Ashley Garcia has entered the cast of Abbott Elementary with a burst of joy and charm, helping catapult the character’s status as one of the fan favourites right off the bat.
One of the instantly beloved additions to the cast of the hit sitcom Abbott Elementary is Melissa’s new aide Ashley Garcia.
In the very moments of her introduction, Ashley manages to leave a peculiar imprint of her spunky persona. Fans are already making Ashley stan accounts and it’s not difficult to see why.
Frenetic first impressions
It’s near the end of Abbott Elementary season 2 episode 3 where Ashely makes her first appearance. It’s a blast of an entry that establishes what kind of a character she’s going to be moving forward.
Melissa starts off the new year at Abbott with quite a crisis on her hands. She has to handle a combined class containing second and third-graders.
At first, Melissa tries to brave through it but it’s just too much for the Philly girl to handle on her own. She eventually concedes and asks for a teacher’s aide who’ll help her with this double trouble of a new class.
Ava informs her that she’s getting a new aide, it’s a young teacher named Ashley Garcia from Frankford. Before Melissa could ask a couple of questions, Ashley has already arrived.
With a boom box and a Jennifer Lopez song at the top of her lungs, Garcia enters the screen with great vivacity. Melissa gives one of the stares to the camera, communicating her surprise at what just transpired.
Gone Gen Z
There’s a generational gap between the Barbara-Melissa duo and Janine, Jacob, and Gregory. This gap has often led to some top-tier hilarity, as well as playing as a crucial tool for the plots and character developments.
While Janine and Gregory still are in the millennial bracket, Ashley seems to be the first full-on Gen Z teacher at Abbott.
And it becomes quickly and tacitly evident that Ashley is a Gen Z powerhouse, bringing with her the trademark fleeting attention span and the online lingos and trends prevalent among the generation.
Even though she’s supposed to aide Melissa and help reduce her workload, her unique approach to teaching has only made it more difficult for the veteran to teach.
Melissa says that her aide gets distracted way easier than the second-graders, and it’s true too, as demonstrated by some hilarious cuts to the character in the recent episodes.
Ashley also seems to be well-versed in the internet lingo and trends like the “sheesh” she drops in episode 5. There are many difficulties that this generation gap is giving birth to for Melissa.
However, she has started to take another approach to Ashley and it seems to be working. It’ll be interesting to see how this dynamic evolves and what it will bring to the show.
It’s hilarious but not surprising at all that Ava is the one true bestie that Ashley Garcia can relate to right off the bat. Ava is, minus the age, the exact kind of explosive and frenetic persona as Ashley.
Temp or permanent?
Even though Ashely Garcia is only confined to the supporting cast character so far, it’s possible that she becomes a permanent member of the cast.
It would not be the first time that an originally supporting character would become a permanent cast member.
What’s more, is that Ashley has got all the right ingredients required to make her a permanent character.
She has energy, spark, and a peculiar sense of passion, along with a better understanding of what the students need or wish to do.
Much like Mr Johnson in season 1, Ashley Garcia has the potential to become one of the permanent members of Abbott Elementary.
Also Read: Who is Kristin Marie? Abbott Elementary character explained