Quinta Brunson on the 'zany' Abbott Elementary finale, from fake giraffes to real breakups

Warning: this post contains spoilers for the season 1 finale of Abbott Elementary.

Giraffes and breakups and clam chowder bowls, oh my.

School's out following the season 1 finale of Abbott Elementary, Quinta Brunson's triumphant workplace comedy about a group of hardworking teachers at an underfunded public school in Philadelphia. The zany pupils and educators leave the halls of Abbott for the Philadelphia Zoo to celebrate the end of the school year, resulting in the usual mayhem: veteran kindergarten teacher Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) mulls retirement; second-grade teacher Janine (Brunson) confronts tough decisions about her future; newly-minted full-time staffer Gregory (Tyler James Williams) hates clam chowder but might just love Abbott; and eccentric custodian Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) evokes his love of John Hughes back at school.

"I'm just excited to see these people grow as teachers, which also means watching them grow as individuals outside of the school," Brunson tells EW at a screening of the finale. The lesson plan for the second season? Personal growth for the Abbott faculty — especially the impassioned Janine. "Janine is now on a journey of finding herself," Brunson says. "I'm excited to have some things thrown at her that were thrown at me when I was 25."

Below, the creator and star discusses the "zany" finale, season 2, dream guest stars (hello, Kid Cudi, please report to the principal's office), and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I believe the finale is the first episode this season that takes place outside of Abbott. Tell me about the decision to leave the school setting for the zoo to wrap things up.

QUINTA BRUNSON: I wanted the whole first season to take place in the school for the most part. A workplace comedy should take place at the workplace — that's what makes people fall in love with the workplace. It's what makes people want to go to Abbott, want to work at Abbott, or be a student there. To reward our audience enduring us being in this school for 12 episodes straight, we all get to go on a field trip, you know? It's not just us that is going, it's the audience that is going. Also, that's what you do at the end of a school year in Philadelphia. You go to the Philadelphia Zoo. So it was another opportunity for us to bring the beauty of Philadelphia into the landscape of our show.

Did you film at an actual zoo?

We shot at Descanso Gardens [in Los Angeles] ... We were looking at different zoos. We looked at the L.A. Zoo, but it was occupied. We wound up seeing Descanso and I was like, "Wait a second. This weirdly has the vibe and feel of the Philadelphia Zoo." Very beautiful zoo, if you're ever in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Zoo was so kind and gave us all their decals to put around and make it look real. We got some animals in there to fill out the environment. One of the animals in there, a giraffe? Fake. They told me they were going to do it. I was like, "That's going to look so bad." But I saw that in post [production] and I could not believe it.

Were there any challenges of filming on location with so many children?

The only challenge was, like the rest of us, the kids were out of the school for the first time. Our kids are very green. A lot of them have never acted before, and even the ones who have acted before, when they come to Warner Bros. [Studios], when they come to the school, they really look at it like they're coming to school. It's really strange. They think they go to school so when they're out of school, they're like, "Ah! We're out of the school! We're on a field trip!" So we had to be real teachers and say, "Hey, come in. Stop running." But at the same time, even our cast got zany when we got out of the school. We also were wild.

Yeah, when the season was on hiatus, you tweeted a sweet video of the student actors saying, "Bye Ms. Teagues!" Do they really not know you're an actor?

Not really, you know. They know they come here, they know someone yells "Action!," they know someone yells "Cut!" They get it for the most part, but they only know me as Ms. Teagues. And to make shooting easier, instead of these kids having two people in their heads, the kids just say, "Oh, Ms. Teagues. That's my teacher when I go to that weird school on that lot," because they're sitting there and doing papers and stuff while we're filming. They're doing real worksheets. They see us in teachers' clothes and they show us their finished worksheet and they go, "Look Ms. Teagues!" And I go, "That's great work" or "That's the wrong answer." It's weird. They have this sort of interesting reality at Abbott… and we've told them before. I've tried to tell them, "I'm Quinta," but their brains are like, "Ms. Teagues." And honestly it makes it a little bit easier for us when we need them to be quiet. That helps them look at us like authority figures.

We get the inevitable Tariq and Janine breakup this episode and the sad version of their money dance. It's clear they're no longer compatible, but I'm sad to see the funny Zack Fox go. Are Tariq and Janine truly endgame? Will we see more of Tariq in the future?

I don't want to give anything away, but I feel like we will be seeing more of Tariq in the future. I do think that they are broken up and things are over, but I think we'll still… Let me not say that! Who knows! Who knows! But I don't think you've seen the last of him.

Let's talk about the look on Janine's face when Gregory and Taylor reach for each other's hands at the zoo. What will Janine and Gregory's dynamic look like in season 2 on the heels of Janine's breakup?

We're going to get into our writers room and talk about it, but to me, Janine is now on a journey of finding herself. She's been with this person for years. 10 years. And for the first time, she is a single adult, and now she has space to discover what that means. So I don't feel like she's going to hop into anything immediately with Gregory. Gregory is also, he just made the decision to stay at Abbott to be a full-time teacher. He has that to worry about — what that means for him, what that looks like, making that kind of commitment. So I think right now, these are two individuals who are growing up, and we'll continue to see them meet in the middle of that growing up during the second season.

What are you most excited to explore in a second season?

I'm excited to explore Janine's growth. I'm excited to have some things thrown at her that were thrown at me when I was 25 and single. I'm excited to watch Barbara — you know, in the finale, she confronts almost being near retirement. In the second season, I want that to start to manifest in different ways, you know? What does it look like when kids are coming into your class who identify as they/them for Barbara and older women who may not be used to that? Things like that. How is she going to grow from that? She has to grow too for this new world. Lisa [Ann Walter]'s character, Melissa, she's finding love and maintaining her support of Barbara and also being a divorced woman. For Jacob, I'm excited to see what we can throw at him to make him grow as a teacher. I'm just excited to see these people grow as teachers, which also means watching them grow as individuals outside of the school.

You appeared on Late Night last month with Kid Cudi, who said he wanted to be on the show; 1. Can we expect a Cudi cameo soon, and 2. Who are some of your dream guest stars?

You know, there's actually a girl here tonight, who is one of my dream guests. Her name is Courtney [Taylor]. She's on the final season of Insecure and I think she's so good, her energy. She's very funny but also grounded, and I think she would fit in really well with our cast. I just like her. She's a good actress. I really get joy out of bringing new talent to the forefront, and I think Courtney's new talent, and I want the world to see her. It's the same way I felt when I saw Janelle [James]... I get my kicks out of that, introducing new talent. Cudi, he said he wanted to be on the show. For me it's all about, "Who actually fits the world?" I saw Cudi and I was like, "Huh." … it's all about if my mom knows who you are. [Laughs] If my mom knows who you are, that might make you a great fit for Abbott. I felt that way with him. It just clicked. He said it and I was like, "Actually, yeah." There are also already roles that I had in mind that I was like, "Actually, he could play that role that I had in mind for a second season." There's so many other things, too. We've got other stuff to fill out. We've got parents, we've got friends. That's what's cool about the second season. Now you guys know us. Now we get to role build.

The season had so many memorable moments and quotable lines. Do you have a favorite?

My favorite is episode 8, "Work Family." That episode has been my favorite episode. I'm not allowed to say that. Yes, I love them all, but "Work Family" from its inception, I just knew it was special. I'm talking about the minute we came up with the story in the room, to the story to the outline, I was like, "Yeah, this is my fave." We had built up to that point so much that I knew now we could fire all these characters at rapid fire. Now we know who they all are. That's when Janelle falls off the chair. That's when we meet Tariq and we learn about their issues a little bit more. That's when Barbara and Melissa help Gregory out, which we haven't seen before. And we learn more information about Jacob. I just think it's our best episode. That scene in the break room where Janine reveals that she's been with Tariq for so long? And all of these characters get to react. That one works so well because now they know Barbara — they know what's funny for Barbara to agree with Ava. Now they know Ava and this is her dream come true to make fun of Janine in this way. And Gregory, dealing with his own issues. That was when we finally got to put all the ingredients in the pot.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

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Related content:

• Quinta Brunson on the instant success of Abbott Elementary: 'My jaw is still on the floor'
• Abbott Elementary star Janelle James talks playing a 'chaotic' principal 'you hate to love'
• Abbott Elementary star Chris Perfetti explains how Jacob is 'a total 180' from his usual roles