Plot[]
 Mike, I'm not gonna fight you. I have a friend that believes this is the time of year where you put aside your differences and make peace. Me? I don't believe in any of that but I do believe in friendship. And as much as I hate you and the cast of "Breakin", I have to ask myself 'What would Shirley do?'.
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| — Jeff |
| It's almost winter break as the students at Greendale prepare for their final exams of the semester. In the cafeteria, Shirley hands out presents to the rest of study group. She made them all bracelets with the letters WWBJD which she explains is short for "What would baby Jesus do?". Over at the Hot & Brown cafe, Abed grabs free cookies for the group when he is accosted by a student named Mike for taking the last of the winter doodles. When Mike shoves Abed, Jeff steps in to defend him but his snarky attitude does little to defuse the situation. The arrival of Dean Pelton dressed as "Mister Winter" puts an end to the confrontation temporarily, but the student warns Jeff that this isn't over. Later in the study room, Abed excitedly tells everyone how Jeff stood up for him.
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| Pierce wonders why Jeff didn't fight the guy while Shirley says she's proud of Jeff for turning the other cheek. Pierce and Britta argue about the motivations behind a man's need to fight which annoys Jeff. He attempts to get everyone back to studying for the finals as he is going to fail unless he passes the last exam. Shirley then asks when everyone is coming to her Christmas party only to discover that each of them have different faiths. Annie is Jewish, Abed is Muslim, Troy is a Jehovah's Witness, Britta's an atheist, Jeff is agnostic, and Pierce is a born-again Buddhist. Despite her initial concerns, she decides to open the party to all faiths. Later at the Spanish finals, Mike bursts into the classroom and harasses Jeff who's had enough and challenges Mike to fight.
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| Afterwards in the cafeteria, Jeff discusses the pending confrontation with the guys and reveals he has never been in a fight. Jeff isn't worried until Mike shows up and demonstrates how crazy he is. He then accepts his friends offer to help train him for the upcoming fight. Meanwhile, Shirley is putting the finishing touches on the decorations in the study room for her holiday party. Annie shows up and tells her the others are coming after Jeff's fight. Shirley tracks them down and interrupts Jeff's training session. She pleads with Jeff not to fight as it's almost a sacred holiday and states he can't attend her Christmas party if he fights Mike.
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| At Shirley's party, she tries to welcome everyone but has difficulty concealing her discomfort with the others' beliefs. As tempers begin to flare Shirley proclaims that she wants her new family, the study group, to be together because her old family is falling apart due to her husband's unfaithfulness. Britta points out that Shirley needs to accept everyone, faults and all, if she wants to grow close. With that, everyone leaves to watch Jeff's fight. In the quad, Jeff approaches Mike but realizes that Shirley's friendship is more important than his own pride and refuses to fight. Shirley watches as Jeff stands down only to be sucker punched by Mike. ("Kiss With A Fist")
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| She quickly joins the fray with the rest of the study group. Later, the party is continued and Shirley sings modified and non-denominational lyrics to Silent Night as we see everyone bloodied and bandaged from the fight. Señor Chang walks in announcing everyone passed the exam and Jeff toasts everyone to the upcoming semester.
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End tag[]
| Abed sings "O Christmas Troy" while piling decorations on Troy when Jeff walk in and asks why they do this kind of thing. Troy replies that it's fun so Jeff joins in the festivities.
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Recurring themes[]
Continuity[]
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Running gags[]
| List of Running gags |
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Recurring or debuting running gags in this episode:
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Pop culture references[]
| List of Pop culture references |
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References to popular culture in this episode:
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Meta references[]
| List of Meta references |
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Meta references in this episode:
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Trivia[]
- Joel McHale discussed an incident that happened during filming of "Comparative Religion" in a 2014 interview he had with Aisha Tyler on her podcast "Girl on Guy". In the scene where his character Jeff was being trained by Pierce, Chevy Chase egged Joel to not pretend to throw a punch and actually hit the training mitt he was wearing. Although Joel refused to at first, eventually he claimed to have done just that which resulted in Chevy getting injured.
I'll Allow It
- After Mike bursts into Spanish class, Jeff Winger asks Ben Chang to stop him but he simply responds with "I'll allow it." A shot of this exchange has become a popular meme format.
Quotes[]
- “You're a funny man. Wanna hear something funny, funny man? Knock-knock. My fist up your balls.”— Mike
- “Who's there?”— Jeff
- “What religion are you, Jeff?”— Abed
- “I'm agnostic.”— Jeff
- [Everyone boos]
- “Agnostic. Lazy man's atheist.”— Pierce
- “Sup!”— Jeff
- “No it's a question.”— Troy
- “Sup?”— Jeff
- “Not a real question, a rhetorical one. You have the answer he does not.”— Troy
- “Then you look straight through his eyes, and deep into his soul.”— Troy
- “And then you move to Vermont.”— Britta
- “I am sick and tired of you saying that fighting is gay.”— Troy
- “She's got a point. You know, in boxing you fight for the purse and the belt.”— Abed
- “I've got to write a paper about that.”— Britta
- “Shirley, don't be mad.”— Jeff
- “I'm not mad; I'm disappointed.”— Shirley
- “That's "mom" for mad!”— Jeff
- “There's an old Buddhist saying in my vision group-”— Pierce
- “You are not a Buddhist, you are in a cult.”— Britta
- “Suck it, Nietzsche.”— Pierce
| Season One Episodes | ||
|---|---|---|
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1. "Pilot" |
14. "Interpretive Dance" |
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| Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Season Four • Season Five • Season Six | ||
