In “Romantic Expressionism,” we get a decent ensemble piece where we get to see the entire cast interact among each other and build…well, community. In the main story, we have Annie falling for Britta’s ex-boyfriend Vaughn. Jeff and Britta though, are concerned that the 18 year old Annie is too impressionable and that the over the top hippy Vaughn is just a gateway to even more creepy and dangerous type of men. This leads them to find ways to get her attention away from Vaughn, mainly by redirecting her old crush Troy back towards her.
Meanwhile, Pierce is feeling a bit left out from Tory and Abed’s making fun of movies night. We get some classic awkward Chevy Chase scenes as he attempts to keep up with the hilarious mocking of “Kick-Puncher” by everyone else.
It was a pretty standard episode overall that does a lot to help establish the cast as the “dysfunctional family” they’ve grown to become. There are plenty of throwaway lines in the episode, and they even acknowledge the underlining romantic tension that exists between all the cast members. There was even a quick nod to the fan fantasy of Annie and Britta getting together.
Interesting Observations
- “He never wears a shirt; he never wears shoes. Why hasn’t he died of lack of service?” – Jeff about Vaughn
- “It all starts with Vaughn, he’s a gateway douche bag.” – Jeff
- Pierce referes to making jokes at a movie as “monkey shines at a picture show.”
- Senor Chang makes an appearance in a white tuxedo.
- The cast watch “KickPuncher” and “KickPuncher2.” They wanted to watch “Runaway” starting Tom Selleck, which is a real movie.
- “He’s got her in soe kind of hippie collar. I can hear her armpit hair growing from here.” – Jeff
- “Even I know your lame, and I’m a tenured professor sitting in a bean chair.” – Chang of Pierce
- “When you guys first came in, we were as wholesome and healthy as the family in the Brady Bunch, and now we are as disfunctional and incestuus as the cast of the Brady Bunch.” – Abed
- The ending bit for this week involves a sweeded remake of KickPuncher by Abed and Troy.