Line #84 Recap/CommunityS3E15OriginsOfVampireMythology


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/originsofvampiremythology001_2258.JPG]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Talking about Blade while watching ''[[Film/{{Blade}} Blade]]''.]]
3
4	The carnival is in town and that means bad news for Britta: someone she used to date works at the carnival and his name is Blade. As the study group laughs at that, Britta explains that Blade only needs to text her and she'll come running. So she gives up her phone to Annie and asks her to keep her addiction in check... by letting her stay at the apartment and making sure she never goes to Blade.
5
6	Meanwhile, Jeff is curious over just how exactly Blade does it, so he and Shirley go to check out the carnival and the duck shooting booth that Blade runs. They run into Pierce and Chang, who have decided to try being best friends.
7
8	And in a further subplot, Vice Dean Laybourne tries to make the Dean persuade Troy to enroll in the AC Repair School.
9
10	----
11	!!Tropes within the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Origins of Vampire Mythology":
12
13	* AdaptationDisplacement: InUniverse, Abed informs Britta that the ''Film/BladeTrilogy'' is based on a Creator/MarvelComics [[ComicBook/{{Blade}} character]] from [[ComicBook/TheTombOfDracula 1973]] when she insists that her ex named Blade was called that before [[Film/Blade1998 the initial film from 1998]].[[invoked]]
14	* AesopAmnesia: Annie had the best of intentions, and giving back the phone with a covertly switched-out number was actually a good plan to prove trust. But actually attempting to impersonate Blade, without an endgame in mind, shows she didn't learn any lessons from the [[Recap/CommunityS3E09FoosballAndNocturnalVigilantism broken DVD incident]].
15	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys:
16	** Deconstructed with Britta and Blade:
17	*** The reason why Britta wants Blade is explored throughout the episode, and shown to be unhealthy on her part.
18	*** Blade himself is something of a variation on the standard bad boy type, in that he's quite affable, pleasant and laid back -- his unpleasantness is at best an InformedAttribute. It's also revealed that Blade has brain damage that means he can never feel shame -- he simply doesn't care about how others view him.
19	** Parodied with Annie, who clearly experiences this to a much lesser degree than Britta (even if, given her [[ShipTease obvious interest in Jeff]], she's not entirely free from it) -- she just cannot figure out that the meaner the texts from 'Blade' get, the more turned on by them Britta is.
20	** Played straight and [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] with Shirley, who questions what could drive Britta's attraction to Blade, but understands as soon as Britta mentions Andre.
21	* AntiClimax: The Dean's plot to get Troy to join Laybourne's school ends rather abruptly when Troy flatly tells him no. Although considering the Dean's 'plot' appears to have basically been show up at Troy's apartment in pyjamas, hang around for a while and then at some point ask him outright to join Laybourne's school, this is only to be expected.
22	* BiggerIsBetter: Pierce assumes this to be the reason why Britta fell for Blade.
23	* CallBack:
24	** Jeff and Shirley are shown to still be good friends, continuing from "[[Recap/CommunityS3E09FoosballAndNocturnalVigilantism Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism]]."
25	** The Dean's train set is decorated with dalmatians.
26	*** He also [[Recap/CommunityS2E21ParadigmsOfHumanMemory drops in on the study group "in a dumb costume to deliver irrelevant news."]]
27	** Troy is ultimately the one to send a nice text to Britta, furthering the subplot of their {{UST}}.
28	*** Troy's awareness of Britta's 'damaged bad boy' issues also stems from "[[Recap/CommunityS2E20CompetitiveWineTasting Competitive Wine Tasting]]".
29	** [[Recap/CommunityS3E01Biology101 "YOU ARE THE OPPOSITE OF BATMAN!"]]
30	*** You don't know what that means!
31	** A blink-and-you'll-miss-it example; the peeved expression Jeff has after Pierce points out that Britta has "the King Arthur of bad taste in men" is because ''he'' hooked up with Britta in "[[Recap/CommunityS1E23ModernWarfare Modern Warfare]]" and then, as revealed in "[[Recap/CommunityS2E21ParadigmsOfHumanMemory Paradigms of Human Memory]]", spent most of season two in a FriendsWithBenefits relationship with her.
32	** [[Recap/CommunityS3E04RemedialChaosTheory Googly eyes.]]
33	** Troy accidentally letting a piece of secret information slip and then following it up with a monotone "Whoops," which dates back to [[Recap/CommunityS2E04BasicRocketScience Basic Rocket Science.]]
34	---> '''Annie:''' You two [Troy and Abed] are bad friends. Bad!
35	---> '''Troy:''' That's unfair. What about you guys? You don't like our movie, we can't say the word "blade," [[SayingTooMuch there's phones in the refrigerator]]- [[DullSurprise Oops!]]
36	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: At the end when Britta, Annie, Troy and Jeff exchange warm looks of understanding, friendship and ShipTease following the episode's drama, Abed joins in and vocalizes his take of the atmosphere: "Yeah, [[invoked]][[FanMyopia this movie is fantastic]]".
37	* CovertPervert: Yes, Annie, the ''only'' reason you wanted [[MrFanservice Jeff]] to change his shirt is because it "wasn't working." Riiiight.
38	* CrappyCarnival: Where Blade works.
39	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Britta's lust for Blade is treated as something between a heroin addiction and a vampire's lust for blood. Including GoingColdTurkey.
40	* DontExplainTheJoke: Annie feels the need to inform Troy that her very obvious mimicry of him spilling the beans on where Britta's phone was ("There's phones in the refrigerator!") actually was an impression of him.
41	* EatingTheEyeCandy: Annie during Jeff's ShirtlessScene.
42	* EmbarrassingFirstName: Britta's ex-boyfriend is actually named Blade. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that he's not actually embarrassed by it (or anything else).
43	* FetishizedAbuser: Blade, [[InformedAttribute according to Britta]], and Britta makes a crack which gets a reaction that Annie ''wishes'' Jeff were this.
44	* FinishDialogueInUnison: Gag version. Pierce and Chang both suggest things to do at the carnival at the same time. Pierce suggests cotton candy. Chang suggests {{Russian roulette}}.
45	* FriendshipMoment: Britta tries to invoke one of these to prevent her friends laughing at her past with her ex-boyfriend. It fails the moment she mentions that his name is "Blade".
46	--> '''Jeff:''' She invoked friendship to undercut the laugh and we're ''still'' laughing -- ''that's how funny it is!''
47	* FruitOfTheLoon: As a decoy for Britta's phone, Annie has written 'You are a lying junkie' on a banana. There is absolutely no reason for her to have used a banana for this purpose.
48	** [[StealthPun It's a]] [[MemeticMutation banana phone]].
49	* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Jeff wins a bunch of stuffed animals and gives them to Shirley. {{Subverted}}, however, in that Shirley just wants to move on from the duck shooting booth, but Jeff won't give up until he knows Blade's secret.
50	* GodwinsLaw: Britta invokes this whilst being forcefully locked in Annie's room.
51	-->'''Britta:''' Let me see if he called! I have a right to know! You're ''monsters''! You're ''Hitlers''! You're racist pedophiles! [[Recap/CommunityS3E01Biology101 YOU'RE THE OPPOSITES OF BATMAN!]]\
52	'''Troy:''' You don't know what that means!
53	* GoingColdTurkey: What Britta wants to do in regards to Blade. She even gets locked in Annie's room.
54	* GoodTimesMontage: Between Pierce and Chang. After Chang leaves, Pierce [[MonochromePast remembers it in black and white]].
55	* HeldGaze: Jeff and Annie share another one at the end of the episode. This time, Annie is the one looking over at Jeff first, initiating it, and Jeff returns it, giving her a schmoopy smile as he does so.
56	* HypocriticalHumor:
57	** This exchange between Britta and Shirley:
58	--->'''Britta:''' I need to be reminded he is the worst man on earth, because if he comes through town and calls me I will be there in five minutes.\
59	'''Shirley:''' I don't understand...\
60	'''Britta:''' Oh, ''Andre'' much?\
61	'''Shirley:''' ''[Humbled]'' Okay, I understand.
62	** Pierce also gets a certain amount of group-mileage by calling Britta up on making a snide comment about Troy and Abed's being nerds, pointing out that someone who once willingly dated a man called "Blade" is hardly in a position to be lording it over others:
63	--->'''Britta:''' Well, "nerd" alert.\
64	'''Pierce:''' Well, "ex-boyfriend named 'Blade'" alert.\
65	'''Shirley:''' Ha-ha! ''[High-fives Pierce]'' Her love life makes ''Pierce'' seem with-it.
66	** As Annie's enjoying an eyeful of Jeff's bare chest:
67	--->'''Woman offscreen:''' [[Film/WhenHarryMetSally I'll have what she's having.]]\
68	'''Annie:''' Hey, grow up, lady!
69	* IgnoredEpiphany: Played with; after Annie's rant about Britta's rejection of the 'loser' text being a reflection of how messed up she is, Britta realizes ... that the text wasn't sent by Blade, and that therefore Blade isn't a loser. Once again overcome by lust, she makes to run straight to him, and Annie, sickened, is ready to wash her hands of the whole affair... when Jeff arrives, having learnt Blade's secret, and basically tells her in no uncertain terms that Blade is damaged, he's not going to change, and that the general idea of people needing to be in relationships to fix themselves is ridiculous.
70	** And given her expression when she figures who ''really'' sent the text message, she might be prepared to move on to a better romantic partner.
71	* INeedAFreakingDrink: The Dean after being threatened by the Vice Dean.
72	* InsistentTerminology: "It's a ''fantastic'' kickboxing vampire movie."
73	* LaughWithMe: Non-villainous example -- when Jeff wonders how many women he's affected in the same way that Blade has affected Britta, Britta laughs derisively. Jeff and Annie join in, but Jeff's is clearly forced in a way that reads "Yeah, sure, I was just ''joking'' there,", while Annie's forced laugh clearly suggests that she's trying (and failing) to casually convey an attitude of "No, Jeff's never affected ''me'' that way, no siree bob."
74	* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Britta, much to the amusement of the rest of the study group. She has "the King Arthur of bad taste in boyfriends."
75	* MeaningfulEcho: Played with for laughs; Shirley, taken with Blade's cool and laidback nature, almost instantly adopts his phrase "That won't change how mustard tastes," to try and persuade Jeff to drop his insistent quest to discover where Blade's cool comes from. Jeff, however, isn't impressed:
76	-->'''Jeff:''' [[SarcasmMode Oh, and you're so]] ''[[SarcasmMode cool]]'', Shirley.\
77	'''Shirley:''' ''[Hurt]'' Sometimes I am...
78	* NarratingTheObvious:
79	-->'''Dean Pelton''': What's wrong, Annie? You came out of the bedroom smiling, and then your smile faded as you leaned against the door.
80	* NoMatterHowMuchIBeg: The Britta/Annie storyline is a variation on this plot.
81	* OlderThanTheyThink: Invoked. After Britta notes that Blade was called that before the Wesley Snipes film was released, Abed interjects that the film was adapted from a Creator/MarvelComics property of the same name that was first published in 1973.
82	* PsychoExGirlfriend: Britta for Blade.
83	* RunningGag: Various characters ask the Dean what he's doing in Abed, Troy, and Annie's apartment to which he always reacts with mock offense but never actually explains himself.
84	* SassySecretary: Natalie will not be making you a scotch and soda.
85	* SayingTooMuch: Troy spilling the beans about Britta's phone being in the fridge in a nearly identical manner to [[Recap/CommunityS2E04BasicRocketScience when he spilled the beans about the group's "butt flag" submission in Basic Rocket Science.]]
86	* SeriousBusiness: Jeff quickly becomes obsessed with learning what makes Blade so compelling to people. It makes him spend more than $300 at the "shoot the ducks" booth.
87	* TheShameless: Blade reveals to Jeff that before he met Britta, his brain got damaged after a loose bolt flew off a ferris wheel and imbedded in his skull, destroying the part of his brain that feels shame.
88	* ShipSinking: Jeff/Britta receives another nail in the coffin, with Jeff upon being confronted explicitly denying that he's in love with Britta and jealous of Blade because of her continued attraction to him. He is, in fact, jealous of Blade's ability to somehow make people not give a crap about the fact that he's a self-centred douchebag. Additionally, Britta laughs when Jeff wonders how many girls he's affected in a manner similar to Blade, displaying a negative response to their previous relationship.
89	* ShipTease:
90	** Troy / Britta. We don't see what's on Troy's text message from 'Blade', but it's very nice, very complimentary and clearly heartfelt; he's deeply hurt when Britta rejects it as a sign that Blade is a 'loser', and Annie is obviously moved by it when she reads it. Then at the end, Britta's obviously touched when she learns Troy actually sent it as well.
91	** In keeping with the ongoing [[Recap/CommunityS2E21ParadigmsOfHumanMemory Jeff and Annie of it all]], Jeff and Annie share rather [[HeldGaze meaningful glances]] at each other at the end of the episode. And, of course, Annie takes the opportunity to enjoy the view of [[MrFanservice Jeff without a shirt on]], before her forced laugh at the idea of Jeff having the same effect on anyone that Blade does on Britta.
92	* ShirtlessScene: The scene where Jeff changes his shirt, probably a LampshadeHanging.
93	-->'''Random girl''': [[EatingTheEyeCandy I'll have what she's having]].
94	-->'''Annie''': [[HypocriticalHumor Hey, grow up, lady!]]
95	-->'''Britta''': Annie!
96	-->'''Annie''': [[NotWhatItLooksLike His shirt wasn't working!]]
97	* ShoutOut:
98	** During Jeff's shirtless scene, a woman calls out [[Film/WhenHarryMetSally "I'll have what she's having."]]
99	** Britta unexpectedly pulls a banana out of nowhere, in a season where a significant RunningGag has been [[JustForFun/InspectorSpacetime a spoof]] of ''Series/DoctorWho''. Bananas have been something of a RunningGag on ''Doctor Who'', and the Doctor has displayed a tendency to produce them from out of nowhere at times.
100	** Britta asks Annie to [[Film/TeenWolf tie her to the radiator like a werewolf]].
101	* SkewedPriorities: Troy and Abed seem far more disturbed by having their viewing of ''[[Film/{{Blade}} Blade]]'' interrupted than by the whole Britta/Blade mess.
102	** Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]]. Considering Troy's feelings for Britta, he probably doesn't want to spend the night listening to how much Britta likes another guy. Abed also seems to share several significant looks with Troy. Because they're so close, and due to the events of [[Recap/CommunityS2E20CompetitiveWineTasting Competitive Wine Tasting]] Abed probably knows about Troy's feelings, and would want to try to keep Troy's mind off the current situation with Britta and Blade.
103	* StandUpComedy: In TheTag Abed does this in the study room dressed like Jerry Seinfeld in front of a fake brick wall to Jeff, Troy and Dean Pelton. His jokes are specific only about his and Troy's living habits and their apartment so only Troy laughs.
104	* StockScream: Just before Annie grabs Britta's phone to see what Troy texted, a Wilhelm Scream can be heard coming from the movie they are watching.
105	* TakeOurWordForIt: We see Troy write, send and delete the message, and we see other characters' touched reactions to it, but we never find out precisely what it was he said.
106	* TakeThat: Some have interpreted Pierce's "I need a friend" storyline as being a take that at Chevy Chase's real life issues with his character not getting enough stories.
107	* WhatTheHellHero: We don't learn what was on Troy's text message to Britta, but he is clearly hurt when Britta, believing it to be from Blade, dismisses it as a sign that Blade is a 'loser'. When Annie finally reads the message, she's obviously deeply moved and, although she doesn't mention Troy, angrily lays into Britta for her priorities concerning men and how fucked-up this suggests she is.
108	-->'''Annie''': ''What. Is. '''Wrong''' with you?!''
109	-->'''Britta''': Huh?
110	-->'''Annie''': You weren't texting Blade, you were texting us. I switched Blade's number in your phone to mine.
111	-->'''Britta''': You ''tricked'' me?!
112	-->'''Annie''': ''You'' tricked '''''me'''''! You ask for my help, you tell me I'm your sister, I do everything I can to make you hate this turd, and the first nice thing he says, and you're ''over'' him?! ''Who hurt you?'' And why didn't it stick?

Context Recap / CommunityS3E15OriginsOfVampireMythology