Where we left off: Ex-lawyer Jeff became the de-facto leader of the study group, which he only joined in order to get into Britta's pants. Forced to choose between his girlfriend Professor Slater (Lauren Stamile) and Britta after the latter declared her love, he ended up locking lips with good girl Annie.
Where we find him: Jeff must deal with the fallout from that kiss and from his decision not to choose Britta, which has some damning consequences. Plus, Jeff will have to deal with aging, as well. "Jeff has to come to terms with the fact that he's getting older," said McHale. "He might have to take some medicine. But he's like, ‘My body's a temple!'" Meanwhile, look for Rob Corddry to play a friend of Jeff's from his old law firm. "Jeff's old world is beckoning to him in a social way," said Dan Harmon. "He's revealing that he's been feeling a little claustrophobic in this Greendale setting. He used to be on
LA Law. Now, he's on
Gilligan's Island in his head."
Where we left off: Vegetarian vagabond and killjoy Britta joined Greendale after drifting through her twenties in a haze of tear gas, Radiohead, and an inability to pronounce bagels. After sleeping with Jeff in a moment of passion during a vicious paintball battle, Britta declared her love for Jeff at the Transfer Dance.
Where we find her: "She's got an ego and wants to be perceived in a certain way as a good, moral, enlightened person," said Jacobs of Britta. "She's fighting her impulses towards egotism and wanting to be liked." Which will be a problem after last year's humiliation at the hands of Jeff Winger, though things take a turn for the very, very weird between the two of them. "She's perceived as humorless and self-serious and doesn't always deal well with girls necessarily, even though she'd like to think of herself as a feminist," said Jacobs. So, look for Britta to continue to struggle with her friendships with Annie and Shirley, as well as "the ego blow of Jeff rejecting her."
Where we left off: Recently divorced, pious single mother Shirley has been sleeping on her sister's couch while raising her two sons. Over the course of the first season, the religious Shirley—at Greendale so she can learn how to market her famous brownies—allowed herself to become more accepting of other races, even as she realized just how judgmental she truly is.
Where we find her: Shirley finds a room of her own (her sister's guest room) and faces some hard truths this year. "There's a big thing that happens between Shirley and Abed that deepens their relationship where they understand each other more," said Brown. "Their interaction reveals where they're too passionate, where they're too set in their ways. They bump right up against each other and they either have to change the way they are, become better people, or self-destruct." Brown promises every future Shirley/Abed scene will be colored by this conflict, which she says has the potential to be "a polarizing episode."
Where we left off: Straight-laced Annie considered leaving Greendale and transferring to Delaware so she could be with tiny-nippled boyfriend Vaughn (Eric Christian Olsen) but opted to stay with her friends. Despite Britta making her feelings for Jeff known to the world, Annie smooched Winger after the Transfer Dance.
Where we find her: In an awkward place as things are far from okay between her and Jeff after their kiss last season. "I think she's had the summer to digress back to a middle ground between being totally immature Annie and the more adult Annie we saw at the end of the season," said Brie. "She's still very fragile and emotional." Look for "some unresolved business, when all is said and done, between Annie and Britta," promised Brie. Specifically, things turn ugly in an upcoming episode while they're trying to raise money for the oil spill, a catalyst for them to mend bridges. "[They] have the potential to be really good friends."
Where we left off: Abed switched from business classes to film, even as he turned his gaze on his classmates. (Just don't categorize this detached observer as having Asperger's Syndrome.) In order to preserve the strength of their friendship, Abed decided not to move in with best friend Troy.
Where we find him: Abed just being Abed ("He's sometimes Yoda-like," said Pudi), references to meta and pop culture and all, even as he delivers a withering truth to Jeff in the opener. "Abed has a feeling of ‘Let's get back to the adventures we had last year,' and he's really eager to get the group back together," said Pudi. "But there's always that struggle between trying to control adventures and letting things happen organically." Look for Abed to get deeper into the all-consuming world of filmmaking. "It's almost like a Werner Herzog/Klaus Kinski thing where he loses focus of the rest of the world," said Pudi. "Everything kind of unravels."
Where we left off: The former varsity football quarterback injured himself doing a keg-flip and ended up at Greendale, where he bonded with Abed even as he found himself uncomfortable with Annie's attraction towards him. He moved in with Pierce at the end of the season.
Where we find him: "He's figuring out what it means to be a real man," said Glover. "He's trying to figure out what a guy's role is supposed to be, which I think is really interesting. Dan [Harmon] is really good at forcing issues that the actual actors have. I've always struggled with it because my dad was very loving but I was always told from the outset, a man eats meat and punches things. Troy's going through the same thing." Pierce is probably not the right person to teach him that. "Pierce is really good for figuring out what you are," said Glover. "He points out of the awful, misogynistic, maybe racist elephants in the room. Now that we're living together, that stuff is going to rise to the top."
Where we left off: Draconian Spanish teacher Senor Chang is now just plain Ben Chang, as it was revealed at the end of the season that his teaching qualifications were faked and he would have to attend Greendale in order to get a degree.
Where we find him: Now a student at Greendale, Chang is grappling with a loss of identity and attempts to force his way into the study group, despite their lack of sympathy towards their former drillmaster. "I'm worried about what they think about me," said Jeong, dressed as Olympic figure skater Peggy Fleming for the Halloween episode. "Imagine going back to the school where you've been fired and disgraced and you've got to work our way up." Look for Chang to reveal a terrifying new dimension to himself as he makes a potential power grab. "There's so much baggage there," said Jeong of Chang. "I'm uncertain for Chang where he's headed but I love it. I embrace it."
Where we left off: Seven-times-divorced moist-towelette tycoon Pierce enrolled at Greendale to make some friends and further his jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none skill set. He believes himself to be a Buddhist, but Britta insinuated that he's instead involved in a cult.
Where we find him: Still saying the things that everyone else in the room is too polite—or humanized—to say, still making a jackass out of himself, and still making everyone around him uncomfortable. As the season begins, Pierce has invited Troy to live with him in his huge, empty mansion but the two are far from friends as Pierce, in a twist worthy of CBS'
$#*! My Dad Says, is revealed to be the butt of many, many jokes, all delivered via social media. Elsewhere, look for Pierce's religion to be a focus of conversation when he faces the death of someone in his life.
