Pillows and Blankets

Pillows and Blankets

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Director: Tristram Shapeero — Writer: Andy Bobrow — Aired: April 5 2012 —Season: 3 — Number: 14 Summary: A documentary crew captures a pillow and blanket civil war on the Greendale campus.

Plot

There are people who say, 'I don't get it. So it was a pillow fight.' To which I say: ' You weren't there.'

— Shirley "Big Cheddar" Bennett

The campus stands on the brink of war after a confrontation in Group Study Room F between Abed's Pillowtown denizens and Troy's Blanketsburg followers. Afterwards, a documentary crew follows Dean Pelton to the student lounge to find Jeff. They had been hired to film the attempt by Troy to beat the Guinness World record of the worlds largest Blanket fort. Dean Pelton pleads with Jeff to help negotiate a peace between the leaders of the two rival forts. In Dean Pelton's office, Troy, Abed, Jeff, and Pelton's attempts to end the hostilities fail. Troy gives Abed an "all-tomato" ultimatum and tells Abed to surrender before midnight or else. Abed declines his offer and both parties return to their forts. At midnight Troy's Blanketsburg forces attack Pillowtown and war is officially declared.

How it all started.

The rest of the study group soon takes on individual roles in the conflict. Shirley joins up with Troy and is made second in command of his army while Annie sets up a neutral clinic to treat the wounded from both forts. Pierce had originally sided with Troy until Shirley was promoted over him so he defected to Abed's side. For his part Jeff attempts to use the situation to his advantage so his classes would be cancelled. He gives both forts the same inspirational to keep the war going. This angered Annie who tells Jeff he should take this more seriously as Troy and Abed's friendship is at stake. Meanwhile, Pierce suffers a humiliating defeat during a brief battle between the forts inside the library. He attempts to redeem himself by presenting Abed plans for a fearful weapon of mass destruction.

Who wants to miss more classes?!

Troy learns about the W.M.D. and forms an alliance with the head of campus security Sgt. Ben Chang. Blanketsburgs ranks are the Chang's security force, known as the "Changlourious Basterds". This group of middle schoolers he recruited from a previous security gig Chang had a bar mitzvah begin terrorizing the Pillowtonians. Abed responded by having Pierce unleash his doomsday device: a full body, nigh invulnerable pillow-suit codenamed "Pillow Man". Pierce successfully uses it to route the Changlorious Basterds during one of their raids on Blanketsburg. As the tide of battle shifts, Abed sends a classified e-mail to his generals outlining strategies for dealing with Troy. He outlines Troy's weaknesses including his tendency to be distracted by shiny things and his inexplicable bouts of crying.

Campuswide carnage

When Troy receives the intercepted message from a hacker working for Blanketsburg, he sends a text message to Abed saying "You may be my best friend, but I'll be your LAST friend" and notes that no one else will have the patience to deal with Abed's issues. Once Jeff hears about the arguing, he sets up another meeting, hoping to gain peace. Abed and Troy then decide whoever wins the war gets to stay in the apartment, and the loser has to move out. The next morning, a great battle occurs in the cafeteria. The battle concludes after Dean Pelton announces the representative for Guinness was fired, and the war ends on a weary, inconclusive note when everyone promptly walks away. After everyone leaves, Abed and Troy continue pillow fighting, telling Jeff it will be the last thing they will ever do together.

The beginning of the end.

Jeff then tells them that signals that they like each other so much, they are willing to beat each other with pillows forever. Jeff then gives Abed and Troy "imaginary friend hats" he gave to them in the dean's office which they threw away. They become friends again. Jeff then reveals that he actually went to the Dean's office and "searched" for the friend hats, showing that he does take what's happening amongst his friends seriously even if he's not entirely sure why.During the war, Britta tries to get photographs of the events that occurred, only to mess up every photo, except for her final shot with Troy and Abed doing their signature handshake. The narrator reveals that she, in very Britta style, was trying to get an image of light reflecting off a plate of waffles and took her lone great picture by accident.

Best friends again

End tag

Troy and Abed are having a pledge drive for Greendale Campus Television that loses its funding mid-broadcast.

The Old Negro Space Program

In 2007, the writer of this episode, Andy Bobrow, wrote, produced, and directed a ten minute short film called "The Old Negro Space Program". It was a mockumentary done in the style of Ken Burns' films. It chronicled the struggles of black astronauts excluded from "white" NASA and the formation of their own group called NASSA (Negro American Space Society of Astronauts). It later became the inspiration for this episode.

Recurring themes

Continuity:

• And we're back: This is a direct continuation of the previous episode "Digital Exploration of Interior Design."
• Replay: The documentary theme is used once again, but this time in the Ken Burns format.
• Returning students: Leonard, Star-Burns, Garrett and Fat Neil return. This time Neil is a school DJ going by the name of "Real Neil".
• History lesson: The study group's past history is briefly touched upon by the narrator of the documentary. Annie's wish to be a Health Care Administrator is also mentioned which is something she herself had stated in "Mixology Certification".
• Climax: The war is ended simply by the Dean announcing the Guinness Rep is no longer coming.
• Familiar faces: Chang's new security recruits from "Contemporary Impressionists" return.
• Winger speech: Jeff uses his gift of persuasion to keep the feud going longer so he doesn't have to attend classes.
• School supplies: Jeff's cell phone and his texting obsession are featured prominently.
• This must be the place: The final showdown for the warring factions is in the school's cafeteria.
• A nice gesture: Troy and Abed's hand clap is shown once again in this episode.
• Previously: A shot of Pierce's medical records include "Broken legs; set, caste, pain meds" on Nov 4 2010. This is a nod to the events in the Season Two episode "Aerodynamics of Gender" when he double bounced and broke both his legs on the trampoline.

Running Gags:

• Bag-ul: Troy mispronounces the word "ultimatum" as two words "all tomato".
• Man crush: Pelton cries for Jeff to save him during the initial skirmish when the two opposing forces collide in the study room.
• Britta'd it: Britta tries unsuccessfully to document the war through photography.
• Come sail away!: Troy cries when he sees the e-mail Abed sent listing his weaknesses.
• Nice outfit: Pierce creates the "Pillow Man" suit as a special WMD. Both sides of the conflict have uniforms that identify them as Pillowtonians or Blanketsburgers.
• Changuage:
  • Chang's new security force is nicknamed "The Changlourious Basterds ".
  • Troy and Abed offer a DVD entitled That's Enter-Chang-ment during the end tag.
• Annie's boobs:
  • A picture of Annie is shown with the camera panning up from her chest to her face.
  • In the episodes end tag, Abed and Troy are having a pledge drive and offer a copy of their DVD documentary on the life of the monkey called From Labs to Riches.

Meta References:

• Use your allusion:
  • The tone and style of this episode is done in the manner of the famous documentary film maker Ken Burns.
  • Series creator Dan Harmon's likeness was used for the painting of English Memorial.
• Résumé: The narrator of the documentary is actor Keith David, who has done voiceovers for Ken Burns documentaries before. He is never shown onscreen but Jeff is heard talking to him during his voiceover. He recognizes him as the actor Keith David. He once starred in the short lived TV show The Cape which was mentioned in Paradigms of Human Memory and shown to be a favorite of Abed's. However, Keith David denies to Jeff that he had been on the show.
• Behind the scenes: According to Pierce's medical records, the date of the events of the episode is April 1, the weekend before this episode aired. However, according to Shirley's text to her husband, the date is March 20, possibly the Thursday the episode would have aired if not for the hiatus.
• Parody:
  • A Changlourious Basterd says, "You guys like pillows? How do you like these pillows?" while pummeling a student. Community creator Dan Harmon has repeatedly stated his dislike of the film Good Will Hunting and the "Do you like apples?" line in particular.
  • Troy and Abed's pledge drive mimics how PBS (the network most associated with Ken Burns documentaries) interrupts their programming to solicit funding donations.
• Up against the wall: During their pledge drive in the end credits, Troy and Abed beg for donations explaining that Greendale programming is in danger of going off the air. The show Community has struggled with ratings throughout its run on NBC leading to questions, around the time this episode aired, about a fourth season.

Pop Culture References:

• IMDB:
  • The Rambo franchise is mentioned along with the confusing titles of each installment.
  • The name of the Doctor on Pierce's medical form is Dr. Rosen Rosen, which is one of the fake names Chevy Chase used in the movie Fletch  .
  • Jeff is accused of channeling Ferris Bueller when he exploits the conflict to delay classes.
  • The nickname "Changlourious Basterds" is inspired by the film Inglourious Basterds.
  • Neil's radio show is reminiscent of Mister Señor Love Daddy's in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing.
• Product placement: The Subway sandwich shop can be seen prominently several times in the final battle in the cafeteria.
• Shout out: Somebody tried, and failed, to get Tom Hanks to voice the documentary.
• TV Guide: Jeff recognizes the documentary narrator as the actor from The Cape.
• Name that tune: Daybreak is featured again this time played by Fat Real Neil on his radio show.

Quotes

“I know there's a lot of blanket stackers and pillow packers out there thinking it's gonna go down tonight. But there's a lot of us folks from the scene in between saying: 'Hey, we're all looking to chill out, and lay down with someone special.' This is real Neil, with pipes of steel, signing off with the smooth sounds of Daybreak.”— Fat "Real Neil" Neil

“Well, that's it. I just heard from the Guinness rep. He's not coming. He's been fired, in what he described as the world's biggest mistake. I doubt that will make the next edition.”— Dean Pelton