Plot
| In the school cafeteria, the Dean announces to the students the upcoming week-long school environmental awareness event called Green Week. Afterwards, the study group is in Spanish Class taking an exam when Chang tells them their time is up. He talks them to put down their pencils but Annie is too focused on finishing her answers and continues writing. Chang gets in her face, takes a hold of her desk and drags it along Annie out of the classroom. He shuts the door in her face and assigns the other students a one page essay to be written in Spanish. Pierce then questions why they have to do this and Annie doesn't. This prompts Chang to increase the essay page count to two and then six after Shirley objects. When Britta attempts to compliment Chang he interprets it as sucking up and ultimately assigns twenty pages for the essay due on Monday.
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| Back in the study room, the group is freaking out over Chang's latest insanity. All of them are busy with other classes and don't need the added pressure of a twenty page essay. Shirley is so worried about a presentation due in her marketing class that she accepts Pierce help in preparing for it. Troy and Abed chime in that they are already behind in a Biology lab project involving rats, one of Troy's phobias. Britta says that someone needs to talk to Chang and try to reason with him. Annie nominates Jeff who argues that he doesn't want to risk his grade by making himself a target of Chang's wrath. After Britta, Annie, and Troy wear him down, he grudgingly agrees to talk to Chang.
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| In Chang's office, Jeff discovers that Chang has separated from his wife, and the resulting emotional void is responsible for the excessive work assigned to the class. To cheer him up, Jeff invites Chang to hang out, and Chang offers to cancel the essay for Jeff but not the rest of the class. Meanwhile, Troy and Abed are training their rat, Fievel, to respond to their singing when it escapes. The next morning, Jeff, hung over after a late night with Chang, tells the study group that he was unable to make any progress with their Spanish class. Pierce tutors Shirley in public speaking, but his generally derogatory and offensive manner discourage her, and she decides to just read her presentation off of note cards.
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| During class, Chang adds a quiz for next Monday, but when he thanks Jeff for turning in the essay early, the group realizes Jeff sold them out. Jeff continues to spend time with Chang in his office, but Chang threatens to fail him should he spend time with other teachers. Jeff recognizes that Chang's emotional need is far greater than it first appeared. Chang shows up at the school dance commemorating Green Week at Greendale, curious about why Jeff invited him only to see his wife waiting to dance. As the dance starts, Shirley begins her speech in the marketing classroom but falters when the professor tells her he does not allow cards. With Pierce's coaching from the back of the room, Shirley quickly recovers and finishes her speech to a standing ovation.
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| At the same time, Troy overcomes his initial reluctance to help Abed find Fievel and sings their duet which allows them to recapture the rat. Back at the dance, Chang begins passionately making out with his wife on the dance floor. He suddenly stops, jumps on stage, and tells the crowd that he has been a horrible teacher and husband. He calls off the essay homework for everyone but assigns Jeff a short essay to write for betraying his friends. The study group, seeing that Jeff found a way to help all the students, forgives him. In return Jeff tells them to just enjoy the festivities and dance. Pierce stays behind and tells him he discovered the secret behind Jeff charm, his study room chair.
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End tag
| Abed and Troy are preparing for a water gun battle. They mock Pierce when he shows up with a tiny water pistol. They both stop laughing when he shoots them in their eyes with the pepper water that's inside.
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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
- In a 2012 interview the cast did with the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, Yvette Nicole Brown mentioned that the original actor cast to play the character of Dean Pelton was Ted Rooney who played the marketing professor in "Environmental Science". Although Rooney was at the table reading with the rest of the cast for the Pilot, he was replaced by Jim Rash during filming of the episode.
Quotes
- “You have to get Chang to call off some of this homework. You're the one with the silver tongue.”— Annie
- “Yeah, go tongue Chang.”— Pierce
- “Guys, what makes you think I can convince Chang of anything if I can't even convince you not to make me do it.”— Jeff
- [everyone mumbles in defeat]
- “Wait, you are convincing!”— Troy
- [Everyone gasps!]
- “Can I ask you a personal question, Señor Chang?”— Jeff
- “Okay, Freud. Sure, you try to penetrate my psychological armor and you-”— Chang
- “Did your wife leave you?”— Jeff
- “Holy-!”— Chang
- “You make no mistake about this, Winger. I pleasured that woman greatly.”— Chang
- “Yeah, you look like you would have to.”— Jeff
| 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 | ||
