Line #11 Recap/AbbottElementaryS2E15Fire


1	"Fire" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of ''Abbott Elementary''.
2
3	A surprise fire causes Ava to chicken out and for Gregory to take up the mantle as temporary principal to help the school process the incident. He then has to use his new authority to get Barbara to open up about her personal problems relating to the fire. Melissa, meanwhile, has the time of her life as she fangirls over the visiting firefighters.
4	----
5	!Tropes in this episode include:
6	* BlatantLies: Mr. Johnson tells Chief Smokey Robinson that he lost three diamonds and a Ferrari to exploit their insurance policy.
7	* CareerNotTaken: Melissa reveals she wanted to be a firefighter when she was younger. However, the gender politics of the time kept her from pursuing it.
8	* ChekhovsGun: Melissa mentions that branches of her family have a legacy as professional firefighters. Jacob uses the Schemmenti name to convince the visiting department to let Melissa use their truck ladder. As it turns out, the Shemmentis are quite beloved among the firefighting community.
9	* ColdOpen: The episode starts with Ava having a rough morning and Jacob trying to get his coworkers to eats his cookies. [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked...]]
10	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: After Gregory points out that Jacob's cookies look ''alive'', Jacob accepts it as a compliment since they were made with pro-biotics.
11	* CrazyPrepared: As part of his principal training, Gregory took on a variety of catastrophe courses to prepare himself for any sudden emergencies.
12	* ExplainExplainOhCrap: While explaining who the shawl and candle belong to, Janine makes the conclusion that someone tried to blackmail (frame) Barbara.
13	* FrameUp: Defied. Janine deduces that someone used cashmere and Jesus to frame Barbara for the fire only for Barbara to admit responsibility for her actions.
14	* FriendshipMoment: Melissa manages to get Barbara to open about why she's upset about the candle fire. And after learning that it was to pray for the health of her husband, Melissa assures her that it's okay to be afraid of things and how she doesn't have to bottle up her fears.
15	* HiddenDepths: Melissa admits that she once wanted to be a firefighter and is quite versed when it comes to firefighting equipment.
16	* InTheBlood: She also confesses that her family has a rich history of fighting fires (as firefighters) and fighting fighting.
17	* InevitablyBrokenRule: During the surprise fire drill, Ms. Schemmenti tells the students to stay calm and not to run. Cue Ava running down the halls telling the kids to panic.
18	* InstantlyProvenWrong: Melissa accuses Chief Robinson of being full of "fire machismo" based on how he silenced her as a woman. Jacob points out that there's a woman firefighter on his team.
19	* ItsTheBestXEver: "Acting Principal" Eddie proclaims to have the best day of his life after Ms. Janet informs him that there was no psychological trauma found in any of the students or faculty members.
20	* NoJustNo: Ava has this reaction after seeing Jacob's "carrot cookies".
21	* ObviouslyNotFine: Despite holding herself responsible for the fire, Barbara's insistence in assuring everyone that she's fine shows that she's hiding some deeper feelings about the fire.
22	* OnlySaneMan: Chief Robinson is not amused with the wacky and unprofessional antics of the Abbott staff while he does his presentation.
23	* TheReveal: The reason Barbara lit the candle was to pray to the good lord to watch over her husband who's been having terrible health problems.
24	* RunningGag: Jacob trying to get people to eat his carrot cookies.
25	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
26	** Ava ''flees'' from the school as soon as she sees a fire in the teacher's lounge.
27	** Barbara goes on a rant about not being able to light her candles anymore and then leaves the presentation.
28	* ShoutOut: Ava compares Janine's round face to the Sun Baby from ''Series/{{Teletubbies}}''.
29	* TheShrink: Ms. Janet is a psychologist sent by the school district to help anyone, student or faculty member, who may have been traumatized from the fire incident.
30	* SkewedPriorities: Janine uses Ms. Janet's psychological services to talk about her personal problems and recent life affairs.
31	* StayInTheKitchen: Growing up, Melissa was shunned for her dream of being a girl firefighter. It doesn't help that the concept of one was used as a cheap joke to make fun of them.
32	* StickyFingers: Firefighting fangirl Melissa went as far as to steal the keys to the firetruck.
33	* TheStinger: Jacob leaves his box of cookies in the teacher's lounge in the hopes that someone will take one. Melissa ends up trying it and is disgusted to learn how much she enjoys it.
34	* TastesBetterThanItLooks: Everyone is put off by Jacob's carrot cookies (Gregory even says they look ''alive''), but when Melissa actually tries one, she's forced to admit that they actually taste good.
35	* VerbalBackpedaling: Melissa introduces the "jaws of life" as a great way to ''destroy a car''. She immediately changes it to ''save someone from a car''.
36	* WeWantOurJerkBack: Still not wanting to deal with her personal drama courtesy of Gregory pushing the issue, Barbara wishes Ava was back as principal since she wouldn't make a big deal out of it.
37	* WhamLine: Barbara finally cracks to her fellow queen about the reason why she's so upset about the candle
38	-->'''Barbara:''' Been dealing with Gerald's health. Had a prostate situation...
39	* WhatTheHellHero: Gregory gets some backlash during the firefighting assembly after his comments towards Barbara come off as ageist.
40	* YouAreInCommandNow: Invoked. With Ava having fled the school, Gregory eagerly takes over as the "Interim" principal and manages relations between Abbott and the fire department.

Context Recap / AbbottElementaryS2E15Fire