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For @threadapalooza I’ll analyze the show Community. Specifically, how each of the seven main characters represents a unique life experience, and then some bonus stuff. This thread will have spoilers for the full run of the show (six seasons, no movie)
1. ANNIE is the youngest member of the study group, as well as the most ambitious, studious, and driven. She assumes a leadership role for any project that involves her and goes the extra mile to a fault, like organizing a Halloween party for extra credit she doesn’t need (S1E07)
2. Annie’s flaws are the fruit of her virtue. Her drive to succeed gives her controlling and perfectionist tendencies, and she can be judgmental regarding her friends’ lower standards. Throughout season one she also exhibits some insecurity about her social standing
3. The idea of change, particularly sudden change, holds a special appeal to Annie: she nearly transfers schools twice in a year (S1E25, S2E04) and enjoys pretending to be someone else for a night (S2E10)
4. This infatuation with change runs counter to Annie’s nature as a planner. Perhaps her surprising dalliance with Adderall and rehab in high school has her wanting to prove to herself that unexpected change can be a good thing in life
5. Most of Annie’s biggest changes in the series are shared with the group: expulsion (S3E18) and re-enrollment at Greendale (S5E01). But she makes one big change on her own: landing an internship with the FBI in the series finale (S6E13)
6. Notably, Annie is the only character in the series finale who doesn’t pitch a hypothetical season seven. She has grown out of meticulously planning her life and has no need for the certainty afforded by Greendale and her friends
7. Annie represents the transition from high school to whatever comes next: the shift from the comfortable and familiar into the unknown, the reevaluation of one’s identity in a new environment, the desire to continue the upward trend of success
8. One can plan plan plan their college experience to their heart’s content, but there’s only so much research that can happen ahead of time. The most important aspects, such as friendships and coursework, are better navigated in the moment
9. As Annie’s roommates, Troy and Abed show her the values of spontaneity and playfulness, as well as the dangers of their excess (S3E07). Annie, alone, stands up for Pierce when his membership in the study group is put up to a vote (S2E23)
10. In the series finale, Annie expresses the desire for "stories, wisdom, perspective," so moving on from Greendale is a straightforward decision. She has let go of insecurities, found belonging, and is ready to seek something more
11. TROY demonstrates the most emotional intelligence of anyone in the study group. He both revels in silly and immature situations and expresses a recurring desire for maturity and responsibility
12. Troy initially brings an ego to Greendale that melts away into sensitivity. He’s caring and selfless, but can be overly emotional and harbor insecurity about his intelligence
13. On Troy’s 21st birthday he realizes that Jeff and Britta aren’t any smarter than him just because they’re older (S2E10). At the end of the same season he challenges Jeff’s de-facto leadership during the paintball game by offering his own plan of attack (S2E24)
14. Troy risks public ridicule to help Britta feel comfortable on stage (S1E14). He comforts a drunken Annie who confesses her insecurities to him (S2E10). He helps Abed countless times
15. At Pierce’s behest, LeVar Burton visits one of his biggest fans, Troy. But Troy is so shocked by Burton’s presence that he can’t say a single word to him (S2E16). Troy’s reaction could have a number of causal factors: fear, overthinking, indecisiveness
16. In Troy’s final episode three years later, he doesn’t hesitate to talk to his around-the-world sailing partner, LeVar Burton. Burton gives a nod to Troy’s growth by addressing him as "Captain Barnes" (S5E05)
17. Troy grows from selfish to selfless and from insensitive to sensitive, and improves his understanding of other people and his relationship to them. He represents the emergence and development of maturity that typically occurs in late adolescence through young adulthood
18. The name "Troy" means soldier, and Abed imagines Troy as a toy soldier during his stop-motion animation episode (S2E11). Maturity is an essential trait of an effective soldier. A cowardly or selfish soldier is a detriment to the platoon
19. Troy’s presence is implied to prevent the group from entering the "darkest, most terrible timeline" (S3E04), and his absence after his series departure is keenly felt. Abed visibly suffers from Troy’s absence. The atmosphere is more solemn, especially in season six
20. In the series finale, Abed associates Troy’s departure with the departure of everything caused by death: "It needs to be okay for it to get on a boat with LeVar Burton and never come back. Because eventually, it all will." (S6E13)
21. ABED is the most pop culture savvy member of the study group. He’s obsessed with TV shows and films as both a consumer and a creator and often uses the behaviors and motivations of fictional characters to better understand his friends
22. Pop culture helps Abed navigate social situations because he is heavily implied to be on the autism spectrum, although this isn’t explicitly confirmed: "On the spectrum? None of your business." (S3E10)
23. Media also helps Abed process strained familial relationships: he makes a documentary to show his dad how he feels responsible for his mom leaving (S1E03) and imagines everything in stop-motion animation to avoid thinking about his mom’s absence during the holidays (S2E11)
24. Abed has a keen appreciation for speaking the truth of a situation, as more subtle and non-verbal communication can be difficult for him to parse. He frequently explains his friends’ traits and behaviors, and he lauds truth and authenticity in the show’s finest half-hour:
25. "The universe is an endless, raging sea of randomness. Our job isn’t to fight it but to weather it together, on the raft of life… It won’t matter what happens to us as long as we stay honest and accepting of each other’s flaws and virtues." (S3E04)
26. An intelligent observer, Abed gives the most speeches, expressing some truth about life or people, of anyone in the study group besides Jeff. His friends, especially Troy, help him to express himself, to participate in life, making it all the more tragic when Troy leaves
27. Abed represents the ending of a deep, close relationship in one’s life, which can come at any stage of life and without any warning. All sorts of circumstances drive these severances: career opportunity, falling out, breakup, death
28. Abed processes Troy’s departure in the moment through a science-fiction trope, cloning. Clone Abed and Clone Troy make robotic movements before moving in for a hug. A year later, an enormous literal hand allows Abed to share how he has come to terms with loss:
29. "A hand has two function, to grip and to release. But without both of these powers it is useless… This giant hand was sent to all of us as an invitation to increase our mastery over the power to hold on, and let go." (S6E10)
30. Endings create room for new things, and in that way sadness plants the seeds of future happiness. Abed describes great TV in the series finale as "joyful, effortless, fun," (S6E13) and it’s also an apt description of the best relationships one can have in life
31. BRITTA is the worst. Psych! She undergoes the most visible character transformations, from Cool Girl to contrarian to "the group’s airhead" (S5E01). A through line for all of these identities is that Britta is punished for being herself
32. The study group teases Britta when she tells them she’s taking a tap dance class (S1E14). Her harmless April Fool’s prank causes chaos (S1E20). The group frequently gives her grief when she expresses political opinions or makes unfounded assertions in her field of study
33. Helping her friends navigate their issues fulfills Britta. She comforts Troy when he struggles with processing a trauma that turns out to be fake (S2E20) and lifts him up when he feels agitated by Jeff (S3E04)
34. Britta encourages Shirley to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and goes as far as to plan Shirley’s wedding to free up her time to plan her sandwich shop venture with Pierce (S3E11)
35. Britta also tries to utilize her psychology and therapy knowledge to help Abed process losing Troy to both the air conditioner repair school (S3E22) and the boat trip (S5E05)
36. Her helpfulness and rebelliousness might be attributed to trauma. A man in a dinosaur costume abused Britta as a child (S3E22) and her parents didn’t believe her
37. While Britta is eager to assist her friends, she’s less successful in getting her own life in order, as she works as a bartender after graduation (S5E01) and is briefly homeless (S6E01)
38. Britta represents a career setback, anything from missing out on a promotion to getting fired to one’s company going under. She grows into earnestness, vulnerability, and benevolence but is ridiculed rather than rewarded for her efforts
39. It’s telling that Britta is the study group member with the worst career situation at the end of the series. It’s unclear whether her diligence with psychology will lead to a relevant career opportunity
40. Whether it’s bad luck, her friends’ cruelty, and/or a lack of self-direction that assigns Britta as group’s punching bag, no one is exempt from such a downward trend. The best we can do is roll with the punches and understand ourselves in order to mitigate negative outcomes
41. JEFF lives his life on easy street. He made a career out of influencing and deceiving others and later takes a teaching job that asks nothing of him. He resists emotional connection in favor of casual hookups. He’s a clever, charismatic, "conniving son of a bitch" (S3E04)
42. The other study group members often irk Jeff by asking him to do things. He oscillates between embracing and resisting his role as the head of the study group depending on whether it requires him to make an effort
43. Jeff’s big changes throughout the series are extrinsically motivated: He enrolls at Greendale in the first place because he got caught with a fake bachelor’s degree (S1E01), Slater urges him into a relationship (S1E14) and Dean Pelton asks him to work at Greendale (S5E01)
44. Jeff won’t hesitate to act, however, when his ego is on the line. He tries to outdo an experienced potter, and failing that, tries to catch him in a lie (S1E19). He snatches an award for "Most Handsome Young Man" from a child (S3E12)
45. Anxiety manifests in Jeff’s wrestling with inadequacy. He confesses to Abed his fears that no one would like him if he were overweight (S2E19) and that everyone else will move on from Greendale, leaving him alone and directionless (S6E08)
46. Jeff confronts his distant father and blames him for his shortcomings: "I am not well-adjusted and more often than not, I am barely keeping it together… I’m just a grown man who can’t even look his friends in the eye for too long" (S4E05)
47. Jeff does demonstrate growth at various moments when he expresses his love for the rest of the study group and when he puts his law career in jeopardy to help Shirley navigate ownership of her and Pierce’s sandwich shop (S3E22), but these moments are rare
48. Fear of commitment along with anxiety can make one complacent, afraid of trying to improve their situation for fear they’ll make things worse. Jeff represents an acceptance of one’s station in life, contentment with where they’re at, disinterest in rocking the boat
49. Jeff understands his fear of commitment well: "I wish I had the courage to commit to a bit like you ‘Abed’ or to a relationship like Troy. Committing is hard cause we are all scared of what happens when we find out we committed to the wrong thing." (S4E11)'
50. While it may be a cope, Jeff feels fine about himself and his place at Greendale in the series finale, thinking about a hypothetical new group: "And eventually, you’ll leave, and be replaced by new ones, and that’s something I’m equipped to handle now." (S6E13)
51. SHIRLEY comes to Greendale with a chip on her shoulder. Left by her husband, she seeks agency and a fresh start through a business degree, comforted by her devout Christian faith
52. Family and religious traditions are two significant sources of meaning for Shirley, so Jeff’s plan to fight the school bully on the day of Shirley’s Christmas party strikes a nerve:
53. "There’s no other way for me to take this than as a giant middle finger… Due to my divorce and my relatives picking sides this will be the only Christmas party I throw this year… Will you be there? Or will I have another family letting me down?" (S1E12)
54. Shirley’s religious values place her in a holier-than-thou position against her friends, going as far as trying to baptize Annie, who is Jewish, under the guise of a pool party (S1E21) and suggesting they baptize Abed, who is Muslim, while he’s in a catatonic state (S3E01)
55. Hypocrisy also colors Shirley’s views. She’s appalled by Jeff kissing Annie because of their age difference (S2E01), but also non-verbally suggests openness to intimacy with Troy, who is much younger than her (S1E15)
56. Shirley’s quickness to judge might be why Annie and Britta exclude her from activities like trips to the mall (S1E22) and their oil spill fundraiser (S2E03). On a meta level, she is the most overlooked and forgotten character in the study group
57. Many experiences separate Shirley from her friends: she’s the only devoutly religious one, the only one with children, the only one to have been married, then divorced, then married again
58. Shirley represents divorce, an often painful process that can leave either party bitter and hurt. While Shirley doesn’t show much remorse over her two separations from her ex-husband, her passive-aggressive and judgmental tendencies reveal animosity a divorcee might express
59. This animosity intensifies in season five when Shirley separates from her husband for the second time (S5E01). She plays power games fueled by a new social networking app (S5E08) and ties up her friends over a dispute about textbooks (S5E09)
60. Shirley finds stability when she relocates to Atlanta to look after her father and work as a cook (S6E01). That’s nice
61. PIERCE craves belonging and hates exclusion. After attending Greendale for a decade he finally finds a stable group of friends, though he’s the most common target of derision due to his age – 64 in the pilot – and his offensive views on race, religion, sex, and sexuality
62. There’s an irony in Pierce being the head of a moist towelette company: the product’s purpose is to clean up messes whereas Pierce is often at the center of any messy drama involving the study group
63. The bulk of this drama occurs in season two, and it’s worth reviewing chronologically. When Pierce processes his mother’s death, he seems unaffected by it due to the nature of his religion, though it may have later stirred up feelings of abandonment (S2E03)
64. A month later, Pierce finds the campus’s secret trampoline Troy and Jeff kept hidden from him. He forces Troy to break the trampoline’s conventions under threat of exposing it to the student body, and breaks his legs. A brief hallucination hints at a pill addiction (S2E07)
65. When the group looks for Annie’s pen, they break Pierce’s casts against his will to search the interior. Abed remarks, "this is how super villains are created" (S2E08). Later, Pierce uses money to guilt Annie into letting him take over and ruin an anti-drug play (S2E13)
66. Pierce is excluded from the group’s D&D session, aimed at alleviating a peer’s suicidal ideations, for fear he would ruin it. When he discovers the event, he ruins it in retaliation for his exclusion, and receives the group’s pity (S2E14)
67. The aftermath of an overdose helps Pierce to "exact complicated acts of psychological vengeance" on the rest of the study group (S2E16). He is nearly kicked out of the group at the end of the school year and leaves voluntarily (S2E23, S2E24)
68. While Pierce shows occasional moments of wisdom and selflessness, his villainous streak overshadows them. He represents a downward spiral, which is often related to clinical issues like drug abuse and can generate hateful attitudes and actions
69. Pierce’s malice mellows out in the next two seasons in favor of hints toward a cognitive decline due to his age. He enacts one last act of manipulation after his death through a polygraph examination the group must take in order to receive bequests from his will (S5E04)
70. Pierce’s perpetual struggle with inclusion, along with his prejudices, prevent him from being fully loved and appreciated as a member of the study group. It’s a shame because the rare moments when he shines are truly streets ahead
