Abbott Elementary Keeps Brushing Its Best Couple Under the Carpet

Summary:

• ABC’s Abbott Elementary is well on its third season.
• Barlissa is the most popular fanon LGBT pairing of the show.
• Fans are disappointed that showrunners don’t use some plotlines to further the popular relationship.

Abbott Elementary is a show about a public elementary school teaching underprivileged kids. But it’s mostly not about the kids—it’s about the faculty, their highs and lows, their experiences, and, of course, their love lives. It sparks many a conversation and lots of debate among fans, especially when it comes to pairings that are not canon on screen (yet).

The new season had Melissa dump Gary when she decided she didn’t want to marry him—despite the proposal happening through a star football player. Everyone was excited for the next episode: surely there would be some quality Barlissa material, with Barbara comforting Melissa after the fiasco and whatnot. The two women know how to cheer the other one up, after all. None of the sort happened, though.

Don’t get us wrong. The episodes in Season 3 are very enjoyable so far. The first three minutes of the first episode already had us smiling at Melissa and Barbara’s jabbed conversation about the F.A.D.E. And it’s only the beginning! We already got gems like these to fill up our collection, but a little bit more screen time for our beloved, yet unhinged couple, platonic or otherwise, would be more comforting.

Their chemistry is obvious. They shouldn’t work so well together, but they do: one is prim and proper and poised, turning to God when it’s good and it’s bad; the other is sincere, shady, and savage at times, but never to her work wife. And you know who’s who from the first word of the description alone.

How often do you see friendships like that blossom in real life? It only works with people who care so much about each other, they are willing to accept the other person for who she is, warts and all. They choose one another, again and again, and that’s the beauty of their relationship.

Melissa would kill for Barbara, and Barbara goes against her choir and her beliefs to be friends with Melissa, because, let’s be honest, when Barbara said colorful teachers on Breakup, she definitely included Melissa in that list.

The most popular LGBT pairing on the show deserves more screen time. They complement each other, and each conversation they have is delightful. It’s like watching fire and ice—but with less destructive potential.