Obviously the commentary for these episodes are not the actual plots of the episodes, just justification for why they belong on the list.
Biology 101 Based on some things Annie did in this episode, she still hasn’t forgiven Jeff for all of S2.
Geography of Global Conflict Jeff’s protective instinct kicks in, Annie goes overboard. Per the DVD commentary, both Alison Brie and Joel McHale were hella confused by the couch conversation and thought Dan Harmon was pulling “secret sex” again, only this time with Jeff and Annie. Turns out the answer is no. Andy Bobrow had a headcanon that Jeff and Annie had a fling over the summer, which Dan shot down. Hard.
Remedial Chaos Theory Alternative timelines, including alternative Jeffs and Annies.
Competitive Ecology Jeff and Annie team up for a project. It…doesn’t go well.
Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps Annie’s take on “Twilight” is worth it.
Regional Holiday Music Yes, the Sexy Santa Dance is cringey. It’s supposed to be. Except Alison plays it straight.
Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts How many times does Annie show up in Jeff’s heart again?
Digital Exploration of Interior Design Annie’s fishing for an apology using a mysterious letter in Jeff’s locker as a way to get it. She fails. Per the DVD commentary, the original concept was that Jeff finds a letter in his locker that is easily the most romantic he’s ever read and is desperate to find the author. Annie agrees to help. Plot TWIST: Annie’s playing him. Turns out she wrote it in the aftermath of “Paradigms of Human Memory” in S2 and she’s trying to get the letter back. It was supposed to mark “a big change in the Jeff/Annie relationship.” It was nuked as a result of NBC putting the series on a mid-year hiatus.
Pillows and Blankets Jeff and Annie in a time of civil war.
Origins of Vampire Mythology Not even remotely and Jeff and Annie episode, but important to the overall arc.
Virtual Systems Analysis Abed-Jeff and Annie. Sort of. Important to the overall arc.
Basic Lupine Urology Duh-doy.
Course Listing Unavailable Not a Jeff/Annie episode. But need to watch for “Curriculum Unavailable.”
Curriculum Unavailable Some nice background interactions between Jeff and Annie.
Obviously the commentary for these episodes are not the actual plots of the episodes, just justification for why they belong on the list.
Anthropology 101 Cringey as hell, but necessary for the overall arc.
Accounting for Lawyers Not a Jeff/Annie episode, but Annie holds an important key to solving the mystery of Jeff’s disbarment.
The Psychology of Letting Go Not at all a Jeff/Annie episode, but necessary for the overall arc for the tension with Britta.
Basic Rocket Science Per the DVD commentary, it’s around this episode that Jeff and Britta started their secret sexcapades. Jeff comes to Annie’s defense in this episode. Fans still debate over whether Jeff lied to protect Annie or was telling the truth.
Epidemiology Not at all a Jeff/Annie episode, but lays some of the groundwork for “Asian Population Studies”.
Cooperative Calligraphy For THAT fight scene between Jeff and Annie.
Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design Duh-doy,
Asian Population Studies Another duh-doy.
Celebrity Pharmacology Studies Not at all a Jeff/Annie episode, but fills in some important background on Annie.
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Annie is the one that got Jeff to intervene to begin with.
Intermediate Documentary Film Making Not at all a Jeff/Annie episode. Jeff gets protective of Annie. Also fills in some important background on Jeff. Turns out both Jeff and Annie have a history of parental abandonment. This weirdly never comes into play for their friendship/UST.
Intro to Political Science Per the DVD commentary, the writer’s room had fallen behind and needed to come up with an episode quick. This script (which had Annie and Jeff battling it out through proxies) had languished undeveloped because the plot was too complicated. So they quickly stripped it down, and had Annie and Jeff battling each other directly. The reasoning was they could throw a half-assed script together, throw Jeff and Annie in the foreground, let Joel McHale and Alison Brie sell the shit out of it, and then call it a day.
Competitive Wine Tasting A key scene between Jeff and Annie sets up Annie’s heartbreak in “Paradigms of Human Memory”.
Paradigms of Human Memory My heart still breaks for Annie.
Fistful of Paintballs Some nice Jeff/Annie scenes.
A Few Paintballs More To close out “Fistful of Paintballs,”
Someone asked this over on Milady/Milord, as there used to be an “Episode Guide to Jeff and Annie” floating around on Tumblr that somehow got nuked.
I decided to come up with a list for them. I’m so pleased with it, I’m going to post it here.
Obviously the commentary for these episodes are not the actual plots of the episodes, just justification for why they belong on the list.
Pilot If you listen to the DVD commentary for this episode, Annie was originally set up to be Jeff’s primary antagonist who’d narc him out every chance she got. Think Tracey Flick with a chip on her shoulder and Jeff as a target in her unforgiving sight. This characterization never made it out of “Pilot,” but you can see the intent is there.
Spanish 101 For the first ever Milady/Milord exchange at the beginning.
Football, Feminism, and You Funny thing about this episode. If you listen to the DVD commentaries, it was considered a Troy/Jeff episode, with Annie/Jeff being a distant subplot. Whoops!
Introduction to Statistics Per the DVD commentaries, the little dancing scene at the end is what convinced Dan Harmon to at least play with the idea of Jeff/Annie.
Home Economics Not a Jeff/Annie episode. But I think it’s interesting in that it kind of highlights why the original pairings of Jeff/Britta and Troy/Annie aren’t particularly healthy.
Debate 109 Duh.
Investigative Journalism Not going to lie. The journalism storyline irritates. And Annie’s apology to Jeff at the end makes me want to pull my hair out. But it is undeniably a Jeff/Annie episode.
Romantic Expressionism First example of Jeff deciding to mess with Annie’s love life. That, and Britta knowing that the easiest way to manipulate Jeff is to play the “Annie is in danger” card.
Physical Education For Annie perving on naked Jeff.
Basic Geneaology Jeff repeatedly going to Annie for advice throughout the episode.
Beginner Pottery Lays the groundwork for Season 2′s “Asian Population Studies”
English as a Second Language Not strictly a Jeff/Annie storyline, but one that is important to the overall arc.
Pascal’s Triangle Revisited Dat cliffhanger, though.
Serious question why was the group in Community so grossed out and not okay with Jeff and Annie kissing because of the age difference but it’s ok when she likes Rick who has to be the same age as Jeff or older
This is an interesting question. In all honesty, I think everyone had different motivations.I’m going to go in order of what I think will get me the least amount of hate to the most amount of hate:
Meta Reason (i.e., Dan Harmon and the Writers): Basically to reinforce two things: 1) Annie is attracted to older men without really understanding what that could mean in terms of a relationship and 2) Good older men would see Annie as a vulnerable young woman and not take advantage of her attraction to them.
Think of how the whole story plays out in “Asian Population Studies.” Jeff is undoubtedly attracted to Annie, despite him dating the more age-appropriate Britta. Meanwhile, “good” older man (or at least the one painted as being the “good one” in the eyes of the characters) Rich, ultimately turns down Annie’s overtures specifically because she’s too young.
Think about this: Both Jeff and Rich treat Annie somewhat the same. Both pay a lot of attention to Annie, they compliment her, listen to her, and do take her somewhat seriously in limited circumstances. However, Rich is held up as the “right” way to deal with Annie when the friendship starts taking a turn into crush-ville. He lets her down gently, is honest about why, and then eases out of her life. Jeff, by contrast, is not honest, blows hot-and-cold, and (in season two, anyway) encourages Annie’s attraction when it’s convenient, and then dumps ice cold water on her attraction when it becomes inconvenient.
Compare and contrast: Jeff’s on-screen response to Annie when she confronts him is literally a non-answer (not yes, but not no either), leaving Annie to take decisive action when Jeff refuses to commit to any. Rich’s response (as told by Abed) is straightforward, to the point, and lays down clear boundaries.
Dan Harmon & Co. say in “Asian Population Studies” that Jeff is in the wrong from beginning to end (starting with his jealousy over the idea that Annie found someone even before he knew it was Rich, through his attempts at sabotaging a potential relationship between Annie and Rich, through his refusal to be honest with Annie when she confronts him about it, and ending with his request that Rich teach him how to be more manipulative). Meanwhile, Rich is held up as an example of what Jeff should do with respect to Annie.
The sad thing is this: Jeff never learns that lesson. Whether it’s season two or season six, Jeff is never really honest with Annie about his feelings, what he wants, or why he feels a relationship between the two of them is not possible.
Yes, Rich put up a brick wall, but here’s the thing: Annie may have been upset about it, but she very quickly got over it. From Annie’s point of view, Jeff strung her along for years without committing to anything.
Now for the character motivations (at least as I see them) under the cut:
Keep in mind, my reasoning below is in character, and is not meant to reflect whether Ithink they’re right (or wrong).
Pierce: Jealousy, pure and simple. I don’t think Pierce has any objections to younger women dating older men, even if those ages are 20 and 36, respectively. However, I can easily see him objecting to said 20 year-old specifically dating Jeff. Remember, Pierce has always shown himself to be, by turns, admiring and jealous of Jeff’s standing as group leader and (at least at this point in the series) resident “cool guy.” If Annie is dating Rich, she’s at least not dating Jeff. Bonus, Annie dating an older guy who’s not-Pierce but also not-Jeff wouldn’t be in his face. While there might be a little bit of protectiveness when it comes to Annie, let’s be serious. If Rich reinforced Annie’s a taste for older men, she just might try to get with him rather than Jeff. And if that next older man on Annie’s hit list just happened to be Pierce, do you honestly think he’d say “no” to that?
Shirley: Shirley has been low-key routing for Jeff and Britta from the get-go (a fact that comes up in asides through out the first five seasons), and she knows Annie’s got a thing for Jeff. Annie deciding to turn her affection and romantic attention on someone who’s not-Jeff clears away one potentially fatal distraction from her hoped-for rom-com happy ending, while also making Annie happy. In her mind, it’s a win-win. Plus, she could also see an Annie-Jeff match-up as being bad for Annie, especially since Jeff portrays himself as a hound dog. Rich comes across as a super-nice, respectable kind of guy who’d probably treat Annie right, as opposed to a notch on the bed-post.
Troy: Troy doesn’t particularly care when it comes to the whole question of Jeff vs/ Rich. Annie is friend, and nothing more. She can date who she wants. Troy pretends to care simply because other people care. If they think it’s a bad idea, then it probably is and he’s just missing something. Since he doesn’t want to admit that he can’t see what the big deal is, he’s just going along with what everyone else says.
Abed: Abed has decided that any hook-up between study group members is a bad idea. The whole fallout from “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited” and “Anthropology 101″ led to bad feelings and chaos in the study group. Worse, it made for “bad television” (read: soured the group dynamics for while), so he’s at the point where he doesn’t want any intra-group hook-ups. Annie switching her affections from Jeff to someone outside of the group eliminates one potential danger. And Abed knows it’s a danger. If you watch the lunch room scene where Jeff objects to Rich, Abed is watching Jeff very, very carefully. He knows that if Jeff really wanted it, Annie and Jeff would be an item (which could potentially lead to another cycle of bad feelings and chaos), and there’d be shit-all he could do about it.
Britta: This is the one I think people are really going to hate me for. Britta is all for Annie-Rich for a mix of reasons, complicated by a little jealousy and her own feelings of inadequacy and unhappiness.
People tend to forget that at this point Jeff and Britta are in the middle of their secret relationship. It’s pretty clear from the context of season two that it’s not even a little bit monogamous (Jeff and Britta can sleep with other people). Britta doesn’t really seem to have any issues with the arrangement, since we see her pursuing other men on screen and hear references to her seeing other men.
(Side note: I’ve always held that Jeff, at least initially, was more into Britta than Britta was into him. His conversation with Abed in “Critical Film Studies” hint at the fact that his relationship with Britta is not panning out as he hoped. I mean, he’s calling phone sex lines not for the sex, but to cosplay as someone he would peg as being a loser so he can hear someone say they love him despite that. It’s probably no accident that the first time we see or hear of Jeff chasing after another woman is in “Competitive Wine Tasting,” which is the very next episode.)
In short, I don’t think Britta actually cares about Jeff sleeping with other people, unless that “other people” is specifically Annie.
Now, I think the “Annie exception” for Jeff springs from a mix of good and bad motivations.
On the selfless side: Britta obviously knows that Jeff is a shit romantic partner, a selfish lover who’s emotionally closed off, and (she believes) a generally pretty terrible person. While she’s fine with it in a booty call-casual relationship kind of way, she knows that Annie wouldn’t enter into a relationship with Jeff with that same mindset. Annie’s is still, very obviously, a hearts-and-flowers romantic who’d have no clue how to handle someone with Jeff’s baggage. That means that Annie’s going to get really hurt and possibly damaged if she gets into a relationship with Jeff, at least at this point in her life. Going by some stray comments Britta has made throughout the seasons, I suspect that there’s a little bit of experience on Britta’s side where she did get badly burned in a parallel situation.
On the selfish side: If Jeff starts acting on his attraction to Annie, that will lead to an unnecessary complication in her thing with Jeff. She would either have to continue her secret relationship with Jeff knowing that Annie was the other woman in this scenario (guilt city, party one), or she and Jeff would have to end it, which she doesn’t particularly want to do. Worse, no matter which way she and Jeff decide to go (keep going or end it), the risk of her thing with Jeff getting public exposure increases exponentially. A wrong word in the heat of the moment is all it takes to a ton of shit to rain down on everyone’s head. The easiest solution all around is just to direct Annie’s attention and affection elsewhere as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
And finally, on the jealous side: Britta may also be afraid of another “Vaughn situation” where the guy she’s dating (or dated in the case of Vaughn) actually prefers Annie over her. This last bit actually has some support for it. There are a couple of times during season two when Annie and Jeff are being particularly chummy in front of the other study group members where a quick scene of Britta watching them through narrow eyes is inserted. In fact, you can even see in the lunch room scene that Britta is literally glaring at Jeff while he voices all his objections to Rich. She’s not buying anything Jeff is saying.
And…there it is. That’s my reasoning for why everyone objects to Annie dating Jeff, but is seemingly okay with her dating Rich.
“I’m… “Hector the Well-Endowed”?? Abed?!” -Annie “I didn’t know you’d grab one at random. I made that one with Troy in mind” -Abed -2x14 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
Abed??? C’mon, you can’t just say things like that and not expect follow-up questions
(Also shout out to Shirley’s “Yeah, I bet you did” in the background)
