 Eat fresh!
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| — Subway |
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Rick was at one point a Subyway corpohumaniod, a spokesperson for the brand who literally became the product he endorsed. As part of his contract with the company he enrolled at Greendale when a new franchise opened there. His main purpose then was to circumvent school policy which stated that a student has to own 51 percent of any business operating for profit on campus. Unfortunately, his time there led to an illicit affair with fellow student Britta Perry which cost him his job. Years later he returned to Greendale as a corporate puppet of another big business but was again forced to leave the campus. His first appearance was in the Season Three episode "Digital Exploration of Interior Design". He is portrayed by Travis Schuldt. |
Character history
Season Three
| In the study group's third year at Greendale, they were introduced to a new student named "Subway" (who would eventually be known as Rick). He was there to be a representative for the new "Subway" shop taking over the Hot & Brown coffee shop which mysteriously burned down. Although he was upbeat and friendly towards the study group, they were somewhat wary of him. This was because his company had convinced the school board to go with their franchise instead of the shop Shirley and Pierce and Pierce proposed. However, Britta managed to warm up to Subway when he flirted with her in the cafeteria line and it was revealed they liked the same book. He further won her over by being chivalrous to an elderly student Harry Jefferson.
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| Over at the library, Subway continued to clandestinely flirt with Britta as they bonded over their mutual love of the novel 1984. Despite his strong attraction to Britta he couldn't be with her due to stipulations written into his contract with Subway. Later, they secretly met inside the tunnels of Abed's newly constructed Pillowtown. Britta admits she was asked by Pierce and Shirley to get close to him in order to bring down his company. She destroyed a recording device Pierce gave her and they became physically intimate. Unbeknownst to them, Pierce hid another recorded the encounter with a back up device he hid in Britta's backpack. Subway is later summoned to a meeting in Dean Pelton's office with the Dean and his boss. Britta was also brought in as Pierce and Shirley presented the recording.
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| At first the Subway rep has no problem with his employee being in a relationship. However, he changes his mind when the recording reveals Subway took part in a specific sexual act that he considers unacceptable and fires Subway revealing his real name to be "Rick". He is taken away by men in black as Britta professes her love for him. Afterwards, Britta spots someone dressed as Subway in the hallway. When she calls out to him walks by she sees it's clearly not "Rick". She apologizes for her mistake but he claims to be "Subway" and he acts as if he's the man he replaced. He states while he did enjoy their time in the Pillow fort he didn't care for the deviant sexual act she initiated without his consent. He then kisses her on the forehead and tells her to "Eat fresh!" before leaving ("Digital Exploration of Interior Design").
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Season Six
| During the 2015 semester at Greendale, Rick returned to the campus this time as an employee of the Honda corporation. Britta found out he was back and confronted him in the schools parking lot where he was pitching Honda vehicles to some students. Although she was happy to see him she slapped him twice for not having contacted her since they were last together. Rick claimed it had taken this long to free himself and told her he was primarily there for her. She started to doubt him when he was distracted by Dean Pelton who was showing off a Honda vehicle he just purchased. Britta accused him of "Guerrilla marketing" his company and was saddened to see he hadn't changed. Rick told her it was different but was forced to admit that like before he wasn't allowed to have a girlfriend.
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She was about to leave when Rick invited her to see the backseat of his Honda CRV. The afterglow of their physical reconnection was disturbed when Dean Pelton knocked on the vehicles door. Rick asked Britta to hide while he talked to the Dean outside. He found that Craig had bought a CRV and a snowblower in addition to his other Honda vehicle. He was so excited at the prospect of a "Level Seven Susceptible" he allowed Britta to storm. He came up with a plan to win her back and asked his boss at Honda to test Britta at her workplace to see if she could join the company. When his boss was impressed with her sales technique, Rick made a dramatic entrance and and proposed that she become his guerrilla marketing partner. Although she was reluctant at first, Britta eventually agreed as it allowed them to be a couple in public.
Rick and Britta made their relationship public the next day on campus. In between public displays of affection, they managed to convince Todd Jacobson to consider buying a Honda. Later that night, Rick accompanied Britta to dinner at her parents house where he met George and Deb Perry. Much to Britta's chagrin, Rick's marketing training kicked in as he schmoozed her parents and subtly pitched them about buying a Honda. The drive home was tension filled as Rick tried to explain that he would always be on the job as it defines who he is. Britta refused to accept this wanting to be with the real Rick and demanded to be let out of the car. After thinking things over, Rick went to see Britta at her bar and told her he would quit his job to be with her.
Quotes
- “Using a groundbreaking but surprisingly legal process known as corpo-humanization, real people such as myself are now allowed to represent the collective identity of corporate business owners.”— Subway
- “I don't recall seeing Subway in my PreMenopausal Post-Feminist Experiential Marketing class.”— Britta
- “Actually I'm on the wait list for the Pre-Men-Post-Fem-Ex-Mark.”— Subway
- “I had a great time with you last night in the pillow fort. The one exception being the deviant sex act you initiated without my consent.”— New Subway