Community/Recap/S1/E15 Romantic Expressionism
Annie starts dating Vaughn, and both Britta and Jeff attempt to derail this nascent relationship. Meanwhile the rest of the studygroup and Chang have a movie night to do some good old-fashioned MSTing.
The Community episode "Romantic Expressionism" provides examples of:
- Call Back:
- Vaughn remembers how the study group made fun of him for writing Britta poems.
- Cast Incest: Invoked by Abed.
Abed: When you guys first came in, we were as wholesome as the family in The Brady Bunch. Now we’re as dysfunctional and incestuous as the cast of The Brady Bunch.
- Celebrity Resemblance: Vaughn calls Shirley "that Sherri Shepard lady."
- Crack Pairing: In-Universe. "Romantic Expressionism" parodies this with a long sequence of Ship Tease suggestive glances between all of the characters. In order, it goes: Pierce / Shirley / Jeff / Britta / Abed / Britta / Annie / Britta (gasp!) / Annie (gasp!) / Troy / Shirley / Troy / Annie / Pierce / Annie / Jeff / Annie / Jeff / Abed.
- Designated Parents: Jeff & Britta.
Britta: I guess we feel like we're sort of all a family, and Jeff and I are like your Greendale parents.
Annie: You're not my mom, Britta. She would never wear boots that go up that high.
- Dude, Not Funny: In-universe example.
Pierce: Directed by Kim Yang. Asian. Can't direct, can't drive.
Chang: Dude, I'm right here.
- Fan Film: In-universe example -- Kickpuncher with Abed and Troy.
- Fight Scene Failure: Invoked with the incredibly cheesy film that the study group watches on their movie night, "Kickpuncher". Even more so in the Fan Film Abed and Troy make.
- Foreshadowing:
Jeff: [Annie] is 18. Her taste in men hasn't been established. Creepier and creepier dudes will start thinking of her as an option, and it all starts with Vaughn. He’s a gateway douchebag.
Starburns: See that guy over there? (Points across the cafeteria to Jeff) Yeah, he's a douchebag.
Kickpuncher Narrator: It is the year 2006 A.D. and nuclear war has ravaged the planet.
Abed: Must have missed that.
- Ho Yay: In Troy and Abed's Kickpuncher film, with Troy playing Kickpuncher and Abed as Kickpucher's girlfriend-
Troy: Are you sure Britta couldn't do your part?
Abed: I asked her. She wasn't available.
Troy: Let's go film the sex scene.
Pierce: You don't feel good about yourselves so you have tear down everything around you. What's the matter? Mama Chang didn't breastfeed?
Chang: (sad face) She read in a book that it wouldn't make a difference.
- Love Dodecahedron
- Manipulative Bastard: Jeff & Britta
Jeff: Crash course in manipulation. You don't actually tell the person what you want them to do. You help them realize they want to do it, so it can't be traced back to you.
- Matzo Fever: Troy is particularly impressed with Annie for this.
- MSTing: Abed and Troy apparently have a tradition of doing this to horrendous B-movies; Shirley, Pierce, and Señor Chang show up, too. (And yet Jeff, played by the one cast member who had guest starred on Riff Trax, does NOT show up.)
- Pierce attempts to compensate for his lack of ability at this by writing his jokes with a team of writers beforehand, like the actual Mystery Science Theater 3000 did after its first season.
- Noodle Incident: Jeff really did eat all the macaroni. It's weird that Leonard knows that.
- Off-the-Shelf FX: Used by Abed and Troy in The Tag.
- Rapid-Fire Comedy: How Pierce tries to compensate for his failure to perform on the first MSTing night.
Pierce: Change! Time to change the channel! This guy'll be begging for change soon, he keeps making movies this terrible! We should change to something good, this movie stinks! We should change his diaper. That's change we can believe in!
Abed: [Hits pause] Okay, it's obvious something strange is happening here.
Pierce: What are you talking about? I'm making jokes during a movie.
Troy: Yeah, but you're doing it with the speed and determination of the incomparable Robin Williams.
Chang: Obviously none of my other plans fell through. (motions toward his tuxedo)
- Ship Sinking: Pierce/Everyone Else, played for laughs:
Pierce: So, just to be clear... I don't have a shot with any of you?
[Everyone else shudders audibly and hurries away from him.]
- Shout-Out: To the speed and determination of incomparable Robin Williams
- Slippery Slope Fallacy: Jeff thinks that Annie would be more attractive to douchebags by dating Vaughn, the "gateway douchebag."
- Shut UP, Hannibal: When his second attempt at making the group laugh while MSTing ends in failure, Pierce lambasts them for snidely making fun of the creative endeavors of others rather than attempting to create anything of their own and using mockery to compensate for their own lack of self-worth. The group immediately calls bullshit, accurately pointing out that Pierce doesn't give a damn about defending the creativity of others and is just sour that he couldn't get a laugh.
- Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Jeff and Britta make this happen for Troy.
Troy: Thanks for taking ugly Annie out of the palm of my hand, and turning her into another hottie WHO WILL NEVER GET WITH ME!
Jeff: If we say we disapprove, we'll just drive her further into his hemp-braceleted arms. We need to be smart, we need to hatch a scheme.
Britta: Mmm... hatching schemes' not really my wheelhouse.
Jeff: Let's not confine ourselves to your wheelhouse. This problem won't respond to tap dancing or casual revelations that you spent time in New York.