 I'll take the twenty-five grand; over him, I'd take twenty-five cents.
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| — Amber |
When a Family Day event is thrown at Greendale, Pierce invites Amber, his favorite stepchild from all of his previous marriages, to the festivities. At first, Pierce tries to block Jeff from having any contact with Amber. He later ends up asking for Jeff's assistance to try and bond with her as his solo efforts prove ineffective. Her first and only appearance is in the Season One episode "Basic Genealogy." She is portrayed by actress/singer Katharine McPhee.
Character history
Amber arrived at Greendale for "Family Day" and was looking for her ex-stepfather Pierce inside the library. Jeff, who had just been dumped by Slater, approached her and began to flirt as he was looking to score a rebound hook-up. She introduces herself, but before they can talk further, they are interrupted by Pierce. Jeff is surprised to find out she is his stepdaughter, and Pierce bluntly tells Jeff to stay away from her. Amber accompanies Pierce to his Spanish class where he continues to dote on her. She is uncomfortable with his attention and corrects him whenever he refers to her as his stepdaughter by reminding him, and anyone within earshot, that she's his ex-stepdaughter. Later at the Family Day BBQ, her annoyance at Pierce's behavior and his assumptions of a familial bond causes her to try and leave, making an excuse about having to catch a flight back home.
Jeff then arrives at the BBQ and stops her from departing by telling her tall tales about Pierce's exploits at school. After listening to his stories, she seems impressed with Pierce and kisses him on the cheek before leaving to freshen up in the restroom. Once she finishes powdering her nose, she bumps into Jeff in the library who appears to be leaving. He makes an excuse about needing to go see his girlfriend, but Amber questions his story since Pierce told her earlier that Jeff was gay. Seeing through his lie, Amber decides to kiss him which he eagerly responds to. They begin to make out, but Jeff soon puts a stop to it, worried about the inappropriateness of it since he's friends with Pierce. Amber reminds Jeff of the type of guy Pierce is by revealing he divorced her mother for the housekeeper. Pierce unexpectedly shows up, and the two quickly separate. He was looking for Amber to invite her to a Pictionary tournament being held in the student lounge. She makes it clear to him that she won't go unless Jeff does, so Pierce reluctantly extends an invitation to him as well.
Later at the student lounge, Amber actually seems to be enjoying herself for the first time that day. She, Pierce, and Jeff are competing in a Pictionary tournament against Star-Burns and his son's team. They are doing well until it was Pierce's turn, and he drew what ended up looking like a swastika for his clue. Rabbi Chang and his brother happen to see the drawing and are immediately offended by it. Señor Chang reassures his older sibling that he will take care of the situation, and he and Pierce get into a fight. When the dust settles, Officer Cackowski arrives to deal with the aftermath. Claiming they are going to get some coffee, Amber and Jeff take the opportunity to go off alone together as Chang and Pierce's statements of the incident are being taken. However, Pierce and Cackowski correctly assume that they are going off to have sex. Amber and Jeff go back to the Spanish classroom for privacy but find it occupied by Troy, his Nana, and Britta in the middle of a disciplinary session.
They move on to a storage closet where a check from Pierce to Amber falls out of her shirt pocket in the middle of their making out. Jeff questions Amber about it and she nonchalantly explains that she was grifting Pierce and taking advantage of his loneliness and desperation at wanting to have a family. Jeff is momentarily disturbed by the revelation but has sex with Amber anyway. Later that night at the Family Day Dance, Amber arrives to the event looking for Jeff, but he brushes off her advances after having had a change of heart. Declaring himself Pierce's friend and unwilling to continue the affair behind his back, he implores Amber to tear up the check and continue the charade she started by being a surrogate daughter to Pierce. Amber at first believes Jeff's request to be him wanting a cut of the money; when she realizes he is sincere, she refuses, still bitter about how callously Pierce treated her mom in their divorce years ago. She exits the cafeteria and departs the campus with the check, leaving Jeff to deal with a disappointed Pierce.
Quotes
- “There she is.Look at you, all grown up. Jeff, this is my stepdaughter Amber.”— Pierce
- “Small world.”— Jeff
- “Actually, it's a very big world with five billion other women in it. Good luck.”— Pierce
Interview
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