Abbott Elementary Season 3 Premiere Recap: The series is back with a bang 

Abbott Elementary season 3 premiered on ABC on Wednesday, February 7, 2024. The popular comedy sitcom returns after a 10-month-long hiatus and does not disappoint fans. Season 3 premiered with a special supersized hour-long episode that merged the first two episodes of the season, titled Career Day Part 1 and Career Day Part 2.

The show was slated to be released last fall however, it got delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Season 3 does not disappoint at all as the usual faces Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson), Gregory Eddie (Tyler James), Ava Coleman (Janelle James), Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter), Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph), and Mr, Johnson (William Stanford Davis) light up the screen again.

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Abbott Elementary season 3 premiere features Janine in a new role and has a very special guest appearance

The trailer for season 3 of Abbott Elementary intrigued fans when it showed Principal Ava Coleman in a new stern avatar. She is serious and professional about her job, something that is far from what the principal has been portrayed as in the past two seasons.

Ava returns to school in the season premiere, having pursued a degree over the summer. She declares that she attended Harvard and has a thorough understanding of what it takes to be a principal.

In another drastic change, Abbott Elementary season 3 sees Janine Teagues as part of the school district and overseeing things at the school with a new group. The new characters from the school district introduced in this season are Manny (Josh Segarra), Emily (Kimia Behpoornia), and Simon (Benjamin Norris).

These seemingly good-natured school district employees aim to bring a fresh perspective as they are already handing out i-pads and conducting 'Career Day' on the first day of school after summer.

The season premiere features 5 months flashback before the opening day of the school, where season 3 picks up on the uncertain romantic situation between Janine and Gregory. In a secret camera planted all over the school by Ava, it can be seen that Janine confesses her feelings to Gregory who decides that the pair should remain friends (something Janine said to him at the end of season 2).

Abbott Elementary season 3 does a great job of addressing the 5-month gap while paying homage to their mockumentary style of filming when Ava points out that the filming equipment of the crew was stolen after they entered the wrong neighborhood one night. Ava explains why it took almost half a year for the crew to return when she says:

“That’s how long it takes for three people with art degrees to save up for new cameras.”

The season 3 premiere of Abbott Elementary also features a special guest appearance from Philadelphia Eagles' star quarterback Jalen Hurts as he addresses the school students via a video conference during Career Day. Also joining him for the cameo were Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham.

In an interesting turn of events, Melissa Schemmenti's boyfriend Fary asks her out on Career Day, and she has to, unfortunately, break up with him, as she is not prepared for the same.

The season premiere returns with the usual brand of comedy that Abbott Elementary established over the past two seasons. It follows up on the plot from the previous season with great ease while introducing significant character development for most of the characters.

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Catch the Season 3 premiere of Abbott Elementary as it is available for streaming on Hulu.