[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Abbott Elementary, Season 4, Episodes 7 & 8.]
Abbott Elementary‘s Season 4 holiday episodes have officially arrived, bringing plenty of warm and festive feelings along with them as the ABC comedy made way for the introduction of some new characters, including Jacob’s (Chris Perfetti) brother, Caleb (Tyler Perez).
But the feelings weren’t so warm and fuzzy for Jacob who had lingering tensions after not seeing his brother in three years, having not been home for the holidays the past several seasons. When it came to introducing the character who couldn’t be any more different from Jacob, Perfetti says, “I felt like Jacob’s family and a little bit of what he’s running from is something we’ve alluded to throughout the seasons, and so it’s an opportunity to bring in a character that represents that and is really a true foil to Jacob.”
As Perfetti puts it, Caleb is “Everything [Jacob] isn’t and everything he ran away from and everything that scares him.” And it wasn’t just Caleb that viewers meet in the two-parter, as Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) made way for a Schemmenti family gathering in which Jacob and Caleb were in attendance. “This season in particular, there’s been a real impetus to peel back the layers and meet people’s families and explain why these characters are the way they are,” Perfetti adds. “And I just think that’s thrilling. It’s so strange to be with a character this long and still be learning about him,” Perfetti marvels.
Disney / Gilles Mingasson
Still, taking center stage in a storyline like this, Perfetti notes, “It’s always a little nerve-wracking because you hope that it aligns with everything that I’ve been playing up until this point.” Ultimately, the storyline feels very fitting for Jacob who struggles to overcome insecurities around his easy-going brother who has an affinity for becoming popular with new people, including Jacob’s Abbott family.
When students invite Caleb to participate in their podcast, Jacob walks into the recording session thinking his brother is painting him in a negative light and shuts it down, but it takes Gregory’s (Tyler James Williams) intervention to reel in Jacob’s intense emotions and reveal the truth which is that Caleb was praising him. “I think that relationship particularly has been a real nice surprise, and I feel like it was something that we set up a couple of years ago, but I didn’t realize how much we would be able to mine out of that,” Perfetti notes of Gregory and Jacob’s friendship.
“I am so spoiled by working with all of these people, but particularly these longer two-person scenes, with Tyler who plays Gregory, are just so fun. It’s so great to be playing with an actor that you trust and are inspired by,” Perfetti muses. Often times Jacob is the one intervening in time of need, but that dynamic was flipped as Gregory played the full podcast recording of Caleb noting how inspired he is by Jacob and how he admires that Jacob knows who he is as a person.
Disney / Gilles Mingasson
“It was nice in this episode to see what the inversion of that is and to see Gregory show up for Jacob. I think Jacob would describe Gregory as his best friend, but I don’t know that it’s the other way around way. And so it was a pleasant surprise,” Perfetti adds.
While Caleb makes his entrance in the first half of the holiday hour, he joins in for the Christmas chaos at Melissa’s which includes a scare involving her uncle who Jacob and Caleb believe has died upstairs in the designated coat room. When it came to energetic shindig outside of the school, Perfetti says, “It’s always fun to leave Abbott. I feel like when we leave Abbott, we really get to turn up the heat on these characters’ anxieties and we get to reveal something about them. It really lends itself to the mockumentary format.”
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Thankfully for Melissa and crew, her uncle isn’t dead, just a severely sound sleeper, and Caleb isn’t too knowledgeable about taking a pulse. Outside of the anxiety, the episodes made way for some major guest appearances from Keith David (who was introduced as the dad to Janelle James‘ Abbott principal, Ava), as well as Talia Shire, who stepped in as Melissa’s mother.
Of these impressive castings, Perfetti credits series creator and star Quinta Brunson. “I think Quinta and our producers have such a knack for finding people who just really fit into the family and artists and collaborators who have a real air of improvisation and collaboration.” Stay tuned to see if these new faces pop up again in the future and let us know what you thought of the Abbott Elementary holiday episodes in the comments section, below.
Plus, stay tuned for updates on the forthcoming It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover as we approach Abbott Elementary‘s 2025 return.
Abbott Elementary, Season 4, Returns Wednesday, January 8, 2025, 8:30/7:30c, ABC
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