Community: Pascal’s Triangle Revisited

“Do you try to evolve, or do you try to know who you are?”

Ah, the end of the school year. A ritual we all appreciate—even the LA radio stations air a wildly appropriate Alice Cooper song with some regularity—and can identify with. Jeff was willing to say one last witty thing to various bit players at Greendale, Troy was forced to leave the nest, and Shirley did her very first keg-stand. But, of course, there’s a “classic last day of school plot twist.” And, because he must, Abed identifies it as it happens.

Annie’s decision to throw caution to the wind and move to Delaware with Vaughn (the next shama-lama-ding-dong of hacky sack) creates tension between her, Jeff, and the man with remarkably tiny nipples. That triangle is a bit awkward, because Jeff is unwilling to admit his attraction to a girl much, much younger than him. Annie is unwilling to admit her attraction to a man much, much older than her. And Vaughn has no idea what’s going on. I wonder what he thought when Annie left him in the lurch.

The second triangle is Jeff/Britta/Slater: two sexy women competing for the love and affection of a distant, withholding snark factory—classic comedy. Britta’s confession of love was unexpected, and not nearly as gross as Slater and Britta grooming Jeff like erotic gorillas. Did Jeff kiss Annie just because he couldn’t handle the implied commitment of two women declaring their love for him? If Slater makes him feel like the man he wants to be, and Britta makes him feel like the man he is, what does Annie do for him?

Troy/Abed/Pierce are perhaps the weirdest triangle. Troy needs a place to live, and fishes like mad to get Abed to invite him into the bunk bed. But Abed’s right: close friends shouldn’t live together. Should Troy move in with Pierce? Probably not. Then again, odd pairings are just a joke waiting to happen. Maybe if Troy’s friendship with Abed is a giant cookie, Troy’s friendship with Pierce is a healthy spinach salad with beets and low-fat dressing.

Instead of getting the last word, Jeff asked the most important question: “Do you try to evolve, or do you try to know who you are?” College is a place of exploration for even the most sardonic student, and Jeff is still learning how to be the man he ought to be. That’s a triangle itself: ideals, reality, and future. We’ll have to tune in next season to find out which type of man he becomes.

So, Mark, we’ve finished the first season of Community in record time. What do you say to a trans-Atlantic champagne toast?

Mark Says...

I'd be delighted, Josie. In fact I even managed to hire a photographer to capture the moment for us in advance (he has an app for that):

Man, I am rocking that crown.

According to Wikipedia, Pascal's triangle is a 'triangular array of the binomial coefficients in a triangle'. Since I suck a maths I have absolutely no idea what any of that means or how it has any bearing on his episode. I just thought I'd throw in some random trivia into this review.

Now, despite what everyone might be expecting, I am not actually going to talk about the Jeff/Annie kiss...

Of course I am going to talk about the Jeff/Annie kiss. I've been waiting all season for it. I had to restrain myself from writing an essay on it. I honestly thought that this season would end with Jeff being forced to make the ultimate choice: does he get back together with his guest star ex-girlfriend or finally hook up with his recurring love interesting? That would've been an acceptable, if predictable, way to end the season. Kinda like how Ross had to choice between Rachel and that girl who shaved her head at the end of season something of Friends.

But that was not to be. Jeff bolted, and fled the Tranny Dance. And who should he just so happen to run into as he was fleeing? That's right, Annie. And I think we all know what that meant. It meant that somewhere, on the road to Delaware, an over-sensitive hippie with tiny nipples is writing a very unfaltering song about Annie. Too bad we'll never ever get to hear it. But more importantly, it also meant that something major was about to happen between these two. I have no shame in admitting that the first time I watched this episode I literally jumped for joy when my favourite would-be couple finally locked lips. Now when I watching that kiss I tend to get a little mad. I can't say why yet. I'll going into more detail in the next review.

See you in season two, guys.

Cool Cool Cool:

• Annie: “I’m so jealous Britta, I want to murder you!”

• Dean Pelton: “Some people say ‘transfer formal’ isn’t really rolling off the tongue, so we’re just going to call it the ‘tranny dance!’”

• Britta: “What’s more empowering than a woman in a crown?”

• Britta: “Jeff doesn’t need a girl who just doesn’t wear underwear because Oprah told her it would spice things up. He needs a girl who doesn’t wear underwear because she hasn’t done laundry in three weeks. He’s been to flavor country now. They should retire the table we did it on.”

• Due to the exigencies of time and patience, I didn’t get a chance to mention the fourth triangle: the dean, the Dalmatian, and the other Dalmatian.

Three out of four Banana Sam Elliots.

Josie Kafka is a full-time cat servant and part-time rogue demon hunter. (What's a rogue demon?)

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