The Office’s Spiritual Sequel Solidifies Its Place With Its Own Michael Scott

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Abbott Elementary, season 4, episode 5, ‘The Deli’

While The office it may be over, Abbott Elementary is the perfect spiritual sequel to the workplace sitcom and the best unexpected parallel between the two main characters proves it. It would be difficult for any program to match the chemistry of The officethe lineup, but Abbott ElementaryThe cast of characters comes close. The workplace sitcom brings it back The officeaesthetics thanks to Abbott Elementarymockumentary setup and how The officeThe show balances its main characters’ zany antics with a slow-paced, well-crafted romance that’s sure to keep viewers hooked. Of course, Abbott ElementaryThe titular setup doesn’t hurt either.

Being part of a primary school means that Abbott Elementary mines a lot of comedy from the show’s adorable students, and the eponymous workplace is often even more chaotic than the Scranton branch of Dunder-Miflin. All of these superficial similarities would be enough to support a comparison between the two comedies, but the show’s communities go deeper than that. A look at the character arcs of director Ava, Janelle James, and Michael Scott, Steve Carell, proves that Abbott Elementary and The office they both know how to create a great sitcom antihero, while the two shows’ central romances further underline their similarities.

Abbott Elementary is the best spiritual sequel to the office

Both documentary sitcoms are based on slow-burn romances and workplace antics

Not only are they Abbott Elementary and The office both mockumentary comedies set in workplaces, but both shows also follow roughly the same setup. There is an absurdly incompetent boss who somehow manages to keep things running, whether Abbott ElementaryDirector Ava or The officeIt’s Michael Scott. There is an older male character who can always be trusted with bizarre phrases or fabricated outrageous statements, whether Abbott Elementaryis it Mr. Johnson or The officeIt’s Creed. Finally, there’s the inevitable office romance between the series’ two most level-headed and relatable characters, Janine and Gregory or Jim and Pam.

Just like Jim and Pam, Janine and Gregory became friends before they even thought about dating. As The officeThe main couple, they spent countless seasons seeing other people while secretly pining for each other. Abbott ElementaryJanine and Gregory even started dating at the beginning of season 4, as well as The officeJim and Pamproving that the two shows share some truly substantial similarities. However, although their novels have much in common, Abbott Elementary and The office they both also have two intriguingly similar character arcs that have nothing to do with love. These belong to the respective heads of the two programs.

How Ava Coleman and Michael Scott Are Similar

The sitcom’s two bosses are secretly surprisingly great at their jobs

Both The officeMichael Scott and Abbott ElementaryDirector Ava is presented as a comically incompetent manager that need to be replaced as soon as possible. All over The office season 1 and Abbott Elementary In the first season, Jim and Janine spend a lot of screen time putting out fires started by their respective bosses and lamenting their obvious incompetence. However, at the time Abbott ElementaryWhen Janine and Gregory became a couple, something big changed. Not only was Ava no longer a buffoon, but she had also quietly become an essential part of Abbott’s success as a school, despite her best efforts.

Numerous commentators have noted that, despite his blatant incompetence, Michael Scott is an excellent salesman and an unexpectedly competent manager. This is evidenced by the success of his branch and the loyalty of his employees, both of which seem unlikely but are impossible to lose throughout his tenure on the series. Similarly, Principal Ava went from getting her job by blackmailing a superintendent over his extramarital affairs to giving an Ed Talk to explain how she improved the student body’s attendance, grades, and academic performance. In Season 4, Episode 6, “The Deli,” Abbott Elementary proves that Ava is the Michael Scott of the show.

Ava’s story from Abbott Elementary season 4 mirrored Michael Scott’s plot from The Office

Both shows gradually revealed that their inept bosses were secret geniuses

In The officeMichael’s obvious idiocy hid a level of natural talent as a salesman and his almost childlike love for his co-workers led him to defend them effectively despite their incompetence. In Abbott ElementaryAva’s brazen candor leads her to share difficult truths with teachers rather than placate them with trite platitudes, and her brazen corruption means she’s an expert at keeping the lights on at the underfunded public school. Ava’s apparent character flaws make her a better directorwhile more serious characters like Abbott ElementaryBarbara or Gregory may give in to the pressure inherent in the job.

Gregory started working at Abbott assuming he would become director as quickly as possible, and Ava’s corruption was what stood in his way. However, this led Gregory to discover a true passion for teaching, just as Michael Scott’s departure from Dunder-Miflin ended up inspiring Jim and Pam to pursue their professional dreams. In both cases, characters who were initially established as transparently terrible leaders proved that the same character flaws that should have hampered their management skills secretly made them perfect for the job. In Season 4, it’s hard to imagine another director for Abbott.

Abbott Elementary Season 4 highlights how much Ava has grown

Ava’s reaction to Gregory and Janine’s relationship proved that she has matured

While Ava may share Michael Scott’s surprising competence as a people manager, Abbott Elementarythe director still needed to grow over the show’s first three seasons. Happily, Abbott ElementaryJanine and Ava’s relationship proves that she did just that. When Ava first suspected that Janine and Gregory might start dating in season three, she tried all sorts of indirect and immature plans to sabotage their potential romance. This included watching them closely at Janine’s holiday party and even having a brooding professor describe their disastrous office romance and the pair’s subsequent divorce in Season 3, Episode 13, “Smith Playground.”

In contrast, in the Season 4 premiere, Ava just expected them to report their relationship to HR like any normal manager would. Abbott Elementary doubled that in “The Deli” when Janine helped with his Ed Talk speech for Manny’s performance. This collaboration proved that the dynamic between Janine and Ava has transformed since the first season. but she can even work together with her to rewrite her speech to bring out Ava’s best side. This sweet scene showed just how much. The office and Abbott ElementaryThe company’s ostensibly bad bosses have this in common.