#community pilot

Shirley doing something because it sounds "college-y" is so real and I wish we had more of her getting up to traditional college antics

"The other day after class I thought he was trying to hold my hand, but he'd just mistaken me for abed"

I think it would take a lot of effort to point out the irony in all of the statements jeff makes regarding annie in this episode so every time that happens I'm just gonna write IRONY STATEMENT and sum it up. To begin:

IRONY STATEMENT - likens him and britta to her parents, acknowledges that she's only 18 and doesn't have a proper taste in men yet

What gets me is that jeff's concerns actually seem grounded in reality what with vaughn sucking and starburns becoming interested in annie, but then they fuck all the shit up at the end. Was it not good enough that he actually cared about her wellbeing?? And BECAUSE his concerns actually seem grounded in reality it makes all those revelations at the end simply unbelievable

Britta immediately britta-ing talking to troy lmao

IRONY STATEMENT - whatever the hell jeff was whispering to troy I just know it was gross and also "weirdly specific" as troy says later

"my other half"

Why do they act like slater doesn't exist when the plot doesn't centre around her for an episode. Why is jeff flirting with britta

I feel like I remember having something to say about the movie watching b plot for this ep and pierce's desire for validation but honestly it's not coming to me and watching those scenes doesn't spark any thoughts- pierce is obviously trying to fit in, and his attempts only distance himself further. He wants validation, but knows there's this divide between him and everyone else that starts with a fundamental difference in what everyone considers funny. I don't know if I have much more to say than that this is a short post. But also this is a pretty boring episode

Annie and pierce are kind of alike in the way that annie doesn't wanna be seen as a helpless teenager ("what about respecting me as an adult and a friend"), and pierce doesn't wanna be seen as a crazy old man ("did you guys think I was dead? you know how emasculating that is?")

Jeff being mad at britta for being jealous reads less like indignation that her motivations were corrupt and more like he's mad that she still cares about vaughn. And again britta throwing it back in his face really doesn't make much sense to me because his motivations seemed to make a lot of sense for the whole episode until it came to this one conversation (again with trying so hard to make jeffannie a thing!)

WHY is jeff mad that annie said she took the kiss for the team. Obviously in the context in which it happened there was little room for interpretation did he really think that she kissed him in the middle of a debate because she was so compelled to she just couldn't help herself??? And why does he WANT the affections of an 18 year old (irony statement). Also is he forgetting he has a gf now and shouldn't be caring about any of this

"there's nothing to stop any one of us from looking at the others as a sexual prospect" maybe ETHICS?? and POSITIONS OF SENIORITY??? and also just a total lack of chemistry??? and the fact that he says sexual prospect - he's not condoning deep emotional connections he's condoning the objectification of his friends. dawg 😭

#LETANNIEANDBRITTABEGAY just maybe not with each other that's still a 10 year age gap

The jeffannie pushing happened so much earlier than season 3 what is with the look they give each other at the end of the montage why is the narrative so insistent that they're meant to be together

Did they really look at this extremely repressed teenage girl and think she had actually starting hooking up with britta's hippie ex. Did they genuinely think that.

All of vaughn's songs are bangers

The study group spent a lot more time apart in this season than the later ones. I prefer this because a) it comforts me to know that they talk to other people and have other friends and b) I think it helps prevent flanderization if they interact with the real world as well on a regular basis

kickpuncher outro

"Greendale - 3 blocks from where you live" is giving me strange wtnv vibes

Wow I didn't think it opened right away with the Abed-Jeff scene. Based on context I think they're just leaving Spanish, Jeff asked for the time, and thats how they get into it. Abed intrigues me especially because he's both socially awkward and a mastermind of human character, and I dont know that the show played with that balance as much as they couldve. They definitely leaned more into the "early 2010s aspergers before anyone really knew the complexities of autism and how to portray them" type of dialogue with him early on before everyone kinda got flanderized tho, esp seen here

Britta canonically is 28 when the show starts and has 2 older brothers - I find it funny when shows throw in that characters have siblings (like Rosa having TWO SISTERS in b99??) as if that trait doesnt drastically change ones personality and the way they interact with people. Also do we ever find out why britta ended up at greendale?? I dont remember

"I see your value now" - I find it funny that abed responds so positively to that statement here especially because later on when Jeff or anyone else tries to take advantage of his memory ("abed, youre a computer") he does NOT respond in kind. Headcanoning that abed didn't really have friends before greendale so by having someone "see his value" even if thats just remembering obscure details opens him up to the possibility of making real connections here, even if he doesnt expect to be understood by the people he meets. Plus that could've been his first positive interaction at greendale

I was really expecting Duncan's misdemeanour to be sexual misconduct. Also he seems a lot more intent on setting Jeff straight in an ethical sense than would make sense for his character later on in s2

Does britta really value honesty above all else?? Is that something that makes sense?? Time will tell - Jeff is right tho, she seems a lot more confident and smart here than later in the show - she was actually studying !!

Duncan again with the ethics 😭 also I can't hear this scene without sugar crash playing in my head. They definitely knew who Jeff was from the beginning I will say. Also it makes a lot more sense now that he was bringing up ethics bc he's a chicken I see it now

ANNIE IMMEDIATELY SUSPICIOUS OF JEFF I LOVE HER

Troy: im gonna leave my homework with slumdog millionaire over here [tosses book to abed]. Shirley: thats borderline racist, I think. SWEET SICK IRONY - I feel like Troy, despite being a fan favourite and one they use very often, is a character that the writers had a hard time figuring out a direction for. I'll be looking out for his development from jock to sweet Lil nerd.

Also - I really wish it was britta who invited everyone. It would've tied in really well to her being the heart of the group.

Immediately Annie's first concern is being excluded and infantalized, and she's the first person to really get the ball rolling on conflict - I think her comment about bad life decisions to Shirley is major projecting. Also I love Shirleys response she was such a strong character in the 1st season

WAIT NO she's not the one who gets the ball rolling - its Jeff. ITS ALWAYS JEFF he's the one who knows that this group is volatile, he just has to bring it to the surface so he can get what he wants. This man and his control issues oml

Pierce !! Immediately just being the most impossible dude to defend or sympathize with. He's another character that I dont think they ever knew what to do with they always spend half the time trying to decide if he's redeemable and the other half displaying that he's definitely not

Troy still wearing his Letterman jacket - interesting that he's still trying to hold on to high school while knowing he didn't love who he was becoming there.

Annie hating on the dudes she likes will never not be cathartic to me she resents them for not seeing her yet still wants them to see her and if thats not me idk what is

BRITTA SEEING RIGHT THROUGH HIM!! She was always one of the only people that could and that always made them a great comedic duo for me

Jeff is absolutely bullshitting all of this and he barely knows any of these people but what's crazy is he's right. He nailed pretty much everyone and I find it very interesting that he doesnt say something about britta - even though britta doesnt need to be inspired by him, he doesnt seem to know that and Im surprised he didn't try. I guess he was doing all that just for britta, so he didn't need to address her directly he just showboated

ALSO YESS BRITTA CALL HIM ON HIS BS PLEASE DONT LOSE SIGHT OF HIS MANIPULATION AS THE SHOW GOES ON and wow I can't believe he admitted to bullshitting to everyone I was not expecting him to do that - Jeff picks strange times to be transparent about how he operates, in this case he has nothing left to gain by "mentoring" this group through their conflict so he shows his true colours and dips

I dont remember duncan duping jeff and now Im confused again about him and his ethics

"Things got boring after you left" INTERESTING. Also Shirley and Annie being the ones who want to comfort Jeff makes so much sense and britta begrudgingly being the one to offer it HMMMMM.

THERES SO MANY SCENES (AND EXTENDED SCENES) THAT ARENT IN THE NETFLIX VERSION OF THE PILOT

I was thinking for a solid second I just zone out everytime i watch the pilot and missed several scenes BUT NO ITS EXTENDED

an extra scene of britta and abed :

"abed"

"yeah?"

"what's your read on that guy?"

".. ...... you look like Elizabeth Shue" HE SAYS IN THE MOST AMAZED VOICE EVER

AND THEN WHEN BRITTA CONFRONTS JEFF HE SAYS

"but how i was supposed to know you were smart and cool? I mean you look like Elizabeth Shue"