Recap / Recess S 3 E 9 The Shiner

• Foreshadowing: Before dropping him off at school, TJ's dad remarks that his friends will be amused by the story of how his son got his shiner. This clues in the audience that the nature of how TJ got his black eye is perhaps a little more mundane than everyone will come to believe.
• Gossip Evolution: Since TJ won't tell how he got the titular black eye, that leaves it to everybody else's imagination as to how he got it. As a result, everybody blows it out of proportion that TJ earned his injury through some heroic act, to the point he's praised and beloved for something he never really did.
• Refuge in Audacity: In the end, TJ fees undeserving of all the adulation he's gained from his black eye. So he comes clean that it was the cause of an embarrassing mishap during square-dancing lessons. Although the kids do laugh, it's more because they don't believe TJ would ever square-dance. TJ shrugs off that at least he was honest on principle.