Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Abbott Elementary season 4, episode 21, “Rally.”

Since Abbott Elementary’s cast of characters is all funny and likable, the workplace mockumentary picked one star to focus on in season 4. Now that Janine and Gregory’s love story has ended happily after three torturous seasons of “Will they, won’t they” romance, Janelle James’ Principal Ava has become the sitcom’s primary focus in season 4.

Although Ava’s Abbott Elementary season 4 romance with O’Shon forced the tough, sardonic principal to put her guard down and open up to someone.

O’Shon Was Absent From Abbott Elementary Season 4, Episode 21

Ava’s Love Interest Didn’t Appear At Her Triumphant Rally

Given how sweet Ava’s romantic connection with her love interest has been so far, it was surprising that O’Shon didn’t appear to Ava in season 4, episode 21, “Rally.” The eponymous rally was an impromptu emergency meeting the school district called after firing Ava and placing the teachers on suspension for a week. When the students heard that Melissa, Barbara, Jacob, and Janine were all losing a week’s pay and Ava still wasn’t going to be reinstated as principal, they threatened a walkout and the panicked district called a meeting immediately.

O’Shon has appeared at after-school basketball games with Abbott Elementary’s Gregory, so viewers know that he spends time with the staff outside dating Ava

Even though the teachers, the students, the PTA, local business owners, her estranged father Frank, her sorority sister and sworn enemy Crystal, B.L.A.C.K.S (Building Love and Creating Kids Safety), and the golf course developers all rallied to her, O’Shon wasn’t present. This is particularly notable considering O’Shon has appeared at after-school basketball games with Abbott Elementary’s Gregory, so viewers know that he spends time with the staff outside dating Ava. However, there are a few reasonable explanations for his absence.

Why O'Shon Didn't Show Up At Ava's Rally

O’Shon’s Abbott Elementary Season 4 Episode 21 Absence Could Be A Good Thing

O’Shon failing to Ava at such a pivotal moment seems uncharacteristic, considering how great of a guy he is. The off-screen explanation for his absence is that Ava’s love interest would have received little screen time in such a busy episode. In of in-universe justifications, it is reasonable to suggest that the district’s IT guy was occupied with work or other commitments. Not only that but, as the IT guy who intentionally ignored Abbott’s suspiciously high-tech new computers, he was technically complicit in the whole bribery scheme.

The golf course developer who attended the rally was much more culpable but, as he has smugly noted, he is wealthy enough to never face consequences for the bribes he offered. While ing Abbott Elementary’s Ava is important to him, O’Shon may have reasonably feared that his presence wouldn’t have helped her case. As such, it makes sense that Abbott Elementary season 4, episode 21, “Rally,” didn’t include him.

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