The following contains spoilers for Abbott Elementary, Season 1, Episode 13, "Zoo Balloon," which aired on Tuesday, April 12th on ABC.
Abbott Elementary's first season has officially come to an end after 13 episodes. Throughout the season, Janine Teagues has been in a relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Tariq. Janine and Tariq have been dating since the seventh grade, and they live together. Now, as of the Season 1 finale, Janine and Tariq have broken up.
Janine and Tariq's breakup has been a long time coming. Viewers are introduced to Tariq in Abbott Elementary's second episode, "Light Bulb." From his first appearance, it is clear that their relationship has problems. Janine is the responsible one who pays for everything and takes care of their housing, while Tariq is too laid-back and focuses almost solely on his career as an aspiring rapper. Tariq is not unlikable by any means, but he's not a good fit for Janine. Now, they have finally ended their 13-year-long relationship.
In the Abbott Elementary Season 1 finale, the school went on a field trip to the local zoo. The chaperones included Tariq, Jacob's boyfriend, Zach, and Barbara's daughter, Taylor. Tariq's last appearance before this episode was in Episode 8, "Work Family," when he came to do an anti-drug presentation for the kids. The school put on an assembly, and Tariq performed a rap to teach the kids not to do drugs. Representing a program called F.A.D.E., Friends Against Drug Exposure, Tariq rapped for the kids. In the assembly, he taught them the names of a variety of drugs and told them that drugs could kill one of their fellow students (directly shouting out the stage manager). Despite all of this, it turned out to be a semi-successful performance. Now, Tariq is back, and his rapping has taken off as a part of F.A.D.E. since then.
Amid his newfound success, Tariq gets an email while on the bus to the field trip in the Abbott Elementary Season 1 finale. The representatives from F.A.D.E. want Tariq to do a tour visiting every elementary school in New York and performing for F.A.D.E., as well as to record a whole album of "anti-meth songs called Meth-od to My Madness." Tariq tells Barbara that for at least the next year, he will be working full-time in New York City. Janine then spends a good part of this episode debating whether to move to New York City with Tariq or to stay at Abbott and break up with him.
On the one hand, this breakup makes a lot of sense. In "Work Family," Jacob admitted to Janine that he isn't the biggest fan of Tariq and suggested that maybe she needed to get some space from him to grow and become the best version of herself. In that same episode, when Gregory asked Janine if Tariq made her happy, she couldn't give him an answer. She and Tariq definitely care for each other, but it has been clear for a while that they're still together mostly out of habit rather than because they still fit well with each other.
Unlike The Office, which kept Pam and Roy together for two seasons before they broke up, Abbott Elementary decided to break up Janine and Tariq in the Season 1 finale. It is sooner than expected and will for sure shake things up for Janine's character. Interestingly, Tariq said that he only plans to live in New York City for a year for now, and they specifically agreed that it was a break rather than a breakup, so it seems likely that viewers haven't seen the last of Tariq. Perhaps he will come back for a few episodes next season.
Even though Janine and Tariq have just broken up, it will not be smooth sailing for Janine and Gregory anytime soon. For one thing, Gregory is now dating Barbara's daughter, Taylor. For another, Janine just broke up with Tariq and seems to be nowhere near ready to figure out her feelings for Gregory, let alone date him anytime soon. It will probably be some time before the two can get together, but their relationship will definitely play a significant role in Season 2.
All 13 episodes of Season 1 of Abbott Elementary are now available to stream on Hulu.