thoughts on remedial chaos theory
the interesting thing about this episode is that none of the alternate timelines are actually happening, it is all in Abed's mind, so the way each character behaves in the alternate timelines is a reflection of how Abed views their role in Their Show.
Timeline Two (Annie gets the pizza)
Annie leaves, Pierce makes his crude joke about Eartha Kitt, Shirley leaves to check on her pies, Britta attempts to sing but Jeff stops her, Britta then leaves for the bathroom, "What does a pregnancy test look like?"//"It's like a thin piece of plastic with a thing on the end"//"Okay so this is definitely a GUN", Jeff hits his head on the fan (with no Annie there, there is no one to check up on him)
This timeline shows us that Abed views Annie as the kindest but also one of the more guarded, she has a side to her that they don't often see, in none of the other timelines do they find out that Annie has a gun (except for the one where it mistakenly fires). Abed views her as someone who will do whatever she must to survive her circumstances, in his words "Annie will always be driven"
Timeline Four (Shirley gets the pizza)
Jeff reminds the group to not eat the pies Shirley has made, Annie says they should just talk to her but Jeff shuts her down, Britta attempts to sing and Jeff stops her, Britta leaves for the bathroom, Pierce makes his Eartha Kitt joke, Pierce gifts Troy with the Norwegian troll that he knows Troy is deathly afraid of, Jeff hits his head on the fan and Annie goes to check on it but is interrupted by Shirley returning and having a breakdown because nobody checked on her pies and they burnt and Jeff told her they weren't going to eat them anyway because she isn't allowed to have baking things as an identity
This timeline shows us that Abed views Shirley as their mother hen, with her gone Jeff is left as the ultimate voice of reason (and he is not very good at it) The group is not as kind to each other, they don't care for each other as much.
Timeline Three (Pierce gets the pizza)
Britta attempts to sing and is stopped by Jeff, she leaves for the bathroom, Jeff makes fun of Troy for not being "grown-up" so Troy leaves for the bathroom to find Britta smoking, Jeff hits his head on the fan and Annie takes him to the kitchen to check it, Britta gives Troy a pep talk "you know what Jeff has in his bathroom? neither do I, he keeps his toiletries in a safe under the sink. His whole personality is based around guarding himself, you don't have to be like that to be a man."
This timeline cements the idea established in season 1 episode 22 'The Art of Discourse' in which Pierce is kicked out of the group for an episode, Jeff and Britta take to bullying Troy. "Because they no longer have Pierce...Pierce's universally recognised social flaws made him the scapegoat, a lightning rod. Now he's gone so there's lightning everywhere."//"So what's gonna happen?"//"It's only a matter of time before one of us, becomes the new Pierce." It also implies that in Abed's mind, Pierce leaving opens the floodgates for Britta and Troy to date. Troy who gets bullied more for being immature, would distance from Abed in an effort to appear more grown-up and dating Britta, an older women who Jeff once chased after, would make him more mature, particularly in Jeff’s eyes who Troy seeks validation from.
Timeline Six (Britta gets the pizza)
Pierce makes his Eartha Kitt joke, Jeff hits his head on the fan and Annie takes him to the bathroom to check on it, Pierce terrorises Troy with the Norwegian troll, Britta brings back the pizza delivery guy and announces they're getting married
The timeline doesn't reveal all too much, I don't think Abed has the most solid grip on Britta as a character (and neither do the show writers) she is as Abed says "a bit of a wildcard from my perspective"
Timeline One (Troy gets the pizza)
the worst timeline sequence of events. Britta attempts to sing, Jeff stops her and she excuses herself to the bathroom, Jeff hits his head on the fan, Annie attempts to take him to the bathroom to check on it but trips smashing a bottle of alcohol on the floor, Pierce gets up and knocks Annie's bag which triggers her gun to go off and shoot him in the leg, Britta comes in and drops her cigarette which catches fire on the alcohol (we know from future discussions that this causes Pierce to "die" Jeff to lose his arm, Annie to go crazy from guilt, Shirley to become an alcoholic, Troy to lose his larynx because he tries to destroy the flaming Norwegian troll by eating it and Britta to dye a strip of her hair blue.
This is interesting because it implies that in Abed's mind, the glue holding Their Show together is not Jeff but actually Troy. You could make the argument that this is because Troy is what holds Abed together but I would have to disagree. While a signature 'Winger Speech' can pull the group back from nearly every ledge, he is too busy guarding himself and attempting to appear cool to really hold the group together. He repeatedly puts his own interests above the rest of the group while Troy cares too much to do so. When Troy does actually leave for good The Show begins to fall apart. They treat Abed worse, he struggles to connect with them as strongly, the study group aspect falls apart and they begin to "save Greendale", paintball is banned, slowly the chaoticness and "story" begins to fall away and the group drifts apart.
Timeline Five (Abed gets the pizza)
Britta attempts to sing, Jeff stops her, she excuses herself to the bathroom, Jeff hits his head on the fan, Annie takes him to the kitchen to check on it, Britta leaves the bathroom very high and eats some of Shirley's pies, Pierce attempts to give Troy the Norwegian troll but before he opens it Troy thanks Pierce for letting him live with him and so Pierce tries to take back the gift, Jeff and Annie kiss, she tells him he gave her deja vu of something her dad used to say so Jeff obviously gets weirded out, Britta accidentally confesses that she wasn't supposed to eat the pies and that shes really high rn, Shirley and Britta argue, while Troy and Pierce are fighting over the gift it comes undone and the Norwegian troll flies out, Abed returns to a very tense atmosphere none the wiser.
This timeline shows that Abed, perhaps unconsciously, views himself as the thing that holds each of them to their character roles. Him leaving opens the others up to "out of character" behaviours.
The Real Timeline (Abed catches the die, Jeff gets the pizza)
"Chaos already dominates enough of our lives. The universe is an endless raging sea of randomness. Our job isn't to fight it but to weather it together, on the raft of life. A raft held together by those few rare beautiful things that we know to be predictable...Us. it won't matter what happens to us as long as we stay honest and accepting of each other's flaws and virtues. Annie will always be driven, Shirley will always be giving, Pierce will never apologise, Britta's sort of a wildcard from my perspective, and Jeff will forever remain a conniving son of a bitch."
Britta sings with no Jeff there to stop her, everyone joins in, Pierce decides not to gift Troy the troll, Jeff returns to find them all singing and dancing "You guys see what happens when I leave you alone huh?" He doesn't join in but watches on in reluctant fondness.
This is the one timeline not just happening in Abed's mind. It is still interesting however because it shows us that Jeff's controllingness and attempts to appear cool and aloof are detrimental to both the groups and his own enjoyment. We are shown over and over that the group and Jeff are all happier when Jeff lets his guard down.
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