Community/Recap/S1/E25 Pascal's Triangle Revisited

It’s the end of the semester, and the study group decides to attend the transfer dance after being informed that Britta was nominated for transfer queen. At the dance tensions begin to rise. Annie tells the study-group that she has decided to follow her boyfriend, Vaughn, to the East Coast for the summer, but privately confides in Jeff she doesn’t plan on returning to Greendale. Troy is being kicked out of his house and in increasingly unsubtle fashion hints he wants to be Abed’s roommate, a situation Abed appears uninterested in. Chang and Duncan's continued grudge explodes into a full Ballroom Blitz. Jeff’s two love interests Britta and Slater compete over his affection and both publicly confess their love for him. The episode ends in a Big Damn Kiss that has been building for most of the season.

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The Community episode "Pascal's Triangle Revisited" provides examples of:

• Actor Allusion: Starburns declares during an uproar "bring Conan back!", in reference to Conan O'Brien's then-ban from television after being ousted as the host of The Tonight Show. Starburns's actor, Dino Stamatopoulos, was a writer and performer for Conan's Late Night program from '93-'99.
• Backhanded Compliment:

Slater: Britta! You look great! Such a stunning improvement.
Britta: Wow, you look gorgeous. It must've taken all day.

• Ballroom Blitz
• Betty and Veronica: Which ends with Jeff struggling to make a decision after both Britta and Professor Slater confess their love for him. He ends up taking a Third Option Love Interest in Annie.
• Big Damn Kiss
• Call Back / Continuity Nod: In the order they appear:
  • Jeff's car has a damaged windshield from Chang's attack with a Key-tar.
  • He pulls into a faculty reserved parking space he secured due to his participation in Debate Team
  • He talks briefly with his accounting teacher, Prof. Whitman.
  • Jeff greets Vaughn in three variations, counting off each one. This goes back to an observation about Vaughn in "Social Psychology", the fourth episode.
    • Later, the rest of the study group simultaneously does the same thing with goodbyes.
  • Pierce plays the Greendale school song (set to the tune of Bruce Hornsby's "The Way it Is"), which he "wrote" in "Advanced Criminal Law".
    • Additionally, Britta's sessions with Duncan were a condition of her acquittal for cheating in that episode; here we see one for the first (and last) time.
  • Britta reveals to Shirley and Slater that she had sex with Jeff during the events of "Modern Warfare".
    • To which Shirley responds, "Holy macaroni with pepperjack!" Which was mentioned as an improvement on the standard macaroni and cheese formula during the background chatter when the group finds out about Slater and Jeff dating in Communication Studies.
  • Dean's two apparent dates, dressed in dalmation costumes, refers back to a scene from episode 1.10, in which he watched a video of a man in a strangely muscular dalmation costume. "This better not awaken anything in me." This was referenced several times between the two episodes noted, in increasingly unsubtle fashion as the Dean piled up more and more dalmatian paraphernalia.
  • Shirley's friend Gary from Finland is mentioned as transferring back.
  • Britta using a lot of makeup up for Valentine's Dance.
• Comically Missing the Point: Troy and the phrase "jump the shark".
• Creator Cameo: Presumably the contestant "Danielle Harmon" is a reference to Dan Harmon.
• Development Gag: The Troy moving in with Pierce plotline can be interpreted as a reference to the fact that originally Troy and Pierce were supposed to be the big bromance, which is clear from the earlier episodes, before they realized how well Troy and Abed worked together.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Professor Duncan when Britta and Professor Slater walk into the dance.

Duncan: You might want to go easy on the punch; I put in a little hot person. Hot people.

• Giant Food:

Jeff: What’s wrong with you?
Troy: I’m sick. I don’t know why. [takes another bite of cookie]
Jeff: Have you considered the sixty-inch-diameter cookie you’re eating?
Troy: How can something that’s delicious make me sick?

• Harsher in Hindsight: Shirley's first keg stand, once we learn she developed a drinking problem after her divorce.
• Ironic Echo: Señor Chang, who is now a student, asks Duncan if he can get help to cheat his way through school, mirroring Jeff's actions in the first episode. Naturally, he is rebuffed.
  • What Could Have Been: In the commentary, it's mentioned that they considered having a runner where Chang experienced Jeff's entire character arc from the season in miniature within that episode.
• Jumped the Shark: Discussed.
• Lampshade Hanging: Britta takes therapy with Professor Duncan. She automatically lies down on the couch for the session, which Duncan notes is how one would act "in a Woody Allen movie" and is unnecessary.
• Love Dodecahedron: Annie is willing to transfer to another school to be with her boyfriend Vaughn, who used to go out with Britta. Jeff is stuck with choosing between Britta and Slater after both publicly profess their love for him. In the end, Jeff and Annie kiss.
• May-December Romance: Jeff and Annie.
• Running Gag: The Dean's dalmatian-furry fetish is followed from its very beginning ("I hope this doesn't awaken something in me"), to its escalation (dalmatian mugs, posters, and rugs), to its inevitable conclusion in "Pascal's Triangle Revisited".
• Season Finale: the first of hopefully many more to come.
• Serious Business: Vaughn just got a spot on the number one community college hacky sack team.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: In universe example between Team Britta and Team Slater. And Team Bring Conan Back.
• Shout-Out:
  • Troy mentions that episode of Happy Days.
  • Britta tells Shirley where and when she had sex with Jeff in the form of a Clue accusation.
  • Troy calls Slater's outfit "very Fatal Attraction".
  • The school splits up into "Team Britta" and "Team Slater".
  • Star-Burns shouts, "Bring Conan back!"
• Speak of the Devil: Saying "Nothing could ruin this." summons the Dean.

Jeff: He's like an evil genie!

• Spin-Off: Abed's thinks the idea of Troy moving in with Pierce sounds like a spinoff.
• Stock Sitcom Grand Finale: Parodied.
• Take a Third Option
• Technology Marches On: Britta points out they no longer live in a Jane Austen novel and can use cell phones.
• Third Option Love Interest: Jeff has to choose between Britta and Slater. He chooses Annie.
• Twin Threesome Fantasy: The Dean's reaction when a second Dalmatian-costumed man walks in.

Dean: Please don't be mad. I didn't think more than one person would answer the ad.
Drags the first Dalmatian toward the second
Dean: Yes! Dream coming true!

• • Jeff wishes he could be two people so one could be with Britta and the other with Slater, then they could get together for some weird foursome.
• Unfortunate Name: The Tranny Dance (that is, Transfer Dance), where they crown the Tranny Queen.
• What Could Have Been: It's mentioned a few times in the commentary tracks throughout the season that they wanted to get Bruce Hornsby in as a cameo and have him attack Pierce for ripping him off with the school song. They even mention a potential Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: "I'm Bruce Hornsby, and this [raises fist] is the Range."
• "What Now?" Ending: No Mortal danger Cliff Hanger here, but the question of how the study group can possibly stay together after Jeff runs away from Britta's confession and kisses Annie minutes later.