“Ok, we need to hatch a scheme.” That was the defining line of last night’s episode of Community, which as usual does a great job illustrating both how the show embraces sit-com tropes while nonetheless belittling these formulas as absurd. How often in your life have you ever hatched a scheme? Aside from a couple really odd friends of mine, I’ve never seen this sort of behavior in reality, let alone any other type of fiction. Within sit-coms, though, scheming is only natural and in some shows happens on an almost week-to-week basis. Aside from the Simpsons, though (which is well-known to have done everything), this ridiculous plot device somehow usually evades reference to how stupid it really is.
In this case, the scheme is concocted by Jeff and Britta to keep Annie from dating Britta’s ex from sometime back, the hippie songwriter Vaughn. While they both frame this in the guise of keeping her from dating a jerk, it’s actually just an excuse for them to stop people they were or are attracted to from having lives of their own. Jeff still has something for Annie
—which isn’t as weird as the show makes it seem as the actress, Alison Brie, is actually 26
—and Britta doesn’t want to see Vaughn with anyone, especially not one of her friends.
The scheme involves getting Troy, who Annie long had a crush on, to hit on her. Unlike 30 Rock, which continually insists Tina Fey isn’t beautiful, the show explains why Troy wouldn’t be attracted to her: When they were in high school together, she had a panic attack and breakdown. As is the way of these things, this backfires horribly, though she and Vaughn end up together again by the end of the episode.
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