History Recap / CommunityS3E14PillowsAndBlankets

* MattressTagGag: Chang's army of 12-year-olds make ''[[CreepySouvenir necklace out of them]]''.

* MyEyesAreUpHere: As Annie is introduced in the voiceover introduction, the camera shows a photo of just her torso and then pans up to include her face.

* FatalFamilyPhoto: Parodied with a picture of Troy and Abed which has been torn in half.

* FelonyMisdemeanor: The Changlorious Basterds making necklaces out of mattress tags.

* JitterCam

---> '''Abed's Facebook status update:''' The war won't stop with ''[[Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII First Blood Part II]]''; it will escalate to ''Rambo III''. Which should really be called ''Rambo II: First Blood Part III''. But the Rambo titles never made sense. And neither does war.
** Also, this episode is a sequel to [[Recap/CommunityS3E13DigitalExplorationOfInteriorDesign Digital Exploration Of Interior Design]], but its title doesn't reflect that.

** To a lesser extent, the Dean himself also counts, with him getting increasingly exasperated by the pillow fight going on for so long and even chewing out the student body at the end for having wasted so many days of class.

* RunningGag: Britta's [[StylisticSuck impressively bad]] photography.

** Lampshaded and subverted; Troy and Abed reveal they're both aware Jeff's suggestion of 'friendship hats' which would make their problems disappear was intended sarcastically. Jeff turns it around by pointing out that just because he's a sarcastic person doesn't mean that they have to take it in the same spirit.
** Even the narrator eventually can't restrain his contempt for Britta's inept photography, although he intones it in the same dramatic tone of voice he uses for the entire documentary ("Yeah, gee, ''there's'' a good one.")

--> The injured said they were [[CreepySouvenir making necklaces out of mattress tags]]. This is when things get as ugly as they can ''get''... ''[Sheepish]'' while still being a pillow fight.

** Pierce's DoomsdayDevice looks like a cross between ComicBook/IronMan Mark I -- with detailed schematics and wielding The Pillow of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] -- and the Michelin Man.

** Pierce defecting from Troy's army to Abed's after Shirley is promoted over him is a reference to Benedict Arnold. One of Arnold's grievances against Congress which prompted him to defect to the British was that he was passed over for several promotions which he felt he was owed.

-->'''Troy:''' It's not a request.

* TitleOnlyOpening: In Series/{{Band Of Brothers}}-style, no less.

* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: Soft, fluffy violence.
* VisibleSilence: Leonard illustrates the sound of crap when it's about to hit the fan.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The Vice-Dean and the Subway sub-plot from the previous episode make no appearance; in the Vice-Dean's case, it could be argued that, as the head of a shadowy AncientConspiracy, he didn't want to get caught on camera advancing his scheme. Likewise, Subway probably didn't want to pick any sides in the event that there was an ultimate victor and they could then get kicked out of Greendale.

* WimpFight: Played with; when everyone is pillow-fighting, it's no-holds-barred and vicious. When it's just Troy and Abed, however, they just sort of slap each other's sides with the pillows. Justified though, as they're obviously not trying to actually hurt each other, and actually ''want'' the fight to go on for as long as possible.

** The Changlorious Basterds, [[Recap/CommunityS3E12ContemporaryImpressionists recruited at a bar mitzvah]].

** Jeff's habit of improvising "hot-button patriotic dogma" as a rhetorical technique, including baseless references to 9/11, [[Recap/CommunityS1E01Pilot shows up]] [[Recap/CommunityS1E05AdvancedCriminalLaw once]] [[Recap/CommunityS1E09Debate109 again]].
** [[Recap/CommunityS1E23ModernWarfare A chaotic campus-wide battle ensues as the result of everyone]] [[Recap/CommunityS2E23AFistfulOfPaintBalls taking a usually innocent leisure activity]] ''[[SeriousBusiness way]]'' [[SeriousBusiness too seriously]] [[Recap/CommunityS2E24ForAFewPaintBallsMore thanks to a promised reward which causes nothing but trouble.]]

* DistractedByTheSexy \ DistractedByTheShiny: Abed supplies his troops with a LongList of things Troy is easily distracted by, with "boobs" and "shiny objects" among them.

* GuinnessEpisode

* HellIsThatNoise: {{Invoked}}. At 12:07am The Pillowtownians are playing Go Fish when Blanketsburg attacks, howling. "Did you hear that?" "What the hell is that?"
* HumansAreBastards: Discussed.

---> '''Shirley''': There were no rules in that first battle. You hit someone and they went down and... you stop hitting them. Call that "common courtesy." But then when they get up, you maybe keep hitting them till they learn to stay down. You call that "common sense."
* IntrepidReporter: Britta thinks she's this. She's terrible at it.

--> '''Narrator''': [Annie's] text messages with Jeff Winger give us a glimpse beneath the cushions of war to the lost pennies and grody q-tips of war's emotional toll.

-->'''Troy''': I'm giving you an [[{{Malaproper}} all-tomato]]. Meaning that you give me the whole tomato, or else. \\
'''Abed''': Blanketsburg has drawn FirstBlood; Pillowtown will draw ''[[{{Metaphorgotten}} First Blood Part II]]''.

--> '''Narrator''': "The North Cafeteria, named after Admiral William North, is located in the western portion of East Hall, gateway to the western half of North Hall, which is named not after William Hall, but for its position above the South Wall. It is the most contested and confusing battle field on Greendale's campus, next to the English Memorial Spanish Center, named after English Memorial, a Portuguese sailor who discovered Greendale while looking for a fountain that cured syphilis."

*** This happens often in real life when new buildings are added to campuses.

---> '''Abed's Facebook status update''': The war won't stop with ''[[Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII First Blood Part II]]''; it will escalate to ''Rambo III''. Which should really be called ''Rambo II: First Blood Part III''. But the Rambo titles never made sense. And neither does war.

* OneWomanWail: Heard over The Battle of Greendale.
* OnlySaneMan: Jeff seems to be the only one who realizes that for all the drama flying around, the entire situation was a silly pillow fight. He only gets invested into the war [[HardWorkHardlyWorks in order to ditch class]]. He eventually gives up this mantle in order to save Troy and Abed's friendship by playing along with their imaginary friendship hats. He even goes so far as to go to Dean's office, picking them up and cleaning them off, despite the fact that nobody was watching.

* RedOniBlueOni ...but reversed as far as the actual color-coding goes. Abed, the calmer, more rational of the pair leads the red side, while Troy, the more emotional and excitable heads up the blue forces.

* ShouldntWeBeInSchoolRightNow: Lampshaded; following Troy's 'all tomato,' the Dean loudly wonders whether any of the students at Greendale actually go to any classes.

** The [[Film/InglouriousBasterds Changlorious Basterds]], who taunt, [[Film/GoodWillHunting "You guys like pillows? How do you like these pillows?"]]

** [[Series/BandOfBrothers Band of Brothers]] is imitated with the war veterans being interviewed and the iconic red line separating the episode number and title.
** There's no way that "The Real Neil with Pipes of Steel" ISN'T some sort of shout out to [[Series/NewsRadio "The Real Deal with Bill McNeal."]]

-->'''Troy''': The Legit Republic of Blanketsburg says Pillowtown has until midnight tonight to surrender its territory.
-->'''Abed''': The United Forts of Pillowtown declines the request.
-->'''Troy''': It's not a request.
* TitleOnlyOpening: In {{Band Of Brothers}}-style, no less.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The Vice-Dean and the Subway sub-plot from the previous episode make no appearance; in the Vice-Dean's case, it could be argued that, as the head of a shadowy AncientConspiracy, he didn't want to get caught on camera advancing his scheme.

* SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}: In-universe. Annie sees Jeff leaving the room and waiting long enough for Troy and Abed to think he got the imaginary "magical friendship hats" from the Dean's office so he can end the conflict and save their friendship as one. She is unaware that he actually DID go all the way there.

** [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments "Leonard likes this post."]]

---> '''Abed's Facebook status update''': The war won't stop with ''Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII''; it will escalate to ''Rambo III''. Which should really be called ''Rambo II: First Blood Part III''. But the Rambo titles never made sense. And neither does war.

** ''{{Rambo}}'': Abed mentions the phrase ''First Blood Part II'' in passing, then discusses [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo the series' numbering scheme]].

---> '''Abed's Facebook status update''': The war won't stop with ''[[Franchise/{{Rambo}} First Blood Part II]]''; it will escalate to ''Rambo III''. Which should really be called ''Rambo II: First Blood Part III''. But the Rambo titles never made sense. And neither does war.

* FencePainting: Jeff's social engineering to keep the war going to his benefit.

* FriendshipMoment:
** Jeff going back to get the imaginary friendship hats from the Dean's office, despite the fact that no one is around to see him.
** Also, an earlier, more subtle one; throughout the episode Jeff is dismissive and uninterested in the conflict, regarding it as infantile the first time he tries to mediate peace between Troy and Abed and using it only as an excuse not to go to class. Once he learns that Troy and Abed's relationship has deteriorated to the point where they're actively starting to hurt each other's feelings, however, he immediately begins taking it more seriously and genuinely working to try and resolve the conflict.

* ManipulativeBastard: Jeff, although see FriendshipMoment.

* InMediasRes: The episode picks off where the previous one left off.

* ActorAllusion: To Creator/KeithDavid. "Hey, were you in ''Series/TheCape''?" [[TakeThat "...No."]] Doubles as a CallBack.
* ActorSharedBackground: According to Pierce's medical record, his physician is [[Film/{{Fletch}} Dr. Rosenrosen]]. (The same piece of paper gives Pierce's birthdate as Oct. 8, 1943, the same as Chevy Chase.)

* CastingGag: The episode is narrated by Keith David, who often narrates the Ken Burns documentaries the episode parodies.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The fiddle solo playing over the introduction sounds quite a bit like "Ashokan Farewell."

[[quoteright:306:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_battle_of_greendale_7977.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:306:It was a battle that would forever change the lives of those involved...]]

->'''"[[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force.]]"''

* ActorAllusion:
** To Creator/KeithDavid. "Hey, were you in ''Series/TheCape''?" [[TakeThat "...No."]] Doubles as a CallBack.
** According to Pierce's medical record, his physician is [[Film/{{Fletch}} Dr. Rosenrosen]]. (The same piece of paper gives Pierce's birthdate as Oct. 8, 1943, the same as Chevy Chase.)

* CreatorCameo: Creator/DanHarmon as "English Memorial"

-->'''Narrator:''' Midnight comes and the campus holds its breath

* MattressTagGag: Chang's army of 12-year-olds make ''[[FelonyMisdemeanor a necklace out of them]]''.

* NewNeoCity: New Fluffytown

* ShaggyDogStory: The Guinness Book of Records executive gets fired and isn't coming, thus rendering the entire conflict utterly pointless. As soon as they learn this, everyone sheepishly and dispiritedly gives up and goes home except for Troy and Abed.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Shirley

** [[Series/BandOfBrothers Band Of Brothers]] is imitated with the war veterans being interviewed and the iconic red line separating the episode number and title.

** To KeithDavid. "Hey, were you in ''Series/TheCape''?" [[TakeThat "...No."]] Doubles as a CallBack.

* TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar: The two sides agree on a set of rules governing which parts of the body you are allowed to hit. ({{Groin Attack}}s are not allowed, but Annie treats incidental "lightly grazed testicles.")

** The [[Film/InglouriousBasterds Changlorious Basterds]], who taunt, [[GoodWillHunting "You guys like pillows? How do you like these pillows?"]]

* OhCrap: Jeff supplies an understated usage of this trope.
-->'''Pierce''': Shirley, you do the honors. My brain starts getting weird this time of night.
-->'''Jeff''': It's 10 AM!
-->'''Pierce''': (''casually'') You're welcome.
-->'''Jeff''': Uh oh.

** There's no way that "The Real Neil with Pipes of Steel" ISN'T some sort of shout out to [[NewsRadio "The Real Deal with Bill McNeal."]]