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The wind blows snow across the path between the film department and the library as Abed dashes towards the study room, protected from the cold by a hooded coat which also suits the genre of the current adventure—or, at least, potential adventure. He keeps the outfit on even when he reaches the warm library, making an entrance in the study room as the Save Greendale Committee convenes for a meeting. “Let’s start with an update on the facilities upgrades--” Frankie begins, trailing off as Abed arrives.
“My sources say City College is meeting in secret with the school board,” Abed announces. Frankie and Dean Pelton look confused, Jeff and Britta uninterested. Only Annie responds with an alert look that suggests she’s attentive to the potential for a spy movie plot. At least the two of them are still eager for more classic Greendale adventures. “My contacts in the City College film department say Dean Spreck is inviting the school board guys to a ski resort this week,” Abed elaborates. “Officially he wants to talk about funding, but knowing him, he’ll try to persuade them to undermine Greendale.”
“That’s an unnecessary expense for a simple meeting, it should convince the board that City College is misusing its funding,” Frankie says.
“Or convince them City College can offer better bribes,” Britta counters.
“What do we do? We need a plan of action,” Annie asks.
Abed is slightly surprised that Jeff objects before Frankie; it fits his established role in the group, but he seems especially reluctant to join in any high-concept action plots this semester, like his season one role but without as much snarky confidence. “What would it help to interfere?” Jeff says. “City College can outdo Greendale at this stuff, all we can do is defend ourselves when the board tries something.”
“Which is why we need intel on what they’re doing,” Abed explains, glancing at Annie, who looks intrigued at the idea.
“I’ll keep tabs on any new initiatives by the board that could affect Greendale,” Frankie says. “But no unseemly antics! We need to avoid anything that could contribute to the perception of Greendale as the rogue school starting disputes with City College.” Frankie stares at Abed, then Britta; as well as Frankie gets along with Annie, Abed notes that she hasn’t quite figured out Annie’s role in the group. Before anyone argues, Chang and Elroy arrive eager to pitch some new technology trend, and Frankie seems to consider the debate complete. After the meeting, Abed wonders how the others are unaware of Annie’s fidgety energy before she pulls Abed aside to confer out of sight among the library shelves.
“No way we can leave Dean Spreck to manipulate the board without us knowing what they’re up to,” Annie proclaims.
Abed nods. “This calls for a spy caper. Reconvene at headquarters for mission planning?”
Annie agrees and walks off trying to act casual, not needing to ask what Abed meant, and they both set out to meet at Apartment 303 for some secret planning.
Without Greendale’s official backing, staying at the ski resort with the targets of the spy mission would be a little expensive, and they don’t want to be noticed anyway. After a drive through a high pass of the Rocky Mountains, Annie and Abed park at a highway pull-off a mile or two from the resort. The road isn’t set up for pedestrians, but there’s a more efficient route across a mountain foothill covered in snow and thick forest. It looked simple studying the map while sheltered from the wind. Out here, in cold much more intense than the snowy weather back at Greendale, it looks like a steep climb Annie might hesitate to attempt even without the deep snow covering the landscape. But not when she’s on a mission. She leads the way into the trees as Abed follows with the map.
It’s a slow climb through the forest, grabbing hold of the branches of firs and spruces to scramble up the ridge as the wind blows powdery snow in their faces. Gaining the top of the ridge, they can see the ski slopes slashing across the mountains beyond, but even with binoculars they can’t tell if anyone from City College is there. The only spying they get done from this vantage point is when Abed points out some fresh tracks that they follow to where they see an elk, bolting from them at impressive speed even in the snow. Making their way towards the ski resort, they find climbing down even trickier on the slippery surface. Annie finally skids between the trees in an undignified fashion to fall down on more level ground, where Abed helps her up. After some more wading through deep snow, the two of them peek between branches to see skiers gathering in front of them. Greendale’s coolest—or at least coldest—spy team is ready for action.
Using some information from her criminology class that was probably not intended as advice, Annie manages to acquire two legitimate-looking day passes that should allow them to wander the resort without interference. Disguises are no problem; they fit right in with most of their faces covered by scarves and sunglasses, though Abed wears a fake mustache under his scarf just to make use of his heist props. The bigger issue is finding the people they’re here to spy on. The resort covers a vast area with numerous ski slopes, and it’s crowded even on a slow weekday. “They could be anywhere. But if we impersonate City College employees with a message for Dean Spreck, maybe the staff can lead us to them,” Abed suggests.
It’s clever, but Annie can think of a more efficient strategy. “Our acquaintances on the school board are probably more interested in the hotel bar than the skiing,” she points out.
Approaching the easiest ski slope in close proximity to the resort buildings by the highway, Annie and Abed duck into a stand of trees—even with the dubiously acquired day passes, they don’t want to be seen following the school board around—and look around with binoculars. Annie’s guess is proved right—Carl and Richie from the school board are awkwardly sliding and stumbling down a gentle incline as Dean Spreck glides around them, watching them with a look of utter disdain. Annie grabs Abed’s hand and gestures for him to join in the latest triumphant handshake they’ve workshopped. Now they just need to position themselves to hear what City College is plotting.
They follow the edge of the trees to get closer to the conversation of interest, but between the wind and the crowds they can’t make out more than a few words of Dean Spreck talking about budget efficiency, and Carl and Richie are looking purposefully at the warm building below the ski slopes. Indoors it would be even harder to get close enough to hear anything without being noticed. They need a plan while the players in this spy episode are out here. “If we get close enough, they’ll recognize us. Dean Spreck is on the alert for the Greendale Seven after all the times we’ve thwarted him,” Annie muses.
“We need a distraction.” Abed whispers his idea, huddling next to Annie in the forest.
Keeping a safe distance from their quarry, they wander around until they find an unattended snowboard and bring it back to the woods. Carl and Richie are still clumsily attempting to ski back to the hotel. Annie waits among the trees as Abed brings the snowboard up the mountainside. Abed hovers above their targets until some tourists wander close enough for the plan to work. Climbing on the snowboard, he slides down the mountain, just managing to stay standing despite his lack of snowboarding experience.
Annie ventures out from the trees just as Abed skids in front of Dean Spreck and right between several startled skiers. Trying to dodge them, he makes a dramatic show of falling off the snowboard; Annie is impressed by his acting, then worried when she sees how hard Abed actually lands on the packed snow. But the chaos succeeds in drawing Dean Spreck’s attention. Annie trots over to Carl. “Free pen?” she asks cheerfully. Her performance is honed by repetition at the boring marketing job she did after graduating from Greendale the first time, though she’s embellished the voice with what she hopes is a toned-down version of her Constable Geneva accent. Carl absentmindedly takes the pen, not bothering to pay close attention to Annie, and she hurries back to the trees before the more observant Dean Spreck recognizes her.
Abed, after evading scrutiny by getting up to snowboard further down the mountain, circles back to the forest and meets Annie in a secluded stand of pines occupied by chattering songbirds. “Did it work?” he asks.
“Carl took the bait.” Annie sees that Abed has a scratch on his forehead from the fall. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Abed says. “Just got a little method there.” Melting some snow in the palm of her hand, Annie gently wipes the blood off. Not usually one to heed such inconveniences during an adventure, Abed nonetheless waits for her to finish. Annie suddenly becomes aware of how close her face is to Abed’s. She hovers inches away for a moment, her hand drifting to the back of his neck. Then they both take a step back, with matching expressions of confusion. What were they doing?
“We should verify that we’ve gained access to hostile communications,” Abed says. Annie is relieved by the shift back to spy-speak for the moment, finding it less confusing than her thoughts a moment before. Reaching for her phone, she calls Elroy, who agreed to provide them with some clever gadgets and keep it quiet around Frankie.
“We deployed the microphone-pen. What’s our status?”
Back at Greendale, Elroy can be heard fiddling with computers. “That’s a go. The signal should go to your phone. But the pen doesn’t broadcast very far, so you’d better keep close to your target.”
“Roger that.” Annie hangs up, knowing the cheesy dialogue would please Abed. Following Elroy’s slightly confusing instructions, she pushes some buttons on her phone. The sound of the school board guys complaining about the cold emanates from the speakers, muffled with static like a walkie-talkie.
Annie and Abed now have ears on the school board’s conversations, but they aren’t talking about education policy at the moment. When Carl and Ritchie finally figure out how to ski well enough to ride the gentle slope down to the hotel, Annie scrambles frantically through the woods to stay in range while Abed takes some pictures on his phone. When the three school officials go indoors, Annie finds that she can still pick up the signal outside the building. But lurking out in the open listening to a secret meeting would draw too much attention. So while Dean Spreck tries to impress the school board guys by paying for various luxuries, Annie and Abed conduct surveillance from a discreet but unglamorous hideout behind a dumpster in the parking lot, listening to hours of uninformative chit-chat. At least the dumpster provides some shelter from the cold wind, and Dean Spreck’s obvious annoyance at flattering his oblivious guests is amusing. While they wait for City College’s plans to be revealed, Troy sends a text message with a picture of himself on a tropical island. At dusk, a raccoon arrives to pick through the garbage, and stares at the two of them, looking offended that they’re trespassing, before getting back to work. After eavesdropping on an expensive dinner order, Annie pulls some frozen sandwiches out of her backpack to share with Abed. She’s wondering if they should leave and look for a motel when Dean Spreck starts trying to persuade the drunk school board members to try night skiing.
“Why does he want to ski at night? Is he planning to murder them?” Annie wonders.
“That would be a plot twist, but I’m thinking that it would fit his commitment to supervillain aesthetics to explain his schemes on a ski lift in the dark,” Abed guesses.
That makes sense, but Dean Spreck’s attempts to convince Carl and Richie are more comical than menacing. Huddling against Abed for warmth, Annie giggles at the conversation.
“Hey! What are you doing there?” Annie spins around to see a resort employee crossing the parking lot towards them. She looks at Abed, trying to think of an excuse or distraction. Maybe a couple could come here for some privacy? Leaning towards Abed, Annie hopes he can follow her improvised strategy.
As her face brushes Abed’s, Annie wonders if she should aim for a less convincing but more cautious kiss on the cheek, but Abed leans into it and their lips meet. For a moment, Annie is completely distracted from the role and the spy mission, the contact commanding all of her attention. Regaining awareness, she pulls back after a longer kiss than strictly necessary. But the ploy worked; the employee walks away looking amused.
Annie looks at Abed, nervous that she went too far. “Did I go too method?” she asks, even though acting wasn’t what she was thinking of at all in the moment.
“No, you were brilliant,” Abed says, staring intently. Whatever he’s thinking as he studies her, he doesn’t elaborate on it. The conversation is interrupted by the sound of a door opening across the parking lot. Dean Spreck, Carl, and Richie appear, not bothering to look at the dumpster. “OK, let’s save Greendale.” As Abed leads the way towards the ski lifts, Annie notices he looks sweaty despite the cold. Abed’s calm demeanor notwithstanding, maybe Annie’s improvisation had an effect.
It’s easy to watch the brightly lit ski lift from the shelter of the trees, though the wind is even colder at night. Creeping close to the edge of the branches, Abed takes some pictures, then listens at Annie’s shoulder when her phone picks up conversation. Sure enough, Dean Spreck waited for this venue to explain his agenda to the school board. He’s talking up the advantages of school consolidation. “He wants to merge Greendale and City College!” Annie whispers.
“And get revenge by taking over both schools to humiliate Greendale,” Abed guesses. Sure enough, Spreck gets to the point as the school board guys talk approvingly if vaguely about his commitment to efficiency.
“Of course, I’m sure you would feel more confident if City College’s more...effective methods prevailed in the combined leadership,” Dean Spreck says. Carl and Richie nod and say they’ll look into it, while seemingly trying to persuade Spreck to go back to the hotel—maybe there was a more practical aspect to the choice of location. Annie and Abed wait to watch Carl and Richie’s even more inept attempt to ski at night, then wander off into the forest.
“Should we try to run surveillance on the next school board meeting?” Abed asks.
“Those are recorded for the public,” Annie reminds him. “And we’ve got the information we need to stop them.”
Annie and Abed make their way back to the car through the snowy forest, navigating among trees that glitter with snow in the moonlight. Climbing the ridge is tricky in the dark, but they follow their footprints from the start of the mission and reach the highway safely. Setting out for Greendale, they cross a high pass between towering peaks to see a constellation of city lights decorating the distant plains. It’s the middle of the night when they finally arrive at Apartment 303, relieved at the warmth of the dimly lit living room.
Abed watches Annie as she sends the photographs and recordings they acquired to a former Greendale Gazette-Journal-Mirror colleague who now works for the local newspaper. The spy mission is looking like a big success, but he wonders what to make of its effects on his character dynamic with Annie. That kiss was a conventional ploy to use as a distraction, but they were both very committed to the role in that scene, and it’s not the first such incident to happen during an adventure like this one. Abed is aware that, to keep to the observer role he’s established in the study group, it might be advisable to avoid flirtatious scenarios.
Finishing her covert communication, Annie joins Abed on the couch. Rather than leaving the room or suggesting a movie to watch, Abed hands her a warm blanket big enough to cover both of them. Tired from a day spent sneaking around outdoors, Annie quickly leans her head on Abed’s shoulder and falls asleep. Drifting off himself, Abed notes that he seems unusually unmotivated to reestablish his role as the observer after a genre adventure.
At the next meeting of the Save Greendale Committee, Frankie brings a copy of the newspaper and gestures to an article in the middle of the local news section summarizing Dean Spreck’s lobbying. “The publicity might deter an attempt to consolidate the schools,” she notes, “but there may not be enough proof to prevent it if the board is determined to act on it.” Frankie looks around, watching studying each member of the committee.
“Our school board isn’t known for determination,” Annie points out. “And there would be enough reason to demand an ethics investigation. Maybe Dean Spreck is careful enough to cover up his cheating, but Carl and Richie aren’t. They won’t want to start trouble with Greendale.”
Frankie nods, narrows her eyes at Annie for a moment, and flips through some papers, perhaps taking note of Annie’s potential role in unseemly antics. Abed turns to look at Annie; despite her usual desire to impress authority figures, she’s acting cheerful. Frankie might not approve of committee members going on spy missions, but they protected Greendale. And Abed might keep to his role as the observer on the Save Greendale Committee, but it seems to work fine for him to play a more active role when he and Annie go on adventures like this. He’s just curious about why she decided on that kiss as a cover story for spying. Even to a film director like Abed, she hadn’t seemed to be acting.