Community/Recap/S1/E01 Pilot: Difference between revisions

Jeff, of course, has no intention of doing any actual work; having once helped Professor Ian Duncan, the pompous British psychology lecturer, bail out of an inconvenient DUI charge, Jeff fully intends on exploiting the favour Duncan owes him and easily acquire all the results for the tests on his curriculum. Despite Duncan's [[Moral Myopia|recently-discovered ethics]] (and fear of getting caught), Jeff manages to browbeat him into getting the results and, in the meantime, decides to fulfil a primary interest and chase women -- specifically, Britta Perry, an attractive member of his Spanish 101 class who just happens to be struggling with the upcoming Spanish test they have the next day. Sensing an in, Jeff claims to be a Spanish tutor leading a study group in the hopes of getting closer to her.

 

 

 

It's beginning to look like Jeff is stuck with his new study group -- whether he wants it or not...

As with many pilots, this one has a [[Early Installment Weirdness|noticeably different feel]] from the rest of the series - the characters in particular play directly into their stereotypes, rather than playing with them. This is most striking with Abed and Troy.

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* [[Actor Allusion]]: Jeff (played by Joel McHale) is referred to as "[[The Soup|(Ryan) Seacrest]]."

* [[Amoral Attorney]]: Jeff.

* [[The Blind Leading the Blind]]: How the story begins! Jeff claims to be a Spanish tutor to get time alone with Britta. Then she invites Abed, who invites half a dozen other people to the "study group", and Jeff has to stall and keep them distracted to avoid having to admit that he can't tutor them.

* [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick]]: When Jeff is talking to Duncan, a professor for whom he served as attorney:

* [[Breakfast Club]]: Lampshaded mercilessly.

* [[Casanova Wannabe]]: Pierce.

* [[Characterization Marches On]]: While the seeds of how all the characters the later viewer will be familiar with are present and several of them only slightly different from how they will eventually turn out, there's notable and at times quite significant differences with all of them:

** Britta is more of the [[Straight Man]] of the ensemble, rather than the insecure [[Soapbox Sadie]] she becomes in later seasons.

** Troy is more of a stereotypical 'dumb meathead' [[Jerk Jock]] character than the geeky [[Cloudcuckoolander]] [[The Ditz|Ditz]] he would later become. Also, rather than the familiar 'Troy and Abed' dynamic, the show seems to be attempting to create more of an [[Odd Couple]] friendship between Troy and Pierce.

** Abed's role as '[[Genre Savvy|meta-guy]]' is downplayed, and the Asperger's-like tendencies of his condition are given more emphasis. This is also notably one of the few episodes where anyone attempts to 'diagnose' him ("Yeah? Well, you have Asperger's.") rather than it being treated as an [[Ambiguous Disorder]].

** Duncan is clearly intended to be more of a [[Psychologist Teacher]] (with hints of a [[Sink or Swim Mentor]]) towards Jeff rather than the inept semi-regular he ended up being. This case, however, is probably due to it also being an example of [[Real Life Writes the Plot]], since John Oliver decided not to leave ''[[The Daily Show]]'' to take a regular role on the show.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Abed.

'''Jeff:''' Yeah? [[Jerkass|Well, you have Asperger's]]. }}

** Abed is noticeably more Asperger's than [[Meta Guy]] in this episode.

* [[Completely Missing the Point]]:

'''Shirley:''' You have been [[Casanova Wannabe|sexually harassing me]] since the very first day of class.<br />

'''Pierce:''' Sexually harassing? That makes no sense to me. Why would I harass someone who turns me on? }}

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Watching this compared to the rest of the series, it's pretty clear that Duncan was supposed to be around a lot more than he ended up being. This is because John Oliver decided not to quit ''[[The Daily Show]]''.

* [[Dirty Old Man]]: Pierce.

* [[The Ditz]]: Troy and Pierce.

* [[The Dulcinea Effect]]: Jeff develops a crush on Britta after seeing her for about thirty seconds, which he will pursue for the rest of the season.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: Troy is deeply impressed by Jeff's insight about his motives for either wearing his jacket because other people like or to spite them for disliking it ("either way, it's for them; ''that's'' what's weak."). The series would in later episodes make something of a subplot about Troy being insecure over measuring himself up against Jeff as a person and as a man.

* [[Funny Background Event]]: After Jeff snaps the pencil to prove a point, Abed gasps in horror -- and during Jeff's big speech, Abed can be clearly seen trying to put it back together.

'''Annie:''' [[Dude, Not Funny|It's a serious disorder.]]<br />

'''Pierce:''' If it's so serious, why don't they call it meningitis?<br />

** Pierce is insulting and insensitive.

* [[Jerk Jock]]: Troy.

* [[Magical Negro]]: Subverted; turns out, the African American cafeteria worker ''isn't'' there to listen to Jeff discuss his life.

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Jeff. He effortlessly gets the group either at each others throats or best friends with each other, depending on which he thinks will improve his chances of scoring with Britta.

* [[Moral Myopia]]

** Jeff himself is a perfect example of this trope -- he is a manipulative and untrustworthy man who is willing to lie and cheat to get what he wants, but when both Britta and Duncan reveal they have been lying and cheating in order to manipulate ''him'' {{spoiler|(Britta in order to get him to resolve the arguments he caused and expose him, Duncan to teach him a lesson about how he's not getting the free-ride he expects at Greendale)}} his response is to get angry and outraged at being manipulated.

* [[The Nicknamer]]: Troy calls Jeff "Seacrest" and Abed "[[Slumdog Millionaire]]."

'''Troy''': A keg ''flip''! They're really hard to pull off. }}

* [[Pilot]]

** It's pretty clear that Britta has clocked early on exactly what kind of guy Jeff ''really'' is, or at least is ''deeply'' suspicious to the point where she's almost convinced, and is stringing him along until he can demonstrate it in front of everyone.

** Annie's also quick to start pulling threads: "What kind of board certifies a tutor?"

* [[Rule of Empathy]]: Jeff's speech. Of course, he's just bullshitting them, but he's damn convincing.

'''Pierce:''' [[Take That|Big mistake]]. }}

* [[Stealth Insult]]:

* [[Strange Minds Think Alike]]:

** Both Abed and Jeff independently tell Britta she looks like Elizabeth Shue (which, come on, [[Celebrity Resemblance|she totally does]]).

* [[Volleying Insults]]: Between Prof. Duncan and Jeff.

* [[Welcome Episode]]

 

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[[Category:Recap]]