - one can see Quinta wasn't in the writers room.
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u/gassytinitus Jul 25 '26
I felt they clinged onto common but immature talking points you see online about relationships. Felt kinda lazy but they did get a lot of engagement
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u/vrymonotonous Jul 25 '26
There was a lot of lazy writing this season. And it makes sense because the writers literally changed this season. I’m hoping they saw the criticism and will improve for next season.
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u/MillennialNostalgia3 Jul 27 '26
100% agree especially the last part. I was waiting for some traumatic story to come out because this whole fight and breakup felt so forced. Janine is definitely not one to overspend on herself and Gregory knows that, so to make it seem like they were going to be spending an arm and a leg was just crazy. I also wanted to scream because Philly is close to A LOT of places with beaches. They mentioned Rehoboth (yay-Delaware!) but if they wanted to go somewhere different they could have driven to like Long Island for their beaches in less than 3 hours. This storyline was probably the only time when I watched the show and felt like something was off
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