"Romantic Expressionism"
◄   Season One, Episode Fifteen  ►
Air date	February 4, 2010 on
Written by	Andrew Guest
Directed by	Joe Russo

Summary: When Annie starts dating Britta's ex-boyfriend Vaughn, Britta and Jeff conspire to break them up. Meanwhile, Pierce joins Troy, Abed, Shirley, and Chang for movie night.

Contents 1 Plot 2 End tag 3 Recurring themes 3.1 Continuity: 3.2 Pop culture references: 3.3 Meta references: 3.4 Running gags: 3.5 Trivia 4 Quotes 5 Comments

PlotEdit

While walking to class, Jeff and Britta notice Annie flirting with Britta's ex-boyfriend Vaughn. Annie later meets up with Britta and asks for-and receives- her blessing to date him. Although she seems to be fine with it, Britta later tells Jeff about the situation, fully aware of what his reaction will be. Calling Vaughn a "gateway douchebag," he warns that soon other similar douchebags will want to date Annie.

At Abed's dorm room, Troy, Shirley, Pierce, and Chang gather to watch and ridicule a bad movie. They all take turns making fun of the film, but Pierce's lame attempts at mocking it fails to amuse anyone. Unaware of the others' protests, Abed invites Pierce back to join them for another movie night tomorrow. Pierce recruits the Greendale sketch comedy troupe to help him write a few good jokes before the next screening.

Supposedly wanting to protect Annie, Jeff and Britta resolve to end her relationship with Vaughn by manipulating her former crush Troy. They get him to hit on her, but she ends up rejecting his advances. Vaughn walks in on the situation and breaks up with her after assuming the worst. Learning from Troy that Jeff and Britta were responsible for his unwelcome flirting, she angrily confronts them about meddling in her love life.

That night, Pierce arrives at Abed's viewing party armed with plenty of comedy material. Once the movie starts, he immediately starts delivering rapid fire jokes. The others become suspicious and accuse him of coming prepared. He confesses but tries to deflect their criticisms by using fake outrage at their behavior. Leaving in a huff, he trips and falls making a huge mess. Everyone in the room bursts out laughing, and Pierce proudly proclaims, "Biggest laugh of the night!".

Jeff and Britta arrive for the study group meeting the next day looking to apologize to Annie. She refuses, saying they need to treat her as an adult and not interfere in her love life. Britta lashes out and tells her if she wants to be treated as an adult, she needs to stop dating her ex-boyfriend. Jeff realizes her reasons for wanting to break Annie and Vaughn up weren't altruistic: she was jealous. Britta in turn questions Jeff's motivations, hinting at his own feelings for Annie. The conversation becomes heated as the other study group members join in. Jeff tries to put an end to the arguing by conceding that although this group is as close as a family, everyone could become a romantic prospect since they aren't actually related; this assessment causes the group to reflect and consider the possibilities.

Annie stops the group's musings, feeling that they are getting off topic. She states that she genuinely likes Vaughn. The group then hears music playing, and they leave the study room to investigate. Outside, they find Vaughn, and he begins to serenade Annie. Although a simplistic song, it manages to win over the study group with the its honesty and sincerity. Both Jeff and Britta give Annie their blessing to continue seeing Vaughn. Unceremoniously, Pierce asks if he has a shot with anyone in the study group.

End tagEdit

Troy and Abed shoot their own fanvid of Kick Puncher. An abbreviated version of this was shown on the original broadcast airing. The full version can be seen here:

Community Kickpuncher With Abed & Troy(01:11)
950 views

Recurring themesEdit

Continuity:Edit

• Returning students:This episode sees the return of Vaughn who is now romantically interested in Annie.
• History lesson: Troy elaborates on Annie's past Adderall addiction saying he didn't recognize her when he first saw her in Greendale because she was heavier back in high school.
• Anticlimax: Annie's crush on Troy is dealt with.
• That just happened: Repercussions from Jeff and Annie's kiss from "Debate 109"

Pop culture references:Edit

• Shout out:
  • Vaughn calls Shirley "Sherri Shepard" after the TV personality.
  • Troy compares Pierce's rapid fire delivery of jokes to comedian/actor Robin Williams.
• TV Guide:
  • Troy mentions the 1990s erotic drama series "Red Shoe Diaries".
  • Abed compares the study group to "The Brady Bunch", both onscreen as a television family and offscreen as actors who dated each other.
• IMDB:
  • Abed was going to watch the 1984 film "Runaway" starring Tom Selleck until Pierce convinced him otherwise.
  • Britta mentions the movie "Juno".

Meta references:Edit

• IRL: The sketch comedy troupe Derrick Comedy appears as the Greendale sketch comedy troupe.
• Resume: When Pierce falls over, it is a reference to Chevy Chase's trademark gag during his time on Saturday Night Live in which he would take a tumble for comedic effect.
• Use your allusion: Kickpuncher is an obvious pastiche of 80's and 90's science fiction action films, particularly influenced by Robocop.

Running gags:Edit

• Turning it into a snake: Britta does her awkward "turning it into a snake" dance.
• Shut up, Leonard!: Leonard accuses Jeff of eating all the macaroni and cheese in the cafeteria. After Leonard leaves, Jeff admits to Britta that he was right.
• Butt stuff: Troy mentions again his love of butt stuff to Annie.
• My other half:
  • Annie mentions that Troy tried to hold her hand one time, but he had actually mistaken her for Abed.
  • Shirley points out Troy and Abed's weird little relationship.

TriviaEdit

A famous stock sound effect called the Wilhelm scream is heard during Kickpuncher. This sound effect is used regularly in later episodes, as well.

QuotesEdit

“He never wears a shirt. He never wears shoes. Why hasn't he died from lack of service?”— Jeff

“I'm younger than the three of you put together.”— Pierce

“Troy? The other day after Spanish I thought he was trying to hold my hand but he had just mistaken me for Abed.”— Annie

“Some things are more connected than others, like tarantulas and me peeing my pants.”— Troy

“Fine, I cared. I'm a girly-girl. I like boys and I don't like it when they're mean to me and I don't like it when they stop kissing me and start kissing my friends. I'm not that cool. I'm not Juno, okay, homeslice!”— Britta

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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