Introduction to Statistics

Introduction to Statistics

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Director: Justin Lin — Writer: John Pollack and Tim Hobert — Aired: 10/29/09 —Season: 1 — Number: 7 Summary: Jeff blows off Annie's Halloween party in order to score with his sexy statistics professor.

Plot

Well it’s funny, I enrolled here as a selfish loner but you and the group have given me a crash course in friendship.

— Jeff Winger

In Spanish class, Señor Chang informs the students of an upcoming academic event. He turns the floor over to Annie who announces that tonight at the library, she is throwing a Día de los Muertos party. Chang explains that students who attend get extra credit while he has to use his own free time to supervise the party without being paid. After he dismisses the class, Annie tries to get confirmation on who will be there. Shirley agrees, looking forward to her first college party. Britta scolds Jeff for not supporting Annie by attending the party. Pierce checks his cell phone to see if he sent the e-vite for the party and accidentally calls his mother. He tries to hang up but inadvertently switches to speaker and her incessant ramblings embarrass him in front of the study group.

An enthusiastic Annie and an annoyed Chang.

During his statistics class, Jeff flirts with the attractive professor. After she ends the class, he stays behind to flirt with her. Slater admits she is attracted to him and impressed by his boldness but states that as a rule she doesn't date students and leaves. Jeff follows passing Shirley and Britta in the hallway and they watch in disdain as he pursues the professor. Shirley is upset Jeff is going after another woman but Britta insists it doesn't bother her. Jeff continues to charm Slater but is unable to change her mind. Annie then shows up and presses Jeff for an answer about attending her party. As the coolest guy on campus, his attendance is necessary to ensure her party's success. Jeff tries to refuse but when she cries he finally agrees. During lunchtime, Pierce attempts to secretly take his pills, but Abed notices much to his embarrassment.

Professor Michelle Slater is introduced.

That night In the study room, Annie's party begins, and the study group members arrive in costume. Dressed in an unflattering squirrel costume, Britta laments about women who use Halloween as an excuse to dress sexy to Annie, who reveals a skin-tight skeleton outfit. Jeff shows up not wearing a costume while Pierce arrives dressed as the Beastmaster. He goes to the restroom to take his evening meds and runs into Star-Burns. He convinces Pierce to trade two of Pierce's pills for one of his own, unaware that Pierce's medications are not recreational. Pierce is equally oblivious of the nature of Star-Burns' drugs. Back at the party, Jeff sees Chang leave and follows him to the faculty Halloween party to see Slater. Britta and Shirley team up to bring him back angry that he bailed on Annie. When Annie calls for Jeff and the attendees realize he isn't there they begin to talk about leaving early.

One of mine for two of yours.

Nearby, Pierce and Star-Burns begin to experience the effects of the pills they swapped. At the faculty party, Slater continues to resist Jeff's advances, worrying that word of a relationship would spread from his friends to the whole school. Jeff claims that he has no friends, but immediately they all start to appear. Britta confronts him about skipping out on Annie followed by Abed as Batman, who also condemns Jeff for his actions. Then Troy, dressed as Eddie Murphy, reports that Pierce is high and needs Jeff's help. It's then that Dean Pelton points out that Shirley is outside in the parking lot breaking the antenna off of Slater's car. Finally, Pierce arrives, high on Star-Burns' drugs, and makes a huge scene. Fed up with their interference, Jeff lashes out at each member of the group, driving them away.

Unseemly.

Britta finds Shirley attempting to destroy Slater's office. Shirley admits that she is misplacing her anger and reveals that her husband returned for their wedding ring in order to give it to his new girlfriend. Shirley confesses that she pretended Britta was hurt in order to avoid her own pain. Britta realizes that she is also guilty of avoiding her own feelings regarding Jeff and Slater. As he returns to Annie's party, Pierce's drug trip progresses to hallucination, and Annie is unable to calm him. Back at the faculty party, Chang mocks Jeff's failure to score with Slater, and Jeff blames Greendale for draining his coolness. At Chang's suggestion, Jeff approaches Slater and straightforwardly pleads with her to have sex with him only to be shocked when she agrees.

Take that, Professor Slimcalves!

They leave and walk past the library, where a crowd has gathered. Troy runs up and tells Jeff that Pierce is in the middle of a mental breakdown and only Jeff can help. Reluctantly, Jeff leaves Slater and approaches Pierce, who has barricaded himself inside a sizeable fort made of tables and chairs. Pierce tells Jeff that the real reason for his freakout is having to face the fact that he is old. Jeff responds that Pierce has done a lot of living in just the last two months and should be proud. Reassured, Pierce pumps his fist which causes the fort to collapse. Abed swoops in at the last second and drags both men to safety. The episode closes with a dramatic Abed/Batman voice over as the group recovers and continue the party together.

The body of a fifth-grader.

End tag

Eating candy after the party, Troy and Abed practice the Batman voice while musing about mundane thoughts.

Batman and Eddie Murphy hanging out.

Recurring themes

Continuity

Continuity lists

Narrative Recurring or debuting plot points in this episode: History lesson: Annie mentions to Jeff how unpopular she was in high school and she hopes to improve her popularity in College. Shirley reveals that she and her husband have been separated for six months and she no longer wears her wedding ring. It is later revealed that he asked for his ring back, so he could propose to his new girlfriend. Discontinuity: Pierce accidentally calls his mother who mentions having recently seen his father's ghost implying that he is dead. However, Pierce's father, Cornelius Hawthorne, appears in the Season Three episode "Advanced Gay" alive. The discrepancy is explained in the story by Pierce who says that his mom liked to imagine his father was dead. People Recurring or debuting characters in this episode: First appearance: Michelle Slater makes her debut in this episode. Returning students: Leonard and Star-Burns show up. Places Recurring or debuting places in this episode: This must be the place: The Spanish classroom Group Study Room F Borchert Hall is seen. Things Recurring or debuting items in this episode: School uniform: This episode has the debut of Jeff's cowboy outfit. It makes a return appearance in "A Fistful of Paintballs" and "For A Few Paintballs More". The Dean also wears an identical version in "Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations". A sweet ride: Chang's moped/Vespa makes its first appearance.

Running gags

List of Running gags

Recurring or debuting running gags in this episode: Disney face: For the first time, Annie uses her tears to convince Jeff to do something. I'm Batman!: This episode marks the first appearance of Abed's running gag where he assumes different personas. He does his "Batman" impersonation again in the Season Three episode "Studies in Modern Movement". Nice outfit: Many characters wear ridiculous outfits for Halloween/Dia de los Muertos. A wizard outfit, seen briefly when Chang is driving Jeff on his moped, appears once again in "The Science of Illusion" worn by Pierce. Britta wears a squirrel costume. Jeff wears a cowboy costume based on the outfit actor Yul Brynner's character Chris Adams wore in the film "The Magnificent Seven". Annie wears a tight fitting skeleton outfit which she briefly accessories with a cape and skull mask. Troy is dressed in an outfit similar to what comedian Eddie Murphy wore in his TV special Delirious. Shirley is dressed as "Harry Potter" the character from the book and movie franchise. Pierce is dressed as "The Beast Master" character from the movie series of the same name which starred actor Marc Singer. Abed is dressed as the Christian Bale version of the comic book character "Batman".

Pop culture references

List of Pop culture references

References to popular culture in this episode: IMDb: Shirley mentions having recently seen the movie Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj. Pierce is dressed as The Beastmaster, the titular character in the movie franchise starring Marc Singer. The 1985 film The Beastmaster is also mentioned. Shirley describes to Britta a movie poster she saw of the 2009 Katherine Heigl romantic comedy The Ugly Truth. Jeff tells Slater that he saw Ghostbusters in theaters. Abed does an impersonation of Batman based on Christian Bale performance in the The Dark Knight trilogy of films. Troy mentions Grumpy Old Men. TV series: Shirley's Harry Potter costume is mistaken for Urkel, from Family Matters. Troy dresses up as Eddie Murphy from his TV special Delirious. Abed tells Troy that his Batman impression is more like Cookie Monster, referencing Sesame Street. Product placement: Chang chooses the Comfort Inn for certain extra-curricular activities.

Meta references

List of Meta references
Meta references in this episode: Résumé: Shirley describes to Britta a movie poster she saw of the 2009 Katherine Heigl romantic comedy The Ugly Truth. Yvette Nicole Brown appeared in that film as the character Dori Coleman.

Production

Behind the Scenes Video

Quotes

“Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is sometimes referred to as Mexican Halloween.”— Annie

“Which is actually quite offensive to people familiar with Mexican Halloween as a sexual position.”— Chang

“Are you trying to get formidable with me?”— Jeff

“It worked on Pierce.”— Annie

“Infomercials work on Pierce.”— Jeff

“You know what the crazy thing is, Britta?”— Shirley

“Everything you've done tonight?”— Britta

“You feel a breeze here? Cause someone just struck out.”— Chang

“She blew you off too, Chang.”— Jeff

“Is that what you have to fall back on? Dude. Look at me, bro. Look at me. I've got the body of a fifth grader. M'Kay? If I was workin' with what you've got, she'd be at the Comfort Inn right now giving me a Mexican Halloween.”— Chang

“Please sleep with me. Please. Pretty please. I'm so lonely. I haven't slept with anyone in a very long time, and you're so good-looking. Please do me the favor of having sex with me.”— Jeff to Professor Slater

Season One Episodes
1. "Pilot" 2. "Spanish 101" 3. "Introduction to Film" 4. "Social Psychology" 5. "Advanced Criminal Law" 6. "Football, Feminism and You" 7. "Introduction to Statistics" 8. "Home Economics" 9. "Debate 109" 10. "Environmental Science" 11. "The Politics of Human Sexuality" 12. "Comparative Religion" 13. "Investigative Journalism"	14. "Interpretive Dance" 15. "Romantic Expressionism" 16. "Communication Studies" 17. "Physical Education" 18. "Basic Genealogy" 19. "Beginner Pottery" 20. "The Science of Illusion" 21. "Contemporary American Poultry" 22. "The Art of Discourse" 23. "Modern Warfare" 24. "English as a Second Language" 25. "Pascal's Triangle Revisited"
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