Now nine episodes in, Community has been able to set an identity for itself. They relatively easily set up the characters for us within the first three episodes, but by this point in the season, it was time to start establishing how they interact with each other and within the world of Greendale Community College. For any sitcom to be successful in its first season, there has to be that point where the characters expand beyond the jokes and archetypes set up for them in the early episodes, and with “Debate 109,” Community reached that point.
A lot of things were going on in last night’s episode. As the Study Group met at the top of the episode, we found that Britta was trying to quit smoking, Abed was making films that tell the future, and Annie was about to head into a big debate contest with City College. That’s when they divide up. Shirley and, to a lesser extent, Troy become obsessed with Abed’s films, in which actors play the Study Group and seemingly predict the future. Britta, out of pity, allows Pierce to try and hypnotize her to help quit smoking, which of course, he couldn’t do. And with the promise of a parking space, Jeff joins Annie for the debate in the A-story of the night.
The debate, is man good or evil, begins with a stiff argument from Annie. Then we meet their nemesis at City College, Simmons, a wheel chair bound smooth talker who gets the crowd riled up and quickly gains the judges favor. Then Jeff comes to the microphone, armed with the arrogance we’ve seen from episode 1 that he was a lawyer, and therefore superior to all of those around him. Though he whips the crowd up into a frenzy, he receives a zero from the judges. Simmons taunts them afterward, but it’s his insult of Annie, not of him, that finally gets Jeff into the debate, and the two begin to prepare. As they prepare, Shirley tells them that the two of them kiss in Abed’s latest movie. Once they learn of this, there’s an awkward air between the two as Jeff suddenly becomes hyper-aware of how attractive Annie is. One of the funniest moments was there awkward hug-handshake attempt that ended with Jeff patting Annie on the head. On debate day, both teams pull out all the stops to try and win. Just when it looks like Greendale has pulled it out, Simmons dives into the arms of Jeff, proving that even his own enemy wouldn’t let him fall, and that man was good. But Annie saves the day, grabbing Jeff for a kiss that causes him to drop Simmons. “He was horny, so he dropped him!” she declares, and the debate is over, leaving Jeff confused unlike we’ve ever seen him.
What was so tremendous about this whole plot is that it completely deepened the story. Up to this point, we’ve seen Jeff’s never ending desire for Britta and Annie’s sweet pining for Troy. The relationship between the two has largely seen Jeff as Annie’s protector and defender, always seeming to be guilted into helping her, but really meaning it. Once he stopped to consider the possibility of caring deeper for Annie, it seemed to be all he could think of. Annie, on the other hand, played it with the normal confusion that she has with Troy, but with a little more understanding. The chemistry between Joel McHale and Allison Brie really sold all of this, much as Brie’s chemistry with Donald Glover and McHale’s chemistry with Gillian Jaccobs has sold the other relationships. What I think we’re beginning to see is a cast that genuinely enjoys each other off camera as much as they do when on. It shines through on screen and is making Community not just a good lead-off for NBC’s comedy night, but a show you can’t wait to watch each week.
Other notes:
-I love that they made a reference to Jeff watching E! at night. The jokes about McHale brought over from The Soup get me every time.
-Not a lot of Troy tonight, but when we saw him, he was hilarious.
Michael’s Grade: 87
Tangled Up In Wires Grade: A
Michael
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