Community – “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited”

WHUUUUT?!

I’m getting ahead of myself here. I commented last week that Community felt like it was wrapping things up a week early with the study group passing Spanish 102 and figuring out what they’d take together the next year. I was pretty confused as to what they were going to do with the finale, given that the basic premise of the show had been resolved and the Britta-Jeff thing had been dropped a week after they did it during paintball. But how foolish of me not to give credit to Dan Harmon and the Community writers, who have done such a good job all season of putting the right things at the right time. “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited” was a finale that brought the season full circle, and demonstrated why, even with The Big Bang Theory up against it next year, Community might be here to stay for a while.

It’s the end of the school year at Greendale, and the episode starts by revisiting nearly everything and everyone that was significant throughout the year: Jeff parks his paint splattered, Senor Chang damaged car in the parking spot he got for participating on the debate team, three episode callbacks in the first 30 seconds. He meets up with Annie, and the two of them run into Dean Pelton, who tells them that Britta has been nominated for queen of the Transfer Dance, a prom like celebration of all the kids transferring to other colleges. Naturally, they begin to give her a hard time about it, but the group is also preoccupied with the impending summer, especially Troy, who needs to move out of his house. He makes a comment to Abed regarding his bunkbed, only to be ignored. He gets an offer from Pierce, but remember Pierce is creepy.

After a wasted session with Professor Duncan (John Oliver (!) back in yet another episode call back), Britta decides to enter the contest, largely out of jealousy over the resurfaced affections of Professor Slater for Jeff. Just before the dance (renamed the Tranny Dance), Annie learns that Vaughn has made a prestigious hacky sack team at another college in Vermont. Annie confides in Jeff she’s going with him, but as a transfer, a fact that bothers Jeff, but one that he knows might be right for the girl that spent three months researching which backpack to get.

At the dance, Abed explains to Troy that the two of them shouldn’t live together, for fear they could ruin their friendship. Troy doesn’t get it until he realizes, via the giant cookie he mistook for a cookie no one had yet claimed, that there such thing as too much of a good thing, and he decides to take up Pierce on his offer.  As those two are figuring out their issues,it appears that the two women are both going after Jeff with everything they have. Things come to a head when Britta mistakes the reading of her name for her being named queen for “being hot,” and she’s forced to make her big move: telling Jeff she’s in love with him. Jeff is stunned, but only for a moment as Slater too proclaims her love for him. Suddenly, the whole room is waiting in anticipation to find out who Jeff will pick, and in my favorite moment of the night, Troy sneaks up to Jeff to let him know this fact. The crowd divides into Team Britta and Team Slater (with Starburns yelling “Bring back Conan!”), but Jeff doesn’t decide, leaving both women standing there.

Outside, he runs into Annie, who has come to her senses and realized she needed to stay with her friends at Greendale instead of following Vaughn to Vermont. Jeff fills her in on what happened and tells her that he’s glad she decided to stay. It’s a sweet moment made even sweeter a beat later as the two kiss(!), a somewhat out of nowhere plot twist that was the perfect way to end the episode.

Annie and Jeff have had romantic tension since “Debate 109,” and I suggest back then that it was compelling because of the chemistry between Alison Brie and Joel McHale. But since that episode, Community found a way to shift its focus and figured out its characters a little bit. The story moved largely away from Jeff and Britta, and until “Modern Warfare,” made it seem like a thing of the past. I think by dropping it completely last week and bringing it back full force for “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited,” it made the Annie and Jeff hook up even more surprising, even though there have been hints that the two like each other.

Community really impressed me over the course of the season for its uniqueness, and while “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited” seemed to make itself known as a season finale, the episode largely managed to bring all of the things that have made it such a fun show to watch into the fold. It didn’t have the gut busting hilarity or parody of “Modern Warfare” or even “Contemporary American Poultry,” but it was a solid episode that managed to highlight the shows strengths and I think it made a strong case for itself for next season, as an established sophomore comedy instead of a “good new show.” It will have a ratings struggle with the hugely popular Big Bang Theory, but I can tell you right now, Community isn’t just funnier, but it has a hell of a lot more heart and soul.

Other Notes:

- Donald Glover had me in stitches all night. When he picked up that cookie, I about died, but what really put me over the edge was when he came up to Jeff to let him know everyone was waiting for his answer.

- John Oliver! Now that Senor Chang is just a student, perhaps we’ll see more of him next year? Favorite line: “Who has your car keys?” “In the taco meat.”

- Was it the hyper-excited Lost nerd in me, or was Chang telling Duncan he’d find a loophole a Man in Black-Jacob reference?

- Dean Pelton invites not one, but TWO dates in dalmatian outfits.

- “Oh, and for the record, there was an episode of Happy Days where a guy literally jumped over a shark. And it was the best one.

Michael’s Score: 81

TUiW Grade: A-