Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Abbott Elementary season 4 episode 19, “Music Class.”

Although end of Abbott Elementary season 4, episode 18, “Audit.”

Instead of replacing Ava with a new principal, the district offered Gregory the role of interim principal for the time being. Although this was only a temporary role, Gregory swiftly began acquitting himself with the job he originally wanted when he arrived at the titular institution four years earlier. While my favorite Abbott Elementary ing star Manny couldn’t simply get Ava her job back, he did pull some strings to secure Janine and Ava a chance to appeal her dismissal. Manny was pessimistic about their chances, but Janine was undeterred.

Ava's Post-Abbott Elementary Firing Shows There's Life For Her Beyond Being A Principal

Season 4 Episode 19 Proved Ava Was A Genuinely Great Public Speaker

However, much to Janine’s shock, Ava rebounded and set up a lucrative second career as a public speaker in “Music Class.” Janine was concerned when she attempted to get Ava invested in regaining her role, but the former principal was more interested in giving a “Teb Talk” at a local hotel’s conference room. Since the affordable hotel wasn’t up to Ava’s usual expensive standards and Janine, Melissa, and Gregory weren’t familiar with the event’s organizers, they understandably assumed that Ava was coping with the loss of her job by talking to a sparse crowd in a sad setting.

The show did hint at this twist when Manny mentioned that Ava was an incredibly talented public speaker.

Instead, Ava performed a genuinely fun, inspiring speech to a sold-out conference room and was mobbed by adoring fans looking for autographs when her presentation ended. While setting up Abbott Elementary season 4’s big tragedy, Ava’s firing, the show did hint at this twist when Manny mentioned that Ava was an incredibly talented public speaker. Still, Ava’s unprecedented success on the motivational speaking circuit means it is almost a certainty that she will eventually leave Abbott nearer the show’s series finale.

To be clear, Ava’s season 4 dismissal will almost certainly be undone, and she will most likely come back to the school after her firing. However, it is good to know that she has such a fitting, financially lucrative option for her when the time comes for her to move on from the school. Like Michael Scott meeting Holly Flax in The Office, this subplot subtly sets up the character’s eventual exit even though it might not take place until a few seasons later.

Ava Eventually Leaving Abbott Elementary Permanently Can Lead To Gregory Replacing Her

Ava’s New Vocation Sets Up Abbott Elementary’s Earliest Promise

Since Abbott Elementary season 4’s Ava story has been the sitcom’s most engaging recent plot, I’m certain that her time on the show has not come to an end yet. For one thing, Ava was sad to see Janine leave her public speaking engagement even as she signed autographs. Between that, Janine pushing to get a district hearing, the fact that the next episode is called “Ava Fest 3: Tokyo Drift,” and how much Gregory felt he wasn’t ready to be principal yet, it is obvious that Ava’s time as principal won’t end in season 4.

However, when Ava's exit does arrive later in the show, “Music Class” proves that Ava has a fitting replacement lined up in Gregory. Gregory could eventually replace Ava as the school’s principal, since this was his ambition since the pilot. Also, judging by the events of “Music Class," he would be great in the role. Janine and Gregory’s Abbott Elementary love story kept him at the school even after he realized that he wouldn’t be replacing Ava anytime soon in season 1, but Gregory has been quietly loosening up and improving as an educator in the interim. As such, he is now more suited to the role than ever.

Why Ava Leaving Abbott Elementary Is The Natural Endpoint Of The Series

Abbott Elementary Season 4 Episode 19 Proved Ava Isn’t Ready To Leave Yet

Ava leaving Abbott Elementary is a perfect setup for the sitcom’s eventual ending for numerous reasons. For one thing, the pilot established that Gregory wanted nothing more than to become the school’s principal, so there would be a satisfying symmetry to seeing Gregory replace Ava in Abbott Elementary’s last episode. Not only that, but Janine needed to learn to live with rambunctious characters like Ava, and season 4 proved she had managed this.

In season 1, Janine was Ava’s biggest hater. By season 4, she was the one campaigning for the principal to get her job back. Abbott Elementary season 4’s karaoke episode proved that the faculty truly are a team now and that is thanks to Ava’s unlikely positive influence, meaning Abbott Elementary ending with her departure would be perfectly fitting.

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