Abbott Elementary fans debate the real villain of the series: Janine or Ava?

December 2024 · 5 minute read

Warning! Spoilers ahead for season two of Abbott Elementary!

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ABC’s Abbott Elementary is one of those unique, lightning-in-a-bottle shows that manages to be heartwarming while also legitimately funny, thanks in no small part to the quadruple threat of Emmy-winning series creator Quinta Brunson, who also stars, writes, and executive produces. But as delightful as Brunson, and by extension, her plucky rookie teacher Janine Teagues is, some fans are now calling out the character.

The premise of the series involves a ragtag group of Philadelphia public school teachers who are doing the best they can with what they have — which is admittedly, not much — typically resorting to creative, wholly Philadelphian lengths to fund their classrooms and deal with problem students. And while there is no series “villain,” per se, the inept and unserious Principal Ava Coleman (portrayed by the hilarious Janelle James), who got her job by literally blackmailing the district superintendent, often serves as a foil to the exasperated educators.

Which brings us to a viral tweet this week, playing off of the popular “movie /show villain vs. actual villain” meme from a couple years back. Copywriter Tiffany Nicole tweeted the following side-by-side of Ava and Janine, designating Ava to be the “show villain” and Janine to be the “actual villain.”

The show The ACTUAL
Villain: Villain: #abbottelementary pic.twitter.com/TvUhqjfmbI

— Tiffany Nicole |Copywriter (@tiffnicoletoday) October 20, 2022

At face value, one might want to object — Janine is so wholesome! How could she be the bad guy?!

But taking a closer examination at some of the storylines in recent episodes, it paints a clearer picture. In last week’s episode, “The Principal’s Office,” Janine meddles in the personal affairs of second-grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) and inadvertently makes things worse between Melissa and her estranged sister Kristin Marie (Lauren Weedman).

In this week’s episode, however, Janine’s shenanigans are taken to a whole new level when she insists that the school cafeteria change up its brand of juice to bottles containing less sugar but an additional two ounces of liquid, against the advice of kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard (Emmy-winner Sheryl Lee Ralph) — who advises her, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

This, in turn, causes a mass student exodus for the bathrooms, which the old plumbing cannot handle, and disrupts the entire schooldays as a result.

Suffice it to say, it did not take long for Abbott Elementary fans to draw clearly marked sides between Team Janine and Team Ava.

First, we’ll hear from the Team Janine subset:

We won’t let you start a Janine hate train. pic.twitter.com/2tIEOQLsp3 https://t.co/Dhlqgy086n

— Kadya ♡ (@bIisstina) October 21, 2022

what #abbottelementary is doing is showing an overcompensating janine this season who, now without tariq, is putting ALL her energy into trying to be useful and bettering everything in her life but herself and never succeeding. it's building up slowly to the moment she'll explode https://t.co/qGopbimHyN

— ice (@lgbtkendrick) October 21, 2022

how are people saying “there’s no villain” when Ava blackmailed her way into a job Greg was meant to do, then hogs the limited school resources for her personal gain while watching the teachers scrimp and save and hustle to keep their classes functional? be serious lmaooo https://t.co/8vkzluwrQr

— Lineo || Dee • Neh • Oh (@YesWithAn_L) October 21, 2022

The woman who does her job day in and day out…is the villain?? https://t.co/uzdg5UwNYH pic.twitter.com/fbkB26synY

— MJ Kujo🌹🧜🏽‍♀️ (@diamondsantoryu) October 21, 2022

All good points, but Team Ava (or perhaps, anti-Janine crowd) also had some tea to spill, starting with the author of the tweet herself:

Last week she was meddling in Melissa’s family life. This week she’s giving the kids the runs and using Ms Howard’s bathroom even when told not to.

Maybe the word villain is a bit harsh, but she’s definitely a menace 😭

— Tiffany Nicole |Copywriter (@tiffnicoletoday) October 20, 2022

Everytime Janine gets a "W", the whole school takes an "L" 😭 #AbbottElementary https://t.co/3It3UYU5bb

— MissThiq 🖤 (@marvelouslythiq) October 21, 2022

And finally, a not insignificant number of fans are pointing out the real real villain of the series — the underfunded Philadelphia public school system.

Let's take a moment to remember #AbbottElementary    is a sitcom. We should be laughing at Ava and Janine instead of piting them against each other. AND if we're being real the real "villain" is the public school system. https://t.co/eOv8tdJg9G pic.twitter.com/h4HIywJBN7

— bootleg troy bolton (@apocalipstickzz) October 21, 2022

janine and ava consistently make each other better but the for-profit american school system is the only true evil in this show. watching some of you interact with media is so painful i swear. https://t.co/U8viWcacw0

— sk (@kirkxxs) October 21, 2022

ava is just lazy, janine is just a meddling menace but the TRUE villain is the damn school system.#AbbottElementary https://t.co/azVj2zkxYd

— 🌒. (@existrob) October 20, 2022

Hot take: The Actual villain is the education system and neither of them is perfect. Janine doesn't respect boundaries and Ava is unprofessional and literally blackmailed someone for a job she's not even good at.

— Moyar (@MoyarB) October 20, 2022

Nah, the Philadelphia Public School system is the true villain — pitting the interests of these women against each other. #AbbottElementary https://t.co/VAiSZJdneN

— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) October 21, 2022

The good news is that Abbott Elementary continues to be phenomenal into its second season, so there are only winners and no losers. Well, except for real-life Philadelphia public schools, anyway — womp, womp— which continue to barely get by.

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