Pairing biography[]
I have something to say. There was a girl here tonight, her name was Rachel. I met her and it was very pleasant.
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— Abed, "Herstory of Dance". |
Abed Nadir and Rachel first met during his fourth year at Greendale Community College. They were drawn together by their mutual love of classic TV and movie tropes. Although there were a few misunderstandings at the beginning of their relationship they have since smoothed things over and are now currently dating. Abed is portrayed by actor Danny Pudi and a Rachel is portrayed by actress Brie Larson. |
Pairing history[]
Season Four[]
Abed first met Rachel when he was attended the school's dual 2013 Sadie Hawkins/Sophie B Hawkins dance. She was working as a coat check girl while he was on two separate dates doing an homage to the classic TV trope of "Two dates to a Dance". Rachel told him she knew what he was doing after she watched him change into different outfits for his dates. Abed was impressed by both her observational skill and considerable knowledge of tropes. He invited her to help him as he was having a difficult time maintaining the deception. Rachel agreed and the two worked together to ensure both dates went off without a hitch. This included her delivering telegrams to provide an excuse for Abed to leave and providing a bubble distraction for his other date.
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Ecstatic about how well things were going, the two regrouped back in the coat check room. It was then that Abed and Rachel shared a somewhat romantic moment but he was unaware as to what it really meant. Hurt by his obliviousness, Rachel left the dance while Abed finished up his homage. Abed finally was made aware of what he did after Annie and Shirley lectured him about his shenanigans. He decided to atone to Rachel by doing another trope homage, the "Public Declaration of Love". He got up on stage while Sophie B. Hawkins was performing and publicly apologized to Rachel while begging for her forgiveness. Rachel appeared after he left the stage and accepted his apology along with an invitation for him to go to dinner sometime. The two then enjoyed the rest of Sophie's B Hawkins concert and agreed that her best single was "As I Lay Me Down" ("Herstory of Dance").
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Season Five[]
In Abed's fifth year at Greendale, Britta got revenge on him for spoiling an upcoming plot to a TV show she had just started watching. After she read all the novels the show was based on, Britta hired an attractive female student named Carol to flirt with him. Once the two of them were at the Mid-term dance in the cafeteria, Britta had her spoil the ending of the story. Devastated by her ruse, he wandered away depressed only to perk up after he noticed Rachel was in the coat check room he had just passed. Abed asked Rachel what happened to her and she told him he never called her back so the date they planned never took place. Abed explained that although that was the year of the gas leak when no one was acting like themselves it didn't excuse his inconsiderate behavior.
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Rachel accepted his apology and admitted she could have made more of an effort herself to make the date happen. Abed then asked if he could make it up to her by taking her to dinner at that very moment. Rachel eagerly agreed since she wasn't really on coat check duty that night and was just taking people's coats out of boredom. The two left the school and went back to his apartment where they ended up eating popcorn and watching cartoons ("Analysis of Cork-Based Networking"). They started dating on a regular basis which amused Abed's friends on the Save Greendale Committee who found the relationship to be adorable. Abed said they were so in synch after only one month dating he felt that they had actually been together for a year. In honor of this "anniversary", Rachel bought Abed an old west themed interactive VCR game called "Pile of Bullets".
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Annie and Abed later agreed to use that game in order resolve an argument they were having about who their new roommate would be. Abed nominated Rachel while Annie hoped to have her brother Anthony move in. They invited both candidates to dinner and afterwards had Rachel and Anthony join them in a game of "Pile of Bullets". No one understood how the convoluted game play worked but Abed and Annie insisted they all continue to play. As the hours went on and no victor was declared, Rachel and Anthony stated that they just wanted to go home. Abed then told her the real reason why they were playing which turned their guests annoyance into anger. Rachel told Abed his controlling behavior didn't make her want to move in and that she didn't like seeing this side of him. She stormed out of the apartment and Anthony suggested to Abed that she just broke up with him.
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The next day Abed showed up at Rachel's locker with Pavel to apologize. He had his friend get climb up a ladder and pour water on him to simulate the TV trope of a third act apology done in the rain. Abed told Rachel that he was afraid he was going to screw things up between them and don't want her to join the list of people he cared about who suddenly abandoned him. She assured him that as long he is honest with her and doesn't try to manipulate her they will be fine. Pavel took this as a sign to stop raining on Abed and put a cardboard cutout of a rainbow above his head instead. Unfortunately a passing student slipped on the puddle of water which formed around Rachel's locker. Rachel was amused believing it was another part of Abed's apology but he replied it wasn't ("VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing").
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While Rachel is not seen again in season five, Abed does remind Annie that he has a girlfriend while comforting her in the lost section of the Greendale campus. This is most likely referring to Rachel, indicating that their relationship is active and well.
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Trivia[]
Season Six mentions[]
Rachel does not appear in the last season but there are possible references to her by other characters. Abed acknowledges her absence in "Ladders" during a meta conversation where he raised the question "What happened to the girl I was dating?" and Annie mentions an old email Abed sent to "his girlfriend" in "Basic Email Security." It is unclear if they are still dating: Abed refers to a time when he ‘was’ dating her with no indication of whether that is still the case, although Abed is never seen pursuing any other serious relationships.
In the real world, Rachel’s absence can be explained by Brie Larson's schedule: Rachel's return in Season 5 was described by Dan Harmon as a favor to the show more than the introduction of a major recurring character.