"Beginner Pottery"
◄   Season One, Episode Nineteen  ►
Air date	March 18, 2010 on
Written by	Hilary Winston
Directed by	Anthony Russo

Summary: Jeff takes beginner pottery for an easy credit but winds up becoming jealous of another student. Meanwhile, Pierce's incompetence could ruin the study group's grade in boating class.

Contents 1 Plot 2 End tags 3 Recurring themes 3.1 Continuity: 3.2 Running gags: 3.3 Meta references 3.4 Pop Culture References 4 Quotes 5 Trivia 6 Comments

PlotEdit

Jeff proudly presents to the study group his pick for the "ultimate blow-off class" of the semester, Beginner Pottery. Pierce arrives in a yachting outfit and announces he's taking Boating and invites everyone to join him. Britta, Troy, and Shirley decide to take Pierce up on his offer while Annie and Abed join Jeff in his class. Later, Jeff swaggers into the pottery studio late and immediately notices another student who seems very popular with the female students. The pottery instructor, Professor Holly, makes his presence known and explains to the class the one thing he will not tolerate in class is "ghosting". Ghosting is the reenactment- in any way shape or form- of the Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore pottery scene from "Ghost". The popular student then goes on to create an impressive vase which earns him the praise of the professor and the class but also animosity from Jeff.

In the parking lot on a real sailboat, the other study group members are joined by Star-Burns and are waiting for class to begin. The teacher, Professor Slaughter, arrives and explains that everyone will pass or fail as a team in this class. He decides to name Shirley the leader and makes her the captain, much to Pierce's annoyance. Back in Spanish class, the study group reunites. Pierce is still bothered about Shirley's "promotion" while Annie and Abed question Jeff's attitude towards the talented student Rich. Jeff tries to pretend not to care, but Britta senses that's not the case and teases him about it. Later in an empty pottery studio, Jeff tries to practice making a vase while flashing back to his childhood. He is upset to see that for all his efforts, he can't seem to make a decent vase.

The next day in boating class, Shirley and her crew try to "sail' the boat but are hindered by Pierce. He ends up making a mistake which gets the entire class a bad grade. Professor Slaughter suggests that Shirley get her crew under control while Pierce blames Shirley. Back in pottery class, Jeff tries to fake an injury to avoid participating. His plan is ruined when it turns out that Rich is actually a doctor and is able to determine his injury to be non-existent. Abed misreads Jeff's interaction with Rich and assumes he made peace with him, only to find out that Jeff's opinion of him has gotten worse: he now believes Rich to be a ringer, a pottery specialist taking a introductory class in order to get praise from everyone.

That night, Jeff confronts Rich in the parking lot as he is leaving. He grills him about his past, trying to get him to admit that he has some past experience with pottery. The next day, Annie, Britta, and Abed arrive in the study room and are surprised to see Jeff already there. He admits to having spent the night there researching Rich online and trying to find a some reason to account for his pottery talents. The rest of the study group arrives with Shirley berating Pierce for his poor performance during class. Jeff snaps at them all telling them to quiet down as Abed observes that most mental health problems are activated in college.

In boating class, Professor Slaughter has the class react to the conditions of a perfect storm. He causes the jib to swing wildly which knocks Pierce off the sailboat and into the sea/parking lot. When the professor warns her that stopping to rescue Pierce could endanger the entire crew, Shirley commands the rest of her crew to abandon him. In pottery class, Jeff is pestering both Annie and Abed about Rich. He sees Rich perform what he believes to be an advanced pottery technique and calls him out as a fraud. Professor Holly and the rest of the class watch on as Jeff tries to prove he was right. Standing behind Rich, he tries to force him to do the technique again and accidentally starts "ghosting" in the process. This act sends the professor into a rage and demands that Jeff leave.

Jeff goes to find Pierce, looking to hire a private investigator he once used. Pierce asks him what his obsession with Rich is really all about. Jeff deflects by asking him why he isn't in boating class, and Pierce tells him they let him drown to get a passing grade. Pierce steers the conversation back to Jeff who admits that he always grew up believing he was special. Not being good at something-even pottery- is difficult for him to accept because of that. Pierce tells Jeff how opposite his own life has been in comparison. Although he always fails, it doesn't deter him; in fact, he uses it as motivation to keep on trying. Pierce then jumps into a modified boat with wheels he had been working on and rolls off to rejoin the class.

With Pierce gone, Shirley's crew is sailing the boat without any problems. Britta sees Pierce off in the distance rolling toward them in his modified rowboat. The crew mocks him as he accidentally runs over a ground sprinkler, causing a fountain of water to shoot up. Shirley orders the crew to start rescue procedures. Britta objects, but Shirley tells her she can't abandon her principles or her friends. After successfully "rescuing" Pierce, Professor Slaughter awards them an A for their efforts, and promotes Shirley to Admiral.

Back in pottery class, Jeff apologizes to Rich for his behavior. The professor has allowed him back to class if he refrains from any further ghosting outbursts. Jeff goes to to his pottery wheel and begins shaping the clay while reimagining his flashback with his mom. Instead of blindly praising him, she is more honest with him this time. Annie and Abed look concerned as they overhear Jeff seemingly talking to the himself. Meanwhile, Rich is flashbacking too. His happy demeanor disappears as he hears his mom's voice criticizing him and telling him that he should have died in the roller coaster and not his brother...

End tagsEdit

At the YMCA, Chang's clothing has been stolen again. He walks out wearing nothing but his swimsuit and his bike helmet.

Recurring themesEdit

Continuity:Edit

• That just happened: Annie mentions regretting taking Jeff's last blow off class last semester which asked her to live in the moment and foreshadows her trying to "live in the moment" at the end of the school year.
• Identity crisis: Jeff becomes jealous of Rich because he's usually the cool one that everyone admires.
• Returning students: Star-Burns is in the boating class along with Pierce, Britta, Shirley, and Troy.
• History lesson: Jeff has a flashback to his childhood where his mom is continually praising him. Pierce tells Jeff about his complicated childbirth.
• A sweet ride: Chang's Vespa from "Introduction to Statistics" makes another appearance.
• Double take: Jeff reimagines the flashback with his mom, this time with her telling him the truth instead of blindly praising him.

Running gags:Edit

• Nice outfit: Pierce wears a yachting outfit for his sailing class complete with a captains hat. Chang arrives to class without a shirt because someone stole his clothes at the YMCA; in the episode end tag, this happens again, and he is forced to leave the gym wearing only a swimsuit and a bike helmet.
• Catchphrase: Shirley's says "Oh, that's nice" when being informed that the boat they are using in class was purchased at a government auction, presumably previously owned by a criminal.
• It's a vase: Annie does unintentionally suggestive motions when making a vase.
• Annie's boobs: Rich helps Annie check for breast lumps.

Meta referencesEdit

• Jeff mentions Tenille upon seeing Pierce's yachting outfit, referencing the partner of the 70's singing duo The Captain and Tenille.
• The sailing class scenes has many references to the movie "The Perfect Storm"
• Abed calls Jeff's weird behavior "Goldblumming" after the actor Jeff Goldblum.
• Pierce stands on the bow of the boat and is about to say the famous line from "Titanic" but is immediately stopped by Professor Slaughter.

Pop Culture ReferencesEdit

• Shout out: The movie "Ghost", particularly the famous pottery scene with Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, is directly referenced a few times in this episode, inspiring a new phrase "ghosting".
• Nickname: Jeff calls Annie "Laura Ingalls" after the main character on "Little House on the Prairie", Rich "Doc Potterywood" after the Micheal J.Fox movie "Doc Hollywood."

Quotes Edit

“Jeff's competitive side had come out before, he had even displayed envy. But on that first day of pottery class he discovered-”— Abed, narrating

“Abed!”— Jeff

“Yeah.”

“What did we discuss?”

“No voiceover, I'm sorry. It is kind of a crutch.”

“I never been a Captain before”— Shirley

“I have! I commanded a jet ski through an electrical storm and only had one causality!”— Pierce

“Jet skis only hold two people”— Troy

“Exactly I saved half the crew”— Pierce

“Well anyone can be a lawyer. You can even represent yourself. You can't do surgery on yourself, it's illegal. You'd get arrested. And then you get a free lawyer.”— Abed

“I feel like I'm being interrogated but by someone who doesn't really want to know anything important.”— Rich

“I hope I get multiple personalities; I get lonely in long showers.”— Troy upon learning that many psychological issues manifest during college

“Congratulations. You failed a class so easy that people passing in the hallway get a contact credit.”— Professor Holly

“Jeffrey, when I was born I got my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, both arms and one of my ankles. Mom said there came a point when the doctors stopped delivering me and just started laughing. I mean, if I ever let being bad at something stop me, I wouldn't even be here. That thing some men call 'failure', I call living, breakfast. And I'm not leaving till I've cleaned out the buffet.”— Pierce

TriviaEdit

Season One Episodes
1. "Pilot" 2. "Spanish 101" 3. "Introduction to Film" 4. "Social Psychology" 5. "Advanced Criminal Law" 6. "Football, Feminism and You" 7. "Introduction to Statistics" 8. "Home Economics" 9. "Debate 109"	10. "Environmental Science" 11. "The Politics of Human Sexuality" 12. "Comparative Religion" 13. "Investigative Journalism" 14. "Interpretive Dance" 15. "Romantic Expressionism" 16. "Communication Studies" 17. "Physical Education" 18. "Basic Genealogy"	19. "Beginner Pottery" 20. "The Science of Illusion" 21. "Contemporary American Poultry" 22. "The Art of Discourse" 23. "Modern Warfare" 24. "English as a Second Language" 25. "Pascal's Triangle Revisited"
Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Season Four • Season Five

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