Bruv if u ship Jeff and Annie you’re dumb. saying that with love tho
But like she is fresh out of school at 18 and he’s in his 30s its plain weird. As someone who was caught in a similar secret-but-not-secret flirty romance at 19 with someone who was 25, i can say that even that 6 year age gap at that formative time of life creates a massively skewed dynamic. You can see that playing out in how codependent their relationship becomes, and how it is constantly Jeff benefitting from it and leaning on this young young woman emotionally, and Annie just being happy to be needed by him. Fuck that as an ideal well and truly. And its easy to forget how young Annie is because Alison Brie is clearly in her 20s, so it seems kosher. That flirtatious relationship in the show should only ever have been a device to highlight character flaws and damage (which I think it did brilliantly in the first 3 seasons) and i hate that their last kiss at the end of the show secured their relationship as ‘endgame’. This was only the case, i suspect, because Britta’s character got so neglected and abused by the writers over season 4 and 6 that it would have been impossible to pair her with the ‘protagonist’ by the end. She became a joke. Jeff and britta always worked so much better - they held each other accountable and went toe to toe and gave each other healthy support with their personal issues (not so much after season 3 when Britta’s character gets boiled down to a punchline). They also never let each other forget how flawed the other is - which Jeff and Annie are constantly guilty of. Also Britta is a FULL 10 YEARS OLDER than Annie. And even then i don’t even necessarily ship Jeff and Britta. But at least their relationship is between two real adults that know themselves - britta walks away from Jeff, she draws lines (even if she breaks them on occasion), she never idolises him - which is why he turns his attention to someone who will endlessly give him what he wants. Mate i could write a whole essay on how insane it is to ship Jeff and Annie. Always thought Annie would be better off being paired with Abed. So much more chemistry - their kiss during paintball??? Sexiest kiss on the whole show in any season.
EDIT: I also think it’s insane that Abed’s queer side isn’t explored in earnest in the show. So while oooofffff I love that Annie/abed kiss and think they suit each other, I’m not at all ignoring the sad fact that community wasn’t brave enough to let one of the group members be queer, not as a punchline, but as character growth and depth.
