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Plot[]

“
You got to have Jeff, Jeff, JEFF!!!
”
Jeff
Pierce relates to the study group his time at rehab where he met celebrities. After they officially welcome him back to the group, they decide to study but are unsure of how to proceed. The Dean walks into the study room and interrupts the awkward situation. He tells them that the Vice President is doing a tour of community colleges to promote education, and Greendale is his next stop. The Dean and the president of the student body are supposed to meet him. Since they don't currently have a student president, an election needs to be held before he arrives. Abed mentions this must be why the school has been under secret surveillance. Later in the cafeteria, the Dean has set up an impromptu election for class president.

Classic Wingers
Improving Greendale takes more than ideas, Annie. It takes time, gasoline, matches...

Ab Mentions
Well, news flash, Jeff. Some of us care about more than just fixing our hair and sculpting our abs.

Notches
He he, oh man...

Annie's enthusiasm for the election is dampened by Jeff's cynical attitude towards it. After he fails to help her with her campaign flyers, Annie cuts him down with a scathing remark about his status as a lawyer. Abed is watching the selection process when Agent Robin Vohlers introduces herself. She begins interrogating him, intrigued that he was able to spot the undercover agents they planted at school. On stage, Annie is pushed through the preliminary round along with a few other students. She is shocked when Jeff nominates himself, charming the audience with his meaningless rhetoric. Over in the student lounge, Troy and Abed are shooting a closed circuit campus TV news show covering the election. Later, the stage for the opening debates is set up and Annie asks Jeff to quit since he's not taking it seriously.



Community 2x17 Intro to Political Science.avi 000208458
"I hung them all up".
Jeff, however, is intent on proving how much of a joke politics are. Meanwhile, Pierce is also on the dais taunting Vicki before being reminded by the Dean that all the microphones are on. The debate officially starts and Annie is the first candidate to present her ideological platform which Jeff counters with more insincere rhetoric. Out in the crowd, Agent Vohlers approaches Abed again with more questions and Troy notices the attraction between the two. Back on stage, Pierce uses his mic time as an opportunity to cruelly provoke Vicki into leaving. Having gotten his revenge for her not lending him a pencil, Pierce leaves as well. Annie tries to get the debate focus back on track by bringing up her stance on cleaning up the school's black mold problem.



Pre debate showdown
"I feel a slight ego blowing in from the east."
"You're about to feel my foot coming in from the south."
Jeff twists Annie's words saying she believes Greendale to be dirty and drums up support from the audience by disagreeing with her. Annie then reduces her platform to one issue, the black mold, and makes it into a rhyming sound bite that wins over the crowd. Elsewhere, Troy and Abed take a break from their election coverage when Pavel shows up. He tells Abed that the Secret Service are trashing his dorm room. Arriving at the scene, Abed finds his dorm in disarray and confronts Robin on her true reasons for investigating him. She weakly denies any hidden agenda but offers him an apology of sorts for her actions and leaves. Back at the debate, Annie again tries to get Jeff to quit. She argues that his participation could cause the vote to split and give an unworthy candidate the presidency. After Jeff refuses she threatens that she won't hold back anymore and has a surprise for him.



2X17 AbedXRobin
"I'm sorry you weren't a more obvious
potential threat to the country."
As the debate starts up again, Star-Burns drops out not wanting to tarnish his reputation as a drug dealer. After Magnitude offers his view on the black mold issue, Annie then makes good on her threat and presents a special audio/video presentation. She plays a copy of Jeff's embarrassing 1997 audition tape for "The Real World". Humiliated, Jeff runs off stage as the crowd laughs and Annie realizes she went too far. She finds him later in the storage room but Jeff stops her from apologizing admitting he deserved it. Troy interrupts and tells them that they are missing the debate. Jeff reminds him that he quit and is surprised to hear Annie say she dropped out as well. Troy replies he was referring to a captivating debate Leonard and Magnitude are having and leaves to watch the rest of it.

2X17Politica
Pop! Pop!

2X17 Rasberry
(blows raspberry)

2X17 Poppop
Pop! Pop!

2X17 The crowd is mesmerized
The crowd is mesmerized.

Jeff and Annie finish their conversation and she confesses she lost sight of the issues and became focused on winning. Jeff then suggests this all happened because they both cared what they thought of each other. In the middle of hugging out an apology, they are again interrupted this time by Pierce. He offers a poignant take on their conflict before revealing he had been stabbed in the face by Vicki with a pencil. Back at the election, the Dean is angered when the final votes show the winner of the election to be "South Park". Abed wraps up his and Troy's election coverage by mentioning how to create napalm from common household items. Over at the Vice-President's motorcade, Agent Vohlers gets wind of this statement. She advises the VP skip Greendale and go to City College due to the elevated threat level. She says she will look into the matter personally and slowly smiles.



2X17 Vicki's revenge
"Vicki finally lent me her pencil".

End tag[]

Abed is alone in his dorm room watching the movie "Kickpuncher". Outside in a van, Secret Service Agent Robin Vohlers is watching the film as well through a pair of binoculars. After the film ends, he talks into his lamp which is wired; he tells her he had fun and suggests they "see" each other again.



2X17 Abed's date with Robin
Abed and Robin's first date.

Recurring themes[]

Continuity[]

Continuity lists
Narrative
Recurring or debuting plot points in this episode:
  • A nice gesture: Troy and Abed do their signature handshake when they learn they both voted for South Park.
  • Climax: Pierce's addiction to pain killers is cured after a stint in a rehab center.
  • Discontinuity:
    Student Government Association

    Brody Leitz and the Greendale College student government back in 2009.

    • When the winner is revealed, Dean Pelton angrily says that this type of thing happened 10 years ago which is why they abolished student government. However, the Community webisode series "The 5 As" contradicts this. It aired prior to the "Pilot" episode to promote the show's debut and a student called Brody Leitz is introduced as being the class president of Greendale who is shown presiding over a campus student government.
    • A yellow "Re-elect Brody Leitz for Student Body President" flyer made its debut in "Investigative Journalism" on the study room bulletin board behind Shirley and appeared in numerous episodes afterwards.
    • Jeff claims to have been 19 in 1997, despite the fact that his driver's license in "Early 21st Century Romanticism" reveals that he was born in 1971, making him twenty-five or twenty-six in 1997. (He may of course have been lying to make the video less embarrassing.)
  • Googly eyes:
    • Jeff and Annie share another moment that is interrupted by Pierce.
    • Abed and Agent Vohlers, in their own stoic way, have an emotional moment when they realize they won't see each other anymore.
  • History lesson: Jeff said in "Comparative Religion" that he hasn't played his guitar since the age of 23. He claims he was 19 in his MTV audition tape.
  • Middle Eastern Magic 8 Ball: The news scroll at the bottom of the screen during Troy and Abed's election coverage hints at future plot points:
    • "No paintball this spring claims Dean." and "Dean suggests end of year picnic, implies western theme". Greendale does play paintball again, as part of a western-themed picnic. The Dean tries, unsuccessfully, to tone it down.
    • Reports continue of mysterious "air vent monster" is explained in "Cooperative Calligraphy".
    • As part of her campaign platform, Annie promises to catch the Ass Crack Bandit, whose actions become the focus of Season Five episode "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics".
  • Previously:
  • That just happened:
People
Recurring or debuting characters in this episode:
  • Familiar faces: Actress Eliza Coupe ("Scrubs", "Happy Endings") guest stars as Special Agent Robin Vohlers.
  • First appearance: Vicki debuts.
  • Returning students:
    • Garrett returns as a candidate for student body president. He was accidentally nominated by getting into a line he thought was for ice cream. His next appearance is in "Competitive Wine Tasting".
    • Star-Burns returns as a candidate for student body president. He withdrew believing that political career would put a negative light in his drug dealing. His next appearance is in "Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts".
    • Leonard returns as a candidate for student body president. He changed his last name to 'Rodriguez' to get the Hispanic vote. He later got into a debate with Magnitude in which he replied to his opponent by blowing raspberries. His next appearance was in "A Fistful of Paintballs".
    • Magnitude returned as a candidate for student body president. He later got into a debate with Leonard in which he replied to his opponent by saying his catchphrase. His next appearance is in "For A Few Paintballs More".
    • Pavel is a behind the scenes assistant on Troy and Abed's campus news program which covered the race for student president. His next appearance is in "A Fistful of Paintballs".
Places
Recurring or debuting places in this episode:
Things
Recurring or debuting items in this episode:

Running gags[]

List of Running gags
Recurring or debuting running gags in this episode:
  • Annie's Boobs: Annie's election profile states, "BOOBS: Yes".
  • Butt stuff: Troy introduces himself as Troy "Butt Soup" Barnes during his election coverage.
  • Come sail away!: Troy tears up when he finds out that Abed has his own side adventures.
  • Nice outfit: Dean Pelton dresses up in what he claims is his sister's Uncle Sam outfit.
  • Raging against the machine: Britta goes off about the illusion of democracy but is mercifully interrupted by Jeff. She later interrupts the nomination process to spew more anti-government rhetoric.
  • Rhyme time: Jeff says, "Bring it on, Ponce de León!" Annie responds, "I'm gonna, Greg Muldunna!"
  • Take that, inspector!: Annie focuses most of her campaign on removing the black mold from the east stairwell.

Pop culture references[]

List of Pop culture references
References to popular culture in this episode:
  • IMDb: Abed was found to be carrying a bootleg copy of The Last Airbender, most likely the 2010 live action adaptation which was widely panned, not the original animated series.
  • Shout out:
    • Pierce tells an off-color story about actor Tom Sizemore.
    • Dean Pelton tells the group that Joe Biden, who was Vice President at the time, will be visiting the Greendale campus.
      • When told of the "elevated threat level at Greendale", Biden responds "Whatever. I just had a dream that I was a regular president." Coincidentally, Biden was subsequently elected President in the 2020 United States presidential election.
    • Pierce's election profile says that he followed the Barenaked Ladies on tour over the summer.
    • Jeff telling Annie he may smash a watermelon on stage is in reference to the signature act of prop comedian Gallagher.
  • TV Guide:
  • Use your allusion:
    • Annie introduces her campaign slogan by saying "Read my lips." This phrase was famously uttered by George Bush, as a presidential candidate, during his speech at the Republican National Convention in 1988.
    • Jeff does an impression of British musician George Michael singing a reworded version of his hit song Faith.
    • Showrunner Dan Harmon has stated numerous times that Annie Edison is largely based on the character "Tracy Flick" from the film Election. This episode put Annie in a similar situation as Tracy, who deals with a teacher who doesn't want her to win the election for student body president at her high school.

Meta references[]

List of Meta references
Meta references in this episode:
  • IRL:
    • Pierce tells a story about being in rehab with Tom Sizemore. Chevy Chase has spent time in rehab, though not concurrent with Sizemore or at the same facility.
    • A young Jeff Winger auditioned for "The Real World: Seattle". Actor Joel McHale is from Seattle.
  • Parody: This episode mocks politics, particularly the campaign and election process which often becomes less about the important issues and more about trivial matters.
  • Up against the wall: After welcoming Pierce back from rehab, the group awkwardly prepares to study when they are mercifully interrupted by Dean Pelton. Their reluctance to actually study pokes fun at the fact that the study group is rarely seen studying and is frequently interrupted, usually by the Dean.

Trivia[]

  • In the Community The Complete Second Season DVD commentaries, episode writer Adam Countee mentions there was a scene shot of Abed and Agent Vohlers kissing but it was cut. In an interview with Hitfix regarding Abed's later girlfriend Rachel, Dan Harmon explained they made this choice as it took Abed's relationship with Vohlers too far, and thematically it worked better that they were two romantically compatible people who ultimately could not be together.
  • Frequent background extra Long haired guy makes another of over 65 episode appearances. He's about to go on stage to make his pitch when Britta shoves him and takes his place. Frequent background extra Jeremy (who was Ken Jeong's stand-in) makes another of 45 episode appearances and is named by Jeff in this episode.
  • When Jeff's biography is flashed up on screen, "kryptonite" is misspelled as "KRYTONITE."

Quotes[]

Ah. What am I gonna wear? I mean, I could borrow my sister's Uncle Sam outfit. It's tailored for ladies, but what else can I do on such short notice?Dean
Well, you could not dress up like Uncle Sam. Or admit you don't have a sister.Jeff
I'm sorry, Annie. I'm not the worker bee type. I'm more of a silverback gorilla with the claws of a lion, the teeth of a shark, and the quiet dignity of a tortoise.Jeff
Face it, Annie. Politics are all about ego, popularity, and parlor tricks. Don't kid a lawyer.Jeff
Well, if I see one, I will.Annie
My name is Annie Edison and if elected I promise to make Greendale the signature community college of the entire western three quarters of the Greendale area.Annie
Garrett.Abed
That guy's such a mess. It's like God spilled a person.Troy
Who's that?Troy
Special Agent Vohlers. United States Secret Service.Abed
Do you just constantly have your own little side adventures?Troy
Yep.Abed
...Me too.Troy
I suggest you drop out right now, because not only will I beat you, I will make you cry.Annie
Oh, I feel a slight ego blowing in from the east.Jeff
You're gonna feel my foot blowing in from the south.Annie
This election's become a real horse race. According to our polls the campus is almost evenly divided. Now keep in mind the margin of error on this thing is about 98%.Troy
Could be higher. We don't even know how to do margins of error. We talked to two people at a vending machine.Abed
I actually withdraw my candidacy. I fear a political career will shine a negative light on my drug dealing. Thank you.Star-Burns
When we seek to destroy others, we often hurt ourself, because it is the self that wants to be destroyed.Pierce
Pierce, you're not usually so poignant.Jeff
Two men fighting for the same piece of earth, one recently born, one soon to die. A competition reflecting the pointlessness of life.Abed
As the confetti gets swept away and we begin gearing up for next years election for GCTV I'm Abed Nadir saying. Did you know you can make napalm out common dish soap and cat food?Abed
What!? Why would you say that?Troy
Season Two Episodes

1. "Anthropology 101"
2. "Accounting for Lawyers"
3. "The Psychology of Letting Go"
4. "Basic Rocket Science"
5. "Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples"
6. "Epidemiology"
7. "Aerodynamics of Gender"
8. "Cooperative Calligraphy"
9. "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design"
10. "Mixology Certification"
11. "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas"
12. "Asian Population Studies"

13. "Celebrity Pharmacology 212"
14. "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
15. "Early 21st Century Romanticism"
16. "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking"
17. "Intro to Political Science"
18. "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy"
19. "Critical Film Studies"
20. "Competitive Wine Tasting"
21. "Paradigms of Human Memory"
22. "Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts"
23. "A Fistful of Paintballs"
24. "For A Few Paintballs More"

Community Season Two DVD

Season OneSeason TwoSeason ThreeSeason FourSeason FiveSeason Six
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