[AYAOTD? Recap with Erin Callahan] S04E10 "The Tale of the Fire Ghost"

RECAP

Sam and Kiki are in the midst of an argument when Tucker runs into the circle and spills the bucket of water, angering Gary. Betty Ann is forced to play referee so Tucker can tell his story about the damage fire can do even after it’s put out.

Jimmy is struggling to deal with his parents’ divorce and blames his fireman father for the split. Roxanne, his older sister, understands it's no one’s fault and is happy to help her mom throw a birthday party for her father at the fire station. When the lights flicker and a window smashes, one of the firefighters says it’s the “fire ghost” but Jimmy and Roxy’s dad says there’s no such thing. The fire alarm goes off in the middle of the party, and the firefighters have to head out to do their jobs, leaving Jimmy and Roxy in the empty station--empty except for Jake, a firefighter the kids have never met before. They ask Jake about fire ghosts and he explains they are the very real spirit that remains when a fire is killed, but they can only cross into our world if someone looks directly into a flame. Jimmy, of course, looks directly into a flame and opens the door for the vengeful ghost of a fire extinguished by his father. Turns out it was the same fire that killed Jake, who is also a ghost! The fire ghost taunts and chases Jimmy and Roxy through the station, vowing to kill the firefighters when they return. With Jake’s help, they destroy the ghost and give their dad a big hug when he gets back to the station.

Tucker’s story inspires Sam and Kiki to apologize to each other. Since they don’t have any water, the Midnight Society put out the campfire by throwing dirt on it, but we see that it’s still burning as they leave the clearing.

REVIEW

T: The Midnight Society nearly falls apart until Betty Ann proves to be the backbone. I love that they set up Kiki/Sam fighting and Tucker/Gary fighting, and then Frank just also shouts? I picture him as the “Loud noises!” type.

E: “Everyone else is fighting so I’m going to yell too” is peak Frank. That said, in what universe does Sam borrow a sweater from Kiki? I totally buy that they’re friends outside of the Midnight Society, but it just doesn’t strike me as the kind of friendship that would involve borrowing sweaters.

T: What?! Sweaters cross all gender and friendship lines. I love me a good sweater and I’d borrow any friend’s sweater if it looked comfy.

E: *hovers protectively over all of my cardigans*

T: I like the whole idea of this episode. The campfire is so integral to the Midnight Society, it’s about time we get a story centered on fire.

E: Definitely! And it’s so often used as a motif or plot device in horror, but I can’t think of another horror story where the antagonist is actual fire.

T: Jimmy’s such a moody teen.

E: And how! To be fair, young teens and tweens tend to take divorce the hardest so his reaction is pretty realistic. I love that he sort of hides in the corner during the party and gives his dad the cold shoulder.

T: Why does Roxy give her dad a nose ring? Does she want one so she gives him one so he’ll give it to her?

E: I literally said out loud, “A nose ring? Does she even know her dad?” She’s just so ’90s it hurts. Also, did you catch the reactions of the other firefighters? Before Roxy clarifies that it’s a nose ring, the firefighters seem to think it’s for a Prince Albert.

T: LOL I did not pick upon that. Wow. “Hey, dad, here’s a ring for yo dick! Happy bday!” Also speaking about their dad, he’s not played by a Farley. I had to look this one up on IMDb because I thought he was one of Chris Farley’s brothers. But nope, he’s played by Jimmy Day, who we’ll see again in season six.

E: Fun!

T: Having the firefighters go on a call is a great, realistic way to get the protags alone in a creepy old building.

E: So simple, and yet so effective. Once the power goes out and the place is all cavernous and full of shadows, it really is creepy.

T: It’s a great turn. Happy flips to creepy in an instant. Jake Griffin is so creepy! I didn’t remember this one super well, but I remembered he was dead, but thought he was the fire ghost so that was a fun turn.

E: I made the same assumption -- it’s a really clever twist!

T: Overall, this one has a great atmosphere, like the fire ghost regarding firefighters as “murderers.”

E: Yes! The whole concept is really interesting. We naturally react to fire as if it’s something alive because of its unpredictability and the way it moves. Just think about the language we often use to describe it -- a fire needs air to “breathe,” it gets “hungry” if it doesn’t have enough fuel, and flames “dance.” Pretty weird if you think about it, and this story takes that natural human reaction to its logical conclusion. What happens when a fire is “killed”?

T: We get the old “there’s two ghosts, one’s good and one’s bad” twist from “Quicksilver” but I think that particular aspect works better here.

E: I LIKE “Quicksilver” but the fire ghost is much more fleshed out here than the evil ghost was in that episode. And the pairing of dead firefighter vs. fire ghost makes a lot more sense than sick teenage girl vs. soul-sucking graveyard demon.

T: The fire ghost pretends to be a freaking cop to force them back into the building? That’s messed up.

E: People pretending to be cops is scary. Ghosts pretending to be cops is downright terrifying.

T: Jake scolds Jimmy, “I told you not to look at the flame,” and Roxy gets so indignant with him: “You looked at the flame?!” lol

E: So funny. Dammit, Jimmy!

T: Way to use fire ghosts as a metaphor for divorce. I guess that works.

E: Hmmmm, interesting. Is the fire the marriage? And then it gets killed and someone needs to be blamed? As a divorced co-parent, I do appreciate the way divorce is handled in this episode, especially the fact that the parents are still friends. So often in media we see divorced couples at each other’s throats, but that’s not always how things play out.

T: I’m viewing this as a thirty-something whose parents are still together, so I can intellectualize it, but I’m sure a tween going through a divorce would feel very raw and emotional. AYAOTD? continues to impress by touching on real teen issues in interesting, unique ways.

E: Truth!

T: What do you think of the fire ghost’s design? I think I like it. On one hand, what a missed opportunity for another AYAOTD? memorable monster like a Crimson Clown or Ghastly Grinner, but having an understated, smoldering character works for the tone of the story. And it beats a big swing that misses. Also, the dude they got to play him is HUGE. He just towers over the kids, he’s got to be about 6’6, right?

E: I dig it, and I think they easily could’ve overshot their effects budget and ended up with something that looked totally ridiculous. Instead, they went for something subtle.

T: They do that thing where the ending is too easy, and I’m disappointed, but it’s a fake out and I’m happy again. Although Jimmy’s whole reverse psychology with the fire ghost is a little cringey.

E: God, it really is, isn’t it? “Do anything you want to us, just don’t use fire.” It’s a kind of negotiation that would make me uncomfortable even if only full-grown adults were involved.

T: “Adios hotshot” – oh those groan-worthy ’90s one-liners.

E: I laughed so damn hard when that popped out of Jimmy’s mouth. Cripes.

T: I don’t know how I feel about this episode. The titular fire ghost kind of works, kind of doesn’t. The atmosphere is creepy, but the “please sir, don’t kill me with fire” is so cringeworthy. This episode really swings back and forth between what I love and what I really don’t like in a way that not many have done.

E: I’m a fan overall but it’s definitely a mixed bag. I think the emotional beats and the way the story weaves into Jimmy’s internal struggle works better than it does in many episodes we’ve seen.

T: They do the same thing as “Quiet Librarian” and reveal a picture of the ghost at the end and it kind of bugged me then and I really dislike it here. It further cements that Jimmy and Roxy would one hundred percent already know all about Jake Griffin. They spend time around the firefighters in the firehouse, they’d know about the one who died four years ago.

E: One hundred percent with you on this one. I understand wanting to make this fire the one that killed Jake, but making his death so recent makes zero sense. Because you’re totally right -- if he was close to their dad and died only four years ago, Jimmy and Roxy would recognize him.

T: Sam and Kiki make up and Tucker leaves a fire pit burning? I can only assume next week is about the Midnight Society finding a new meeting place because of the forest fire that destroys these woods.

E: LOLOLOLOL. Whoops!

QUEER OR NOT?

T: Hmm, is the Kiki/Sam screaming two-inches into each other’s faces about a sweater REALLY about a sweater?

E: Oooooohhhh! Okay, in THIS universe, Sam borrowing a sweater from Kiki makes a lot more sense.

TRIVIA, USELESS TRIVIA

T: If Roxy looks familiar it’s because Vanessa King was Cleo in “Guardian’s Curse.” I liked both of her performances.

E: It’s interesting that for the second time she’s the sibling defending their dad to her salty brother.

T: Also, Jimmy and Roxy’s mom, played by Liz MacRae, was the mom in “Tale of the Hatching.” She’s really good at popping up in the first scene of an episode and then abandoning her son and daughter to get terrorized. She’s going to appear in one more episode and I’ll laugh so hard if she does it again.

E: Do you think when the writers had a plot point similar to another ep they would go, “Just like in such and such. So and so played the mom in that one. Do you think she’s available?”

T: This isn’t really trivia, but I’d feel remiss not to mention Myles Ferguson, who stars as Jimmy. He was a promising Canadian actor who did a lot of work, mostly in Canadian TV, and sadly passed away in a car accident in 2000 at the age of 19. 

MODERNIZE ’90s CANADIAN KIDS

T: The Midnight Society trade in American currency! I hate this. Let Canadian kids enjoy Canadian cash. To be fair, JoAnna Garcia (Sam) is the only American, so maybe she’d have American cash on hand? I’d laugh so hard if Kiki was like, “Um, why’s this money green?” and Frank goes, “Say what?”

E: LOL, I didn’t even notice this. But yeah. Pretending Canadians are American is so much worse than just admitting something is set in Canada. Also, I mentioned this above, but with her flannel and peace sign necklace and nose ring gift, Roxy is suuuuuuch a ’90s girl. She totally could’ve been an extra on My So-Called Life. She would most certainly need an update for a modern version of this episode. The “landline is dead” scene also needs an update to “why do our cell phones have no service?”

JUST GIVE IT A NUMERICAL RATING ALREADY

T: This really works for me. The setting, the characters, the whole plot structure. Sometimes the show’s melodrama stumbles for me, but it works here. That said, there’s a few odd choices, like the nose ring bit that goes nowhere and Jake being a creep in the ghostly fireman’s uniform for no reason. 8.3 OUT OF 10 CAMPFIRES.

E: Again, overall I like this one, especially the mythology of the fire ghost and the good ghost vs. bad ghost dynamic. But there are a few unfortunate plot holes and some cringey moments. I’m going with 8 OUT OF 10 CAMPFIRES.