Tag Archives: Community

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-

Where do you go after your best ever episode? That was the question facing Community this week after blowing minds with last week’s “Modern Warfare.” Would “English as a Second Language” match the awesomeness of its predecessor? Would Jeff and Britta come face to face with their recent tryst? Would Greendale simply move on after the war like they’re prone to do?

It’s finals time at Greendale and The Study Group was stressing out, though for different reasons. Everyone obviously wanted to pass the Spanish 102 final, but Annie was equally concerned with making sure that they all could remain a study group next year. With Spanish 103 (I love that there’s no 200 level course) at 6:30 in the morning, she was proposes anthropology for everyone to take. Everyone seems fine with it, except Jeff, who’s reverted back to his old self. You see, Jeff remembered why he was at Greendale, and he wasn’t going to take any classes that he didn’t need to so that he could get back to being a lawyer, which seemed to bother Annie more than everyone else.

I think part of the reason we were reminded that Jeff was once a lawyer was to facilitate what happened next. Senor Chang approaches Jeff before class (promptly dismissing everyone from the room first), asking him where he got his fake diploma. It seems that Chang’s keytar ambitions got in the way of his education, and he’s been faking it as a professor. He warns Jeff that if he shares this information, their entire year of Spanish could be completely negated. Jeff promises, but doesn’t realize that Annie’s digital recorder, which she uses to record all her lectures, has been sitting there the whole time, getting every word.

She naturally turns Chang in and he’s replaced by a real Spanish teacher, and now the whole class is in trouble. Jeff flips out on Annie for it (after a nice sequence in which everyone’s groans is can’t disguise Annie’s happy sigh), and convinces the whole group not to give in to her young cuteness (“Picture her as Paul Giamatti!”). Annie storms off, and when she doesn’t show up for the final, Jeff comes to his senses and gets everyone to go find her. Turns out she’s with Senor Chang, who’s showing off his keytar skills, and they announce that Senor Chang is going to enroll in some music and education classes and work on becoming legit. Jeff and Annie apologize to each other, and turns out everyone passes Spanish (thanks to Pierce sleeping with the professor) and Jeff encourages them to take anthropology next semester.

I liked the goofier side of the episode, in which Troy discovers his gift for pluming, more than I did the main plot. It started hilariously with Troy approaching a chalkboard full of math equations, Good Will Hunting style, and I laughed pretty loudly when he picked up the chalk, only to pocket it. But it turns out Troy is really good at pluming, and they school’s maintenance staff keeps trying to get him to join them. It was a pretty turn around on the Good Will Hunting lines, and the part where Abed tells troy the best part of his day is when he thinks he’s not in class was great.

Overall, I think “English as a Second Language” was an off-kilter episode. It felt like a season finale (that’s next week), it brought back the earlier season “I’m just here because I have to be” version of Jeff, and it had a funnier B-story than main plot. It was an episode full of zingers and great lines, but it felt so oddly out of place. I can only assume that the intention was to establish that they were all going to be together again next year before the finale so that it can focus on something different, and I do remember that the mid-season break had an episode that felt like a winter sweeps episode the week before the actual one. I have a lot of confidence in this show after “Modern Warfare,” so I’ll differ to the writers on this one, but here’s hoping that Community rallies before it closes out its first year at Greendale.

Other Notes:

Favorite line of the night was Annie to Britta: “It’s obvious from your name your parents smoked pot.”

Michael’s Score: 65

TUiW Grade: B-

For all of you loyal TUiW readers, you know that I’m a fan of Community. The problem I’ve had is that as good as some of the episodes have been, I’ve been reluctant to promote it from “good” to “great.” Tonight however, Community had an episode that is in very serious contention for my episode of the season, and probably the year.

Jeff and Britta kick off the episode with their normal bickering, but it seems that it has the Study Group more annoyed than usual. It seems that their frustration with each other makes everyone else agitated, and Abed points out that their Ross and Rachel ways are preventing them from being friends. While Jeff and Britta down play the gang’s suggestion that they simply blow off some steam so to speak, Shirley mentions her Mother’s Day plans that involve her making her own breakfast, and then having her kids serve it to her in bed. Then walks in the Dean, who tells of the Spring Fling later, with a paintball assassin game that has a prize TBD. Jeff leaves to take a nap in the car as the group argues. And then everything changes.

Jeff wakes up, the campus a desolate war zone of paint splashes. A confused Jeff wanders into Greendale, where Abed saves him from a possible attack. They meet up with Troy, who is elated to see Jeff okay. They catch him up: The Prize has been selected, and it’s Priority Registration. The classes you want, when you want. It seems that after the Dean shared this information, the entire school went crazy on each other. Abed and Troy joined together though, with the strategy that if they stuck together, they could last longer, and have a better shot at one of the two of them getting The Prize. Jeff has no other choice but to take off his shirt and join them.

After a quick take down of the Chess Club, and a meet up with Pierce (who shoots Starburns), the three of them decide they’re going to take a bathroom stop. Everything looks clear…that is until Abed notices a little big of paint dripping down the wall. Before they know it, the three guys are in a standoff with Britta, Shirley, and Annie, who jumps out of the trashcan. They all realize they have too much to lose by take one another out,  so they join together. As they head out onto the Quad, Troy offers Shirley a deal: take out the group, and go on the two of them. Before they have a chance to decide though, Troy is shot in an ambush by the Cast of Glee…er…the Glee Club. In the ensuing attack, Pierce and Annie get shot, and the Cast of Community slams Glee for being awful. (Except you Jane Lynch. You are always awesome.)

The four survivors gather around a fire in the library and talk about what they’ll do with The Prize. Shirley tells them she’ll use it to take morning classes so she can spend more time with her kids, and Britta promises her that if she wins, she’ll give her The Prize. Jeff disagrees, and before he and Britta can bicker too much, they’re ambushed by disco loving roller skaters. In the attack, both Troy and Shirley are lost. Jeff is actually injured (“oh good, it’s just blood!”), and as Britta fixes him up, they finally kiss and, well, blow off steam.

Meanwhile in the Dean’s Office, the Dean is getting worried about the never ending paintball war. Enter Senior Chang, a professional paintballer who can end it all if the Dean just registers him for a class.

In the library, Britta pulls a gun on post-coital Jeff, who wisely has pulled the clip. Before they can resolve anything though, they’re interrupted by a supremely bad-ass Senor Chang and his automatic gun. Britta sacrifices herself for Jeff after a kiss, and it looks like Jeff is safe, that is until Senor Chang opens his jacket to reveal a paint bomb. Jeff dives from the room just as it explodes into a green tidal wave. When he makes it to the Dean’s Office, a crazed Jeff learns there is no Priority Registration, just a DVD player (with remote). But Jeff has come too far. He uses force to get just what he came for.

And suddenly it’s all over. The floors are being mopped, and an awkward Jeff and Britta decide its best to just pretend nothing happened and not tell anyone, but Abed feels something is different. No matter, as no one else catches on. Jeff shows off his Priority Registration, and also his generosity by giving it to Shirley so that she can spend time with her kids, a move that genuinely touches Britta.

And thus was a terrific half hour of television. Community started with a slight meta streak, and has since transformed that into their own blend of parody and humor that has only improved as its phenomenal cast and writing staff have figured out their strengths and weaknesses. When Community returned from it’s midseason break, it suddenly decided it wasn’t content being about a fancy lawyer mixed with the rejects, a formula that was actually working quite well for it. But it started with the plot involving the Greendale newspaper, with Jeff as editor and Annie as the no-nonsense reporter. Then came the episode with the sailing class, that allowed for some maritime parody. Then there was the Goodfellas tinged episode about chicken fingers. And now, there’s “Modern Warfare,” and episode that has taken the show to the point I believe it was always supposed to reach. Now that Jeff has embraced life at Greendale, it would make complete sense that he’d embrace the goofiness and melodrama of paintball war, complete with images like Senor Chang bursting into the library, automatic gun in hand. Greendale has gone from being a loser populated community college to being a big time newspaper, an ocean, a mob front, and now, the biggest of all, a war zone. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Michael’s Score: 98

TUiW Grade: A+

EDITORS NOTE: The last paragraph has been updated since the original post.