Community/Recap/S2/E03 The Psychology of Letting Go

Pierce deals with the death of his mom. Jeff gets an unexpected result back from a medical test. Abed has a side adventure.

The Community episode "The Psychology of Letting Go" provides examples of:
"Hi, I like need you to save the pelicans? They're all feathery and pelicany? I wuv them."
 * Birth-Death Juxtaposition: As Pierce's mom narrates how life works, Abed can be seen helping a young couple give birth in the background. Considering his role in the show he probably sought the pregnant girl out for this very reason.
 * It's been about 9 months since the STD fair, hasn't it? Note that you see a couple in the background of that episode throwing a condom away and then getting back to it...
 * Bilingual Dialogue: Betty White and an African tribesman in The Tag. This is so another tribesman won't be spoiled by the English half of their discussion of Inception.
 * Broken Aesop: Jeff takes Duncan's psychology completely the wrong way. Instead of getting over his angst and quitting his attempt to destroy Pierce's faith he comes to the realization that that was his goal and really rolls his sleeves up.
 * Broken Bird: Jeff spends most of the episode angsting over his mortality. He's in near-perfect health. The "near" part is devestating to him.
 * Buffy-Speak: Britta's imitating Annie.

"Professor Duncan: No, that wasn't what I w -- actually, I don't care."
 * Call Back: "Did we completely miss the point of last Christmas?"
 * Captain Obvious Aesop: Lampshaded on at one point when Britta and Annie are staging a demonstration to raise awareness about the environmental effects of the oil spill in the gulf. Britta is angry and yelling about how horrible it is to people passing by when someone mockingly points out that she doesn't need to yell at them, nobody is on the other side of this issue.
 * Cat Fight
 * Completely Missing the Point:
 * Duncan points out that Jeff's recent desire to belittle and undermine Pierce's faith in his cult is linked to Jeff's discovery that he has high cholesterol. Jeff accepts this, but instead of the expected 'so lighten up about it and let Pierce continue regardless' message, Jeff instead decides that this increased self-awareness means he can really go to town on pulling the rug from under Pierce.

"Annie: ...if a guy wants to make a puppet of me it's hardly your concern."
 * Britta tells Annie that due to her flirting guys have socks with her name on them. Her reply?

"Duncan: Well, I think you're being a little childish--if you'll excuse me, I need to use my force field to keep Chang from getting food."
 * Drinking the Kool Aid: Invoked. Pierce's faith believes that when Buddha returns everyone will merge into shimmering ocean of knowledge that tastes like Hawaiian fruit punch. Which sounds a lot like an incredibly oft-mentioned anime.
 * Eureka Moment: Duncan discovers he can force Chang to run away.
 * Fan Service: Annie and Britta's wrestling while covered in oil
 * Funny Background Event:
 * While Pierce is explaining his religion in Anthropology, there's a guy in the background taking notes on it.
 * Look carefully at the girl who Jeff hits on in the student health clinic - she's reading an STD pamphlet.
 * Abed has an entire Funny Background Storyline involving a pregnant woman, her jerk boyfriend and her eventual giving birth. It's quite impressive when you go back and watch it. Shirley even comments on it after noticing that Abed has barely appeared in the episode.
 * Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: Annie and Britta's oil-wrestling match draws a very large crowd. The men of the study group also approve.
 * Green-Eyed Monster: Non-romantic version; Shirley spends most of the episode poorly concealing her jealousy over the fact that she wasn't invited to join in Britta and Annie's project.
 * Hypocritical Humor

"Shirley: Yeah, you're both soooo different. Skinny bitches."
 * Shirley sardonically highlights a certain hypocrisy in Annie and Britta's jealous sniping match with each other:

"Redhead Guy: You don't need to shout at us! No one is on the other side of this issue!"
 * Law of Disproportionate Response: Jeff is told he is near-perfect health except for slightly high cholesterol. He reacts as if he's been told he's going to die later that afternoon.
 * Meaningful Background Event: The background events tell the story of Abed helping a pregnant woman, getting in an argument with the father, and eventually delivering the baby. At the end, the group asks Abed where he's been. You can see it here, if you missed it.
 * Mood Whiplash: The first track on Pierce's mother's CD is a recording of her pleading with him to understand the finality of death. The second track is hardcore gangsta rap.
 * Out of Focus: Literally; the episode features a subplot of Abed befriending a pregnant classmate that takes place entirely in the background.
 * Soapbox Sadie: Britta's anger over the oil spill is seen as this.

"Jeff: I treat my body like a temple!
 * Shout-Out: At one point Pierce is explaining the tenets of his religion (cult), mentioning that humans have a vapour form. Abed asks if there is a liquid form, to which Pierce replies that when Buddha comes all humans would turn into a liquid and combine into a single, superintelligent lifeform that resembles an ocean of fruit punch.
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: Pierce's mother's audio will ends with beatalicious rap music.
 * Sweater Girl: Annie's tendency to wear tight sweaters is Lampshaded by Britta.
 * Take That:

Male Nurse Jackie: Yeah, but the temple is a temple of doom! And like the real Temple of Doom, it represents the inconvenient fact that all good things, be they people or movie franchises, eventually collapse into sagging, sloppy piles of hard-to-follow nonsense."

"Pierce's Mom:[on audio] Pierce, if you're listening to this it means I'm dead.
 * The Tape Knew You Would Say That

Pierce: Vaporized.

Pierce's Mom: Not vaporized."


 * Throw It In: The boiled eggs Jeff dejectedly de-yolks at lunch are actually what Joel McHale brought in for lunch that day.
 * Video Wills: Well, an audio will. Pierce's mom leaves one for him. Pierce ignores it, choosing to believe his mother went insane towards the end.