Abbott Elementary has seen great success in its first four seasons. The Emmy-winning show, created by its star Quinta Brunson, follows a group of teachers at a public school in Philadelphia. It is a workplace comedy which takes inspiration from other television shows like The Office and Modern Family. These comparisons are made largely due to its similar mockumentary format.

The character of Jacob, played by Chris Perfetti, has become a fan favorite in the series. His journey has seen him grow both as a teacher and a person. However, in the latest season, viewers saw Jacob make enormous personal progress. He healed some serious childhood wounds and even gained confidence in his dating life. With all of his developments in season four, fans are hopeful of what is in store for season five.

Jacob Had A Major Breakup In Season 3 Of Abbott Elementary

Jacob has seen quite a character arc in the four seasons Abbott Elementary has been on air. In fact, his love life has been an interesting part of his journey. In Season 3, Jacob broke up with Zach, played by Larry Owens. Jacob and Larry had been together for a long time. However, the way the relationship ended surprised viewers. Jacob wanted to manipulate Zach into breaking up with him, so he became overly considerate.

“I appreciated that it didn’t exactly absolve him of his bad behavior,” Chris Perfetti, who plays Jacob, told The Hollywood Reporter. “Larry’s character really gets to take him to task for that. I thought that was very interesting and very real.”

Following the breakup with Zach, Jacob found himself a new love interest played by Karan Soni. “It’s baked into this character that he is constantly putting his foot in his mouth — and tripping over his feet — and Quinta and our writers smartly understand that if you’re going to make 60 episodes of this story, we have to subvert people’s expectations,” Chris said. “It’s been really nice to see Jacob get what he wants a little bit this year.”

Jacob Healed Childhood Wounds When His Brother Visited In Season 4

In Season 4, Jacob is visited by his brother Caleb, played by Tyler Perez. In the episode, Caleb wins everyone over with his charming and charismatic personality. However, Jacob feels incredibly insecure and threatened by Caleb. These feelings come to the surface, but eventually lead to a vulnerable moment between the brothers. It causes Jacob to heal some of his childhood wounds.

“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,” Chris told TV Insider. Chris said that Jacob sees Caleb as “everything [Jacob] isn’t and everything he ran away from and everything that scares him.”

He also discussed the similarities between this storyline and that of some other characters this season. “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. And I just think that’s thrilling. It’s so strange to be with a character this long and still be learning about him,” Chris said.

As an actor, Chris said that having his character be the central focus of the episode “is always a little nerve-wracking because you hope that it aligns with everything that I’ve been playing up until this point.” Gregory (played by Tyler James Williams) is the person who is able to show Jacob that Caleb actually likes him by playing him a clip of his brother singing his praises on a podcast.

Of the friendship between Jacob and Gregory, Chris said, “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.”

“I am so spoiled by working with all of these people, but particularly these longer two-person scenes with Tyler are just so fun. It’s so great to be playing with an actor that you trust and are inspired by,” he said. “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. And so it was a pleasant surprise.”

Jacob Took A Major Step Forward In His Romantic Life This Season

The season also shows Jacob making progress in his love life. In one episode, we see Jacob run into Zach and his new boyfriend while out with his co-workers at a karaoke bar. It brings Jacob down and causes him to lose confidence. However, by the end of the episode, he works up the courage to approach a man named Elijah, played by Jaboukie Young-White. This is the only time viewers see Elijah this season, but it looks promising, considering the fact that the two exchange numbers.

Chris spoke with ScreenRant about Jacob’s evolution and whether fans will see more of Elijah in Season 5. Fans have expressed an interest in seeing Jacob’s love life blossom further. “I don’t know,” Chris said. “We’ll see. I think it’s definitely a possibility. I love that. I love that the fans are saying that. Yeah, I feel like we dropped some hints last season and certainly expanding the Abbottverse, bringing people into the family, I feel like really puts these characters into situations that we’re not used to seeing them in.”

He continued, “Certainly, romantic relationships are one of the most difficult and glorious things you can do as a human being, and so it’s always just really ripe for comedy and pathos, injecting a love interest. So I hope it happens. I feel like Jacob is so in love with the people that he works with that I question whether he’s even really ready for a relationship, but we’ll see.”

Fans have been hoping to see more of Elijah, with one fan writing on Reddit, “For sure, you don’t add dialogue like that bar scene for a temporary character. I can’t wait to see more of him.” Someone agreed, writing, “I definitely feel they’re setting us up to see him again! I also hope we see Zach again tbh! His new bf is played by Matteo lane who’s also a really funny comedian that I hope they didn’t bring on just for one line!” However, it doesn’t seem like that would be the case. Another fan wrote, “They wouldn’t bring him on just to flirt at a bar and disappear. Plus Jacob has his phone number.”

“Oh for sure!! The lead up to introducing him was just too perfect — Jacob runs into Zach, sees that he’s moved forward in his life, starts spiraling and realizes he’s been pretty stuck, and makes a bold move to get a guys number to end out the episode,” another user wrote. “Not to mention, Jaboukie is THE BEST and Quinta would not waste that kind of potential on a one time guest appearance!”

During his interview with ScreenRant, Chris talked about the benefits of having 22 episodes in a season again. According to the actor, this is going to provide the characters with some opportunities to develop their storylines at a slower pace. This will lead to a longer, more organic way of setting things up and watching them play out.

“One of the fabulous things about having 22 episodes again is that it’s just a huge canvas to paint with, and we get to tease things out over a longer period of time, and we get to take detours from the larger arc that we’re telling, and it really fills in the holes of who these people are, and we got to do that a couple times now,” Chris said. “And I will say that, even in the first and third season, obviously, our third season was a little truncated because of the strikes, we ended up telling the same story that we wanted to tell, but we had to do it quicker.”

He continued, “And there’s just something so awesome about letting something move at the speed of real life. Our show is a mockumentary. We’re trying to dupe people into thinking that there are actual cameras capturing actual lives and actual human behavior. And so I think setting up what we did last year has given us a really great runway for maybe something to unfold in real time next year with Jacob.”