Community Revisited: S1E2-“Spanish 101”

I want to start by apologizing for the delay. I doubt there were many people eagerly awaiting this recap but I’ll try to post more consistently whether you like it or not.

“Spanish 101” is an important episode for me. I had missed the Pilot so this was my introduction to Community. I was instantly smitten. There is so much to love in this episode from the Dean’s opening announcements, to Senor Chang’s introductory monologue, to Shirley and Annie’s protest pinata. What really makes this episode special is the Spanish Rap. With the Spanish Rap we saw for the first time some of the things that would go on to make the show truly incredible. The Spanish Rap is the first Community end credits scene and the beginning of Troy and Abed, the irreverent duo that would serve as the backbone of the show during its best years. One could argue that the Spanish Rap is Childish Gambino’s first and best song to date.

Something happened to me the first time I saw the Spanish Rap. It was like an infection traveling into my brain through my eyes and ears, sticking with me forever. I couldn’t get enough of it. The song was nonsense and my young mind couldn’t quite comprehend what drew me to it. It felt new to me, like something I’d never seen on TV before. I remember playing back the scene over and over on my DVR until my mother demanded I shut it off. I got a tape recorder (probably the first and last time I used one) and held it up to the TV speakers so that I’d have the song to listen to wherever I went. I’d play it back and listen closely to the muffled, static-filled recording in an attempt to learn the words. I practiced, trying to mimic the sounds of words I didn’t understand, stumbling over lyrics I only recognized phonetically. The Spanish Rap spawned my addiction to TV. It’s one of the most memorable moments of my childhood.

In my first recap I touched on Jeff Winger’s character and his relationship to both Britta Perry and Pierce Hawthorne. The show’s second episode allowed me to take a closer look at these three characters.

This episode begins with Jeff and Britta. Jeff has charmed the rest of the study group and Britta is upset that he’s manipulating them by pretending to care. This is familiar territory. Jeff wants Britta to like him but she sees through his charisma and challenges to be more selfless, less narcissistic. Enter Pierce Hawthorne. As I mentioned in the last recap, Pierce serves as a sort of mirror for Jeff. He has all of Jeff’s narcissism and perversion without any of the charm to hide it. Jeff is repulsed by his similarities to Pierce and this episode demonstrates this dynamic clearly.

Jeff bribes Abed to switch study partners with him so he can court Britta under the guise of schoolwork. Unfortunately for him, Pierce bribes Britta to switch partners so he can do the same to Jeff. Over the course of the episode, Winger becomes infuriated with Pierce who uses schoolwork as an excuse to court him. Jeff is right to be repelled by Pierce as he is an unquestionably repellent person, but what Pierce offers Jeff is an opportunity to experience how his behavior affects the people around him. Pierce’s pursuit of Jeff puts Jeff in Britta’s shoes. The show is presenting a dynamic where Pierce pursues Jeff who is repelled by their shared narcissistic and predatory nature. It is suggested in the episode that Pierce desire’s Jeff because he wants the same admiration and respect he gets.

So, the relationship between Jeff and Pierce seems to be this. Pierce is Jeff’s ugliness without his veil of charm. Pierce pursues Jeff because he desires this veil and Jeff is repulsed by Pierce because he forces him to directly confront his ugliness. This is the beginning of the dynamic but there seems to be another piece.

The episode’s B-plot is about Britta, Shirley, and Annie. Shirley and Annie protest Guatemalan tyranny, which forces Britta to come to terms with her own hypocrisy. She realizes she’s inauthentic, loudly denouncing oppression that she does nothing to combat. This is a crack in the image of Britta that the Pilot created, that she was all about honesty, authenticity, and selflessness. Britta deeply cares about these qualities but she is insecure that she may lack them. This can help us complete the Pierce-Jeff-Britta dynamic.

Jeff resists Pierce because he so openly possesses the narcissism and creepiness that Jeff tries to hide in himself. Britta then resists Jeff because he so openly possesses the selfishness, artificiality, and immorality that Britta tries to hide in herself.

Then why does Jeff pursue Britta? I don’t know if we can definitively answer this question yet, but I’ll take a stab at it. Jeff’s entire thing is the manipulation of truth. He uses his charm and sophistry to hide his ugliness and convince the world that he is good. His idea seems to be that if he can create a universal perception that he is good, then he will have constructed a reality where he is good. Britta is the lone obstacle in this quest. In the beginning of the Pilot episode Jeff asks Abed about Britta because he couldn’t find a way in with her. He can’t figure out how to gain her approval. She is the only member of the study group not to be fooled by his charm. Jeff then pursues Britta to complete his conquest, to become universally liked.

I’ll track these relationships more as they develop and try to come to a clearer understanding of how the study group functions, but this episode provided some insight into some of the key dynamics at play in the group.

Thanks for reading. I’ll try to have my next recap up quicker.