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Average Jeff is the eighteenth episode in Season 1 of Clarence.[1]
Synopsis[]
Jeff suffers an identity crisis when a standardized test lands him in the lesser of the classes' academic groupings.
Plot[]
SPOILER AHEAD! Important details about the plot or story are up ahead |
The episode begins with Jeff doing his morning routines, narrating his life as punctual and precise.
When the school bus arrives, Jeff is shown practicing how to tell Clarence and Sumo that he'll be in a different class from them. The scene cuts to the classroom where he's already telling them, however, Clarence and Sumo aren't paying much attention. Ms. Baker arrives and gets ready to tell the class about the results of their placement test, and explains that some children will be in the quill group, and the others will be in the crayon group. Ms. Baker hands out the papers showing the results, and when she gives Jeff his paper, Jeff expects to see a quill, but to his surprise, a crayon is shown instead. Jeff gets upset and asks to speak with Ms. Baker. In the hall, Jeff tries to tell Ms. Baker that she accidentally put him in the wrong group, but Ms. Baker tells him it was no mistake. Then, Jeff arrogantly tells her that he wants his life to be better than his friends'. Disgusted with what Jeff said, Ms. Baker confronts him, telling him to think about what he just said before glaring at him and closing the door on him.
Later, Jeff looks into the quill class and is upset because he isn't a part of it. In the crayon class, Ms. Shoop reads a book called "Tonya the Tapir" to the kids. Clarence and Sumo are amazed by the story, but Jeff gets mad and leaves the room. Jeff goes into his locker to get an envelope, and he hands it to Ms. Baker to open. Inside is $2.00, a pack of gum, and a moist towelette, which Jeff uses as a bribe to get Ms. Baker to let him redo the test, but it doesn't work, so Jeff decides he's not leaving the desk until she puts him in the quill group. Not wanting to take Jeff's bribe, Ms. Baker proceeds to drag him out of the room, and Jeff hangs on to the desk while crying. Two little girls look at him, and he asks: "What?! Am I not allowed to cry?!" Hurt by the way Jeff just said that to them, the girls cry, too.
Back in the crayon class, the boys play vikings, and Clarence tries to get Jeff to join in, but Jeff doesn't want to. Sumo suggests playing an astronaut because they have "Eraser Bombs", then he throws an eraser at Jeff, hitting him in the eye. Jeff rushes to the restroom to wash his face. Frustrated with not being in the quill group, Jeff washes his hands really fast, which causes soap suds to get in his eye, Jeff screams, then he talks to himself in the mirror about going inside the quill classroom again.
Later in quill class, Breehn and Chelsea are shown talking about things, when suddenly Jeff comes in through the window and sits next to Kimby at her desk, attempting to blend in. Ms. Baker quickly notices him, and reminds him that he's not in the quill group. Jeff refuses to leave and begins chanting "We want Jeff!" At that moment, Mr. Reese enters the classroom, and just when it looks like Jeff is going to give up, Jeff clings onto Kimby's desk, causing Mr. Reese to drag the whole desk out of the classroom with Jeff hanging on it. Jeff yells really loud, then he starts having various bizarre nightmares; Jeff sees himself in the mirror, but as an old man.
He then turns around and finds himself in a grocery store, where an old Clarence tells him he's supposed to be handing out stickers to customers. Jeff tells him he doesn't work there, but Clarence says he does because he's got no other options. As more people appear asking for stickers, Jeff tries to convince himself that he does have other options. Suddenly, Jeff finds himself at a wedding where he's going to marry Ms. Shoop. Jeff removes the veil covering her face, which reveals she has a tapir head. Jeff screams and his head explodes into leaves and berries, then Jeff returns to reality where he's laying on the floor of the crayon classroom.
Clarence tries to fill him in on what he missed during the viking game, then the boys continue running around and making noise while Jeff lays on the floor. Later that evening, Jeff finally gets up from the floor and he notices the book for the placement test. Jeff opens the book and finds that he's the highest rank crayon member, which makes him happy. The next morning, Jeff is shown doing his morning routines again and talking about how he's a special crayon; perfectly average.
While he's narrating, Jeff is shown walking into the crayon classroom, only to find out there's nobody in there, so Jeff goes into the regular classroom and the whole class is there, including Clarence and Sumo. Jeff wonders what's going on, and Ms. Baker explains that the crayon/quill experiment failed because it was gender biased, so Ms. Baker allows Jeff to go back to his old seat. Jeff thanks her, but when he's about to take his seat, a girl is already in it, reading a newspaper. The girl removes the paper from her face, revealing she has a tapir head, and she tells Jeff to find another seat. Jeff screams really loud (although his scream is obscured by a harsh bleep) and the episode ends with a 1-note horror sound effect as the screen cuts to black.
| End spoilers |
Characters[]
Major Characters[]
Supporting Characters[]
Minor Characters[]
- Sumo
- Breehn
- Percy
- Chelsea
- Kimby
- Rita
- Mavis
- Patsie
- Darlie
- Vu
- John-George
- Mr. Reese
- Marlie
- Gabbie
- Heida
- Alison
- Debbie
- Julien
- Try
- Gilben
- Blaide
- Guyler
- Emilio
- Memo
- Fiari
- Crendle
- Samuel
- Dustin
- Belson
- Brady
- Nathan
- Kennan
- Camden
- Ashley
- Tinia
- Ms. Shoop
- Sue or EJ (note only)
- Maggie
- Bertie
Quill Group[]
- Patsie
- Gabbie
- Alison
- Kimby
- Rita
- Breehn
- Mavis
- Darlie
- Chelsea
- Ashley
- Courtlin
- Malessica
- Debbie
- Marlie
- Vu
- John-George
- Heida
Crayon Group[]
- Nathan
- Blaide
- Memo
- Dustin
- Percy
- Clarence
- Sumo
- Emilio
- Jeff
- Camden
- Kennan
- Heida
- Guyler
- Brady
- Belson
- Julien
- Fiari
- Try
- Samuel
- Maroon-Shirted Girl
Trivia[]
- This is the second episode in the series with Jeff's name in the title, the first being "Jeff's New Toy".
- This is the first episode where Clarence is a minor character.
- The second is Bird Boy Man.
- This is the second time Marlie wears her bear shirt.
- MSN confirmed the airdate a few weeks before it appeared on CN's schedule.
- This is the only episode to have its 2 clips (usually both shown on the Cartoon network site) on YouTube before it aired on the site and television.
- This episode's plot was reused for the The Loud House episode "A Tale of Two Tables".
Character Connection[]
- Jeff confirms in his monologue several things. Among them are:
- Aberdale is in Arizona
- He alongside with his classmates is in the fourth grade.
- In this episode, it's revealed that Jeff makes his own lunch every day and he throws out whatever his mother(s) makes.
- This is the first episode where Jeff cursed but the animators censored it with a harsh bleep.
Continuity[]
- Some of the students who made it to the 'Quill' group are shown in the crayon group as well. It's unknown why they are in separate groups.
- However, the two groups come to a end due to that the tests were gender biased, meaning an act of Sexism, since there were more girls in the Quill class and there were more boys in the Crayon class.
- Apparently this is one and the only episode that depicts something as discriminatory.
- A Jeff plush is in the title card. It is owned by the Clarence staff members.
- When Jeff gives the letter to Ms. Baker, she can be seen eating Rough Riders Chicken.
Cultural References[]
- The episode's plot is very similar to the Simpsons episode "Lisa the Simpson."
- The book that Ms. Shoop is reading, Tints of Brown, is likely a reference to the novel Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James.
- In the dream/hallucination sequence, the part after Jeff sees Ms. Shoop with a tapir head is a reference to the famous head explosion from the movie "Scanners".
- The way that Jeff aggressively washes his hands and gets injured on his eye is quite similar to the scene from "The Aviator" when owen their hands and cuts his finger.
- There is a Phantom of the Opera picture in Jeff's bathroom.
- Jeff's morning routine sequence is a reference/parody to the book, and movie of the same name, "American Psycho". A similar piano track is used, and Jeff's monologue and dedication to routine are very similar to the book's protagonist, Patrick Bateman.
- The scene in which Jeff cries after Ms. Baker kicks him out of her classroom references several moments in Gilligan's Island:
- "Angel on the Island," where Ginger Grant cries after Mr. Howell gives Mrs. Howell the part of Cleopatra and Ginger the part of the maid.
- "The Return of Wrongway Feldman," where Ginger Grant once again cries when Wrongway Feldman mentions the career of her college roommate.
- "It's Magic," where Ginger Grant cries after Gilligan disappears during her magic trick.
- "Gilligan Gets Bugged," where Ginger and Mary Ann cry after they think Gilligan is going to die in 24 hours.
- "The Postman Cometh," where Mary Ann cries thinking she's dying from eating poisoned mushrooms.
- "The Producer," where Ginger Grant cries after Howard Hecuba insults her. But unlike Ginger, Jeff wasn't dressed up as Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren.
- "Where There's a Will," where Mary Ann cries before she gives Mr. Howell a flower.
- "All About Eva," where Ginger Grant once again cries after Gilligan mentions the word grub. (Specifically referring to Eva Grubb.)
Errors[]
- There is an error where Julien has Sumo's skin color and shirt for a brief moment.
- Vu can be briefly seen in the crayon group even though he was assigned to the quill group
Reception[]
The episode initially had a huge amount of acclaim from fans and was at one point considered one of the best episodes of the show. However by the time the season ended, the episode now has an extremely negative reception from fans and is considered by some as one of the worst episodes of Clarence.
Many have criticized the out of character depiction of Jeff, the out of place hallucinations and the harsh punishment he gets in the middle of the episode. The episode has also been blamed for making Jeff more antagonistic than what his character was suppose to be, hence made it effective in later episodes (one of them being the next episode, in particular).
Videos[]
References[]