Review - COMMUNITY 5.01 & 5.02: 'Repilot' & 'Introduction to Teaching'

COMMUNITY is back after a 2-year layoff! And so is Dan Harmon, baby! But was the return of the great God of this world a triumphant one? Or can nothing pull this show out of its massive nose-dive brought on by the let-us-forget-it-ever-happened season 4? Keep reading to find out in this two-parter review (or whatever).

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Review - COMMUNITY 4.05: 'Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations'

I am writing this review the day after and that means I know that it pulled in a solid Nielsen rating, up against the results show for AMERICAN IDOL and a new episode of THE BIG BANG THEORY.

If something changes in the later updated ratings, I will maybe note it here.

Now, let's get to the episode.

Since I am a bit pressed for time, let me just quickly note what worked and what didn't work.

What Did Not Work
About 90% of Shirley's party felt like tired writing.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION bit bombed.

Abed had only rare occasions of feeling like the character we've come to know in previous seasons. His character has taken the biggest hit since the ousting of Dan Harmon, likely because Harmon took such special care and put so much soul into the character. Not the current show runners nor their writers seem to have figured out how to make it work.

What Did Work
Jeff and Britta were excellent in this one. Had they just made it about them, I'd have given it a very high score. The writing felt alive and fresh.

Jeff's meeting with his dad, their interaction, and even his half-brother all worked and didn't feel forced (well, maybe one scene where Jeff expresses his emotions felt a bit forced but I don't want to nitpick too much since I loved the rest of it).

While most of Shirley's party didn't work and the "Shawshank" bit failed, the payoff at the end did make me laugh.

Takeway
Jeff has romantic chemistry with all the ladies. Troy doesn't. This episode just accentuated the lack of chemistry between Troy and Britta.

If I had to rate this one, and Britta's Britta says I do, then I'd give it:

77 out of 100

After subtracting 50 Dan-Harmon-is-god points, it is a 27 out of 100.

Had the other half of the episode not bombed, it could have been a 90+.
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Review - COMMUNITY 4.04: 'Alternative History of the German Invasion'

The fourth episode of this fourth season, which I believe was actually shot as the second episode, is perhaps the most classic feeling one of this Dan-Harmon-less season. Does that make it good? Read on.

There have been some complaints by our dear readers that my grades and comments related to this season have been unfair. These people feel I've given Dan Harmon too much credit and that he was at the helm for bad episodes in the past. Episodes that these people claim are worse than any of the first few of this season.

Let me address those comments in this review.

NUTS!

Dan Harmon is the GOD of the COMMUNITY universe. He created it and put himself into every episode (and by that I mean he didn't just let writers have their way with a single episode). With his departure, the new show runners, no matter their qualifications or talent, are at best demigods of that universe. And up to this point, they've helped deliver what amounts to mediocre/bad fan-fiction.

If you think any season 4 episode has been as good or even better than ANY season 1, 2, or 3 episode of the series, then that's your problem. We have totally different perspectives on quality. I'm not suggesting mine is more accurate than yours. My perspective is the one that comes from this mind, this soul, and expressed via these fingers right here (I'm holding them up for you). You don't have to like it. In the same way I didn't like the first three episodes of this season.

That brings us to the fourth episode which I previously mentioned was shot second (as far as I know).  And that's what is very strange about it. Because I'd have thought it was shot much later in the process, after the writers and actors had worked out all the kinks.

This time most things feel very familiar. Comfortable.  That's not to say the episode stands out as one of the best, but at least it can sit alongside those Harmon-era episodes that felt unusually below average.  We get the return of the Germans, Chang (and his Changnesia),  and geek-centric dialogue that doesn't feel (too) forced.

When the Germans figure out a way to take the study-room away from the group, our heroes suffer the consequences until they figure out a way to take it back (if god was still running this show, I'd detail that for you, but I don't make that much of an effort for demigods).  Unfortunately for the gang, the Germans make themselves the victim and rally people to a protest the study group.  And hilarity ensues. Followed by a message delivered by Hitler-Jeff.

This isn't an epic episode but it does have fun dialogue that works with our characters. It succeeds on a most basic level, never achieving greatness but works because of familiarity. This is one of those cases where if Harmon was still running the show, it would earn a much worse score. But because these try-hards are behind it, I'm actually inclined to praise them for it.

QUOTABLES

Reinholt: Don't worry. If there's one thing Germans don't do it's hold a grudge.
Abed: Unless we're talking about DIE HARD 3.
Jeff: Or the 20th century.

When the Dean reacts to the return of Chang, off in a different part of the school...
Abed: I just felt a strange disturbance.
Britta: Did you have dairy this morning?
Abed: Could be that. Or it could be that great evil's nearby. I'll take a provisional lactate.

Troy: I don't understand any of these puns. I think I need to learn history. 

After Jeff gives a long speech...
Abed: You had me at 'ruse'.
Jeff: That was the last thing I said.
Abed: Good thing you said it.

And some other stuff. I'm super lazy tonight.


If I had to rate this episode, and I don't mind doing so, I'd give it:

81 out of 100

Though, after I subtract 50 Dan-Harmon-is-god points, the score is a 31 out of 100. So a failure. Sorry, I didn't make up that rule.

(so I made up that rule)
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Review - COMMUNITY 4.03: 'Conventions of Space and Time'

In this episode, the gang went to an Inspector Spacetime convention, something everyone has been wanting to see for a while now.

NOT!

What we ended up with was the least interesting and most hollow episode of the series, where every character felt off and the writing was right out of one of those horrible CBS comedies.

This is not COMMUNITY. This is THE BIG 2.5 BROKE GIRLS. Except not as good. Where Annie fantasizes about being Jeff's wife (if someone would kill Dan Harmon, he could roll in his grave), Britta is some kind of ninja, Abed is some weirdly transformed version of the character he was for three seasons, and Tricia Helfer is not awesome.

Granted, the most interesting element of this episode, for a second week running, involved Shirley. Maybe we get lucky and the rest of the season focuses on her.

If I had to rate this episode, and it pains me to do it, I'd give it:

45 out of 100

Which, after subtracting 50 "Dan Harmon is God" points, makes this:

-5 out of 100

At least Alison Brie gets to be on MAD MEN. So this shouldn't ruin her career the way it would have otherwise. Her acting, and that of most of the cast, was less than paint-by-numbers. It was awkward.

If you liked this episode, then you are my enemy for life.
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Review - COMMUNITY 4.02: 'Paranormal Parentage'

Written by the beautiful and talented Megan Ganz, this episode takes us into Pierce's universe, and his mansion of horror, like something right out of Scooby-Doo.

Some time ago, THE BIG BANG THEORY did an episode where one character discovers the college paper of his girlfriend and realizes it is a C- paper, so he fixes it into an A+ paper (more or less). And that's what I am beginning to see with this season of COMMUNITY. Without Dan Harmon, these writers have been delivering a lot of C- episodes, but Dan was the brilliant boyfriend who made them into A+ material.

Sure, this was an improvement over last week's but only in the characters feeling like themselves (unlike last week). Unfortunately, it's just not that funny.

Granted, the scenes with Troy and Shirley were laugh-out-loud hilarious. The funniest being when Shirley realized she was more knowledgeable about sexual deviant behavior than innocent babe-in-the-woods Troy.

There were also a few classic Jeff and Britta moments but only in setting. Execution wise there was something missing. The new EP's attempt to inject more relationship related material into the show just isn't working that well. I don't care about Jeff's dad, though Joel McHale did a fine job trying to sell Jeff's emotions. I also don't care about Pierce's daddy issues (feels old now). It all seems like things Dan Harmon would have spent less time on and more time on making the show funnier. Edgier. Cooler.

The attempts to go geek, like the map of the mansion with each member of the group identified by board player pieces felt like the fan-fiction version of something Harmon would have done better. Even Abed finding a secret observation room didn't work all that well as a classic meta-moment. It was amusing at times but, again, felt mostly like fan-fiction with Abed saying lines someone thought he would say, if that someone wasn't the person who gave that character life.

The appearance of Pierce's half-brother, Gilbert, was welcomed but then felt flat at the end like any plot point in a show like HAPPY ENDINGS (from where these show runners came). I am starting to see a lot of similarities between this season and HAPPY ENDINGS in general actually. I like that show. I sometimes love that show. But I never care about the plot. I usually have to be reminded of whatever happened in each episode after watching them. There is a reason why HAPPY ENDINGS doesn't have a convention. Or crazed fans following their show runner around the country.

It's funny. It's just not epic funny. Or epic. At all.

If I had to rate this episode, and since Dan Harmon is a god, I'd give it:

72 - (50 Harmon boyfriend points) 
= 22 out of 100

If even Megan Ganz can't make this show work like it did a year ago, then we may be in trouble. And yes, this week's score is lower than last week's even though I said I liked it more. That's because last week I should have given the episode a 66 (-50) = 16. I do appreciate that the actors are still trying to give us the characters we know and love. If only the writers were as well. If only the show runners weren't making expensive fan-fiction.
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Review - COMMUNITY 4.01: 'History 101'

Sony fired COMMUNITY show creator/heart-and-soul Dan Harmon following the end of season 3 because he was apparently difficult to deal with and because they were convinced the vast majority of viewers wouldn't notice the change since network executives think their audiences are morons.

If you think this is the show many of us fell in love with, then the executives were right.

I have been saying for months that at best the show without Dan Harmon should be called CINACO (Community in name and characters only). I also promised to take 50 points away from any episode rating because the show minus its main voice doesn't deserve those points.

This isn't the show Dan Harmon created. This is some fan-fiction version of it.

Thing is, you can't replace the madness that was Dan Harmon's tireless drive to make something unique and edgy, though new show runners Moses Port and David Guarascio have sure tried to deliver something they think Harmon might have done. Thing is, Dan wouldn't have done this because he would have thought it wouldn't play.

And it is a shame because these actors and characters deserve better material. A better show runner.

Dan Harmon.

Dan Harmon!

Dan Effin' Harmon!

Sure, as an episode it wasn't completely terrible if one pretends the show hasn't done much better --in fact, every episode that preceded this one was superior. Yet some things worked a bit, like Abed's show-before-a-live-audience version of reality with Fred Willard as Pierce. Or the line about Taco Bell and the war on terror:

Abed: All of our wishes come true. Last year Troy wished we got Bin Laden and the Dorito taco.
Troy: Yeah but Obama got credit for both.

The meta jokes about things changing were also appropriate and did feel like something Harmon would have enjoyed using had he not watched the essence of his creation raped by marauding studio fools. And while I am not a fan of Britta and Troy's relationship, their fight and Troy's "Why does this feel good" worked.

Unfortunately, the rest didn't work as well. The whole Hunger Deans bit was a tired wannabe version of the paintball episodes with none of the effort. Annie's backtracking on her emotional growth away from Jeff made no sense. Annie and Shirley's dean punking? Weak. Plus Pierce's attempt to find a ball joke, which could have worked if used once, just withered away in the less than capable editing hands of these new pair of clown-shoes.

If I had to rate this episode, and Dan's essence says I don't, I'd give it:

   78 - (50 Harmon points)

= 28 out of 100

So far, not so good. And based on what critics who have seen followup episodes have said, this was one of the better early ones.
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Review - COMMUNITY 3.19: 'Curriculum Unavailable'

First of all... great news! COMMUNITY HAS BEEN RENEWED FOR A 4TH SEASON! Not good news? It is only 13 episodes. What does that mean for its syndication future? I don't think it matters or Sony would have gotten more. They already sold online syndication to Hulu, and cable to Comedy Central. They must be confident they can survive on 84 episodes (unless they plan on continuing the show on another network). Plus there's always the chance that everything else on NBC tanks next season and the show gets picked up for a back 9.

Anyway, let's get to the episode.

Plot
It has been two months since the gang was expelled from Greendale and the gang seems to be spending a lot of time together. When Abed is caught trespassing on school grounds, the fake dean, having been replaced last week by Chang, offers free counseling to help him cope.

The entire group joins Abed in therapy and discuss him with the psychiatrist. We get several scenes related to Abed's apparent lack of a stable mindset over the years.

*Freaking out over daylight savings.

*Calling Shirley a bad person for saying Brett Ratner is the next Spielberg.

*Narrating Pierce's habits as if reading from a novel.

*Video taping a sleeping Annie at four in the morning.

When the gang tries to defend Abed's behavior, they turn the evaluation onto themselves. We then see scenes depicting the rest of the group behaving strangely.

*Britta arriving at the study group looking like she just came out of a hurricane, seemingly after a night of freebasing peyote.

*Annie doing 'Troy and Abed in the Morning' by herself and with two stuffed animals.

*Jeff being weird about his jacket.

*Troy spending all his money on an all terrain vehicle.

*Shirley punishing her boys for eating the cookies she made for the group by giving the group her kids' personal things.

The psychiatrist determines that Abed should be in a mental institution. The gang argues that they've been subjected to mental anguish at Greendale and we get several scenes that show the total lunacy that is the school including classes on advanced breathing; "Can I fry that?" which gets a student thrown out for suggesting fries; ladders and other nutty things.

The gang also discusses the positive effect the school has had on their lives, all seemingly involving the real dean playing favorites with them, including another paintball game for free tickets to see a performance of "Chicago." Abed, having earlier tried to tell them that the real dean has been replaced, tells them the real dean would never have expelled them.

The gang rallies behind the idea that something doesn't fit and decide to return to Greendale to find out the truth. But the doctor tells them that Greendale isn't a community college but instead an asylum and that they have all been experiencing a shared psychosis. Having all been released at the same time, they have now relapsed.

We then get scenes of the gang acting out moments from episodes, but this time in crazy people jail garb. The doctor then tries to convince the group that they've been crazy the entire time. But as they leave his office it is Jeff who realizes the ridiculousness of it all. They go back in and find the "doctor" on the phone and sneaking out the window.

Problem for him? They have tons of evidence of Greendale existing, including pictures and a school bag. The fake psychiatrist then confesses that Abed has been right all along and that Chang has kidnapped the real dean and replaced him with a look-alike.

We then get crazy Chang scenes. As the gang reminisces, the fake doctor escapes. The gang decides to solve the problem. Chang gets a heads-up and begins to enact phase 2, whatever that is (as if he knows).

Quotables

Hearing a knock on the door and expecting Abed to arrive with food, Troy receives a different surprise, a police officer with Abed in tow.
Troy: See? Cool. Abed brought delicious police.

Annie explains to the officer that Abed is just playing a character.
Officer Cackowski: Oh yes, I'm very familiar with Inspector Spacetime. You think a guy becomes a cop because his prom night was a dream? If this were comic con, I'd take a bullet for that kid. But here in the real world, trespassing is a crime.

Officer Cackowski: Anyway, walk to your cars in pairs tonight. Rape's up eight percent.

Psychiatrist: Talk to me about crazy-town-banana-pants.

After Troy rides into the library on his new ATV.
Annie: Troy! You can't bring that in here!
Troy: Yes I can. It's all terrain, dummy!

Troy: (crying) Please, mister doctor psychiatrist, sir! Please don't send my best friend to crazy people jail!
Jeff: Relax. He doesn't have the right. Abed isn't dangerous.
Shirley: Yeah, he's just unique like a snowflake who gets bent-out-of-shape when you mix up Star Wars and Space Treks.

Doctor: It was a mentally compatible alternative to your grim reality.

Doctor: And you've attended Greendale for three years but don't community colleges end after two?
Jeff: Everyone's always saying that! The average community college student attends school five to seven years. Many offer four year degrees.
Doctor: In your mind they do. In your mind.

Rating
If I had to rate this episode, and the gang says I do, then I'd give it:

90 out of 100

So this was the show's clip episode, except with clips from episodes that we've never seen. So, it was an original but felt like a clip episode. It was still very enjoyable and had some funny moments that passed by very quickly, like Chang's pre-cog bathtub, or the paintball game we never heard of before. I also loved the hospital sequence with the characters acting out scenes from other episodes. This may not go down in history as one of the best COMMUNITY episodes, but it was thoroughly enjoyable and I look forward to next week's three-episode finale.

I am NOT looking forward to writing that review, though!

What did you all think?

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Review - COMMUNITY 3.18: 'Course Listing Unavailable'

I have said it before and I will say it again, this season has been the show's best. With a more serialized plot and and increasingly creative episodes, the writers and producers have outdone themselves. Not to mention those fantastic actors, all of them (well, maybe not Chevy) worthy of an Emmy nomination (unlikely since the voters can't figure the show out).

However, not all the episodes are epic and not all of them can impress as much as others. Yet, even when we have an episode that isn't as strong as some of the ones preceding it, COMMUNITY is still superior to most shows on television, and ALL 30-minute comedies.

Plot
Following the death of Starburns, the study group tries to deal with their sorrow via Britta's psychology expertise, something Jeff reminds her is not her profession. When the Dean informs the group that Prof. Kane has quit following the series of events depicted in the previous (and brilliant) episode, and that it means they have to repeat the class in the summer, things go from bad to so much worse very quickly.

This little plot point, that turns mighty, is totally inconsistent with reality or even what the show has established in the past, since this isn't the first time a professor has been replaced without affecting the students in this way. It is one of the few missteps by writers who would usually come up with reasons that make much more sense.

In any event, the students attend a cafeteria rally that is part mourning Starburns and part revolution against the school. When things get out of control, after several impassioned speeches from the gang, the Dean gives Chang and his evil group of kiddies the power to use any available force. Thus we get a riot partly the fault of the study group, and partly due to Chang's bastards. We also get more proof that Subway is the coolest company ever when they allow themselves to be used as an impetus for the riot and the ire of the students.

Later, when Chang finds out that the Dean is going to side with the study group, he knocks Pelton out and replaces him with a look/sound-alike. The two then ambush the so-called Greendale Seven at a school board hearing and get them expelled.

Back at Abed, Troy, and Annie's apartment, the study group meets for a callback to the great timeline episode, Remedial Chaos Theory --with the pizza guy who Britta is strangely attracted to included. Abed thinks he should have let Jeff roll the die and that this is the darkest timeline. But Troy, in a very sweet moment, tells them they will be fine because they have each other. Abed agrees and proclaims this to be the perfect timeline.

Awwww. It is the sweetest moment between the gang yet and it works nearly as perfectly as Abed's timeline theory.

Quotables

Troy noticing urns on the Blu-Ray shelf.
Troy: What is that?
Abed: Starburns also left me his ashes. He requested they be burnt. I don't think he knows how ashes work. The small one's his lizard.
Troy: If we rub that, will he come out and do celebrity impressions?
Abed: I don't think so.
Troy: Then I want it out of here.

Britta tries to help the group through their grief.
Britta: As a psychologist...
Jeff: (interrupting) Student!
Britta: (still talking) I hereby offer my licensed...
Jeff: (interrupting) Unlicensed!
Britta: (still talking) services as a grief counselor.
Jeff: Grief causer.
Britta: If anyone needs to talk, the doctor...
Jeff: (interrupting) Not even close!
Britta: (continuing) is in.

Jeff: You seemed smarter than me when I met you.
Britta: Thank you.

Jeff: ...that this place, this Fallujah of higher learning, is a prison that none of us will ever escape.

Annie: I've given this place my childhood, my enthusiasm, and my loyalty. And in return, Greendale has warped me like a Barbie in a microwave! Our school flag is an anus!
Dean Pelton: You were the guys who drew it.
Annie: We're not even the best community college in our community. Let that sink in. And the cherry on top of this total lack of sundae, I'm failing a remedial biology class on a technicality! All because you (pointing at Dean Pelton) don't know how to run a school!
Dean Pelton: Ohhh, that's not...
Annie: Shame on you, dean! Shame on you! Edison out!

Pierce: Let's burn this mother down!

Rating
If I had to rate this one, and Starburns' charred remains say I do, then I'd give it:

87 out of 100

I enjoyed seeing the study group band together in mutual outrage and then find the joy, in an otherwise dark situation, in simply having each other. That level of sweetness doesn't always come off as genuine but it felt earned and believable. It will be interesting to see whether this makes them all closer for the rest of the season or if there is still a wedge off on the horizon ready to prove Abed's darker timeline theory correct, or should I now say disprove his perfect timeline theory?

I'm looking forward to next week's episode to see if Chang's master plan works. Also looking forward to the three episode finale in two-weeks. People have asked me if I plan on writing one big review or three separate, and the plan is to write three. However, I may change my mind after seeing them. Stay tuned!

So, what did you think of this episode? Comment below. Anonymously if you must.

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Review - COMMUNITY 3.17: 'Basic Lupine Urology'

When the study group's (yam) science experiment is destroyed, the gang tries to find the criminal.

Plot
COMMUNITY has parodied a wide range of shows and ideas but never has it done an entire homage to another show with such precision. Right down to the tiniest beats, musical cues, camera moves, plot devices, and actor/character behavior, this show carries out a faithful and impressive version of its own episode of LAW & ORDER.

In the grand scheme of things, 'Basic Lupine Urology' doesn't deal with too much of a grander story arc, except for the one character death but I'll touch on that in a second. What it does is deliver a purely fun experience of watching characters we love faithfully play in a familiar sandbox. It works because the show has already established that it exists in a world of weirdness where our characters could conceivable carry out these actions without it simply being a straight-up gimmick heavy parody that you see other shows do.

We get Jeff and Annie playing the lawyers parts; Troy and Abed as the detectives who switch off being good-cop and bad-cop; Shirley in the police captain role, because she is an avid fan of these type of shows; Professor Kane acting as judge over the case, seeing as he is the ruling party in what grades are handed out; Britta as the proverbial computer geek who always seems to have evidence that can be manipulated digitally; and even a kickass appearance of Dr. Rodgers from the actual LAW & ORDER show, as the coroner; and Michael Ironside in the role of the defense attorney.

As with any episode of L&O, the second and third individuals the "detectives" interview, who first appear to not be involved, end up being the major players in the end of the story. After war veteran Todd admits to killing the yam, Fat Neil admits his role in the grander conspiracy because of love, and just as everything seems to have worked itself out, a call to the office reveals tragedy.

Starburns is dead. Killed when his mobile meth lab explodes in a car accident.

Though, I wouldn't put it past this show to unkill him later.

Quotables

Narrator: Greendale Community College is represented by two separate yet equally important types of people. The goofballs that run around stirring up trouble and the eggheads that make a big deal out of it. These are their stories.

Prof. Kane: Miss Edison, when you called me down here at midnight, I expected more than a yam. Specifically since you said there's been a murder.
Annie: Our yam was murdered.
Jeff: If it's any consolation, she got me here on a very misleading text message.
Annie: Jeff, technically you are about to be screwed in the biology room because our final project has been destroyed.
Prof. Kane: Alright look, I'm sorry for your loss. I know you guys put the work in so you'll get a passing grade.
Annie: A passing grade?! Like a C?! Why don't I just get pregnant at a bus station? That was gonna be an A+ yam.

Abed: We named the yam Pam. It rhymed.

Troy: Clean-up on aisle busted.

Trying to escape a pursuing Troy and Abed.
Starburns: (to girl) Kiss me!
Girl: What?!
Starburns: I'll explain later!
Girl: No!
Starburns: I'll explain later!
Girl: The explanation isn't the issue!

Troy and Abed go to arrest their suspect who isn't cooperating.
Abed: He wants it the hard way. Tell him what Shirley said.
Troy: Todd Jacobson, you have the right to do whatever you want. Nothing you say or do can be used against you by anyone but we'd really like it if you came with us. Please and thank you.

Prof. Kane: A man's gotta have a code.

Troy: Sorry about my partner. He's been on edge ever since we switched.

Annie: We have proof our yam was murdered and now you find your softness? It's eat or be eaten when that's convenient, but when the going gets tough Winger gets nervous, huh?
Jeff: We have no case, Annie!
Annie: It's too late to get one, Jeff. We only have time to get justice.

Lt. Colonel Archwood: A man who, for all we know, is a Holocaust denying, 9/11 pedophile.
Jeff: Objection!
Lt. Colonel Archwood: Withdrawn.

Annie: Is that why you hit your wife? Withdrawn! Is that why you drink and pop pills? Withdrawn! Are you a virgin? Withdrawn.

After winning the case, Annie gloats as the defense attorney, aka the colonel, leaves.
Annie: That's right! Always have an exit strategy!

Fat Neil: I boiled the yams. Vicki's yam never sprouted and I didn't want her to fail so I threw off the grading curve so she wouldn't have to go to summer school and we could finally have sex in my parents' cabin. God forgive me, I did it for love!

Prof. Kane: Holy crap! We are definitely dissecting pine cones next year!

Rating
If I had to rate this one, and that classic music cue says I do, then I'd give it:

96 out of 100

It was nothing but a joy to watch... four times before I even sat down to write this.

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Review - COMMUNITY 3.16: 'Virtual Systems Analysis'

When a final exam is postponed, Annie talks Abed into letting her spend some time in the dreamatorium, where an innocent simulation turns into...

Plot
Abed and Annie go into the dreamatorium where Annie pushes Abed too far and fractures his fragile little mind. From that point, until the final few minutes, we deal with Abed's ability to emote his friends, and Annie's willingness to get to know her friend better, even as she struggles to get through his emotional defenses.

Let me just warn you all that I am going to write something of a traditional "critic's review" here and not my typical recap with some critique. Why? Because I think this episode needs that.

Alright, so I love this show a ton and think it is one of the most unique shows in the history of television. But there were moments in this episode where I couldn't wait for it to end. I was bothered by the overuse of the in-and-out-of-character back and forth effect. I would rather have seen it less and more of the episode from Annie's perspective of watching Abed perform his imagination.

Though, perhaps the show runners didn't want to go down that route since the reality perspective had already been used in 'Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'. COMMUNITY has been known to repeat itself, such as with the paintball episodes, but they always do something different with it and so I accept that the effect in this one is partially there to set it apart.

Much like the episode 'Critical Film Studies' I wasn't fully able to enjoy it until it was over. And much like that episode, this one centered around Abed adopting a personality, or in this case a series of personalities. Both took a bit of reflection to truly appreciate the tone and exploration of Abed's psyche and his fear of eventually losing his friends as they move on without him.

Also focused on in this episode, Annie's control issues as well as her empathy; Britta and Troy's potential love affair; the Dean's half-man-half-woman wannabe Angelina Jolie "duality of man" character; the study group's cramming (they are given one more day to study for an exam but punt it in favor of putting off their cramming for one more day); and douchie people who don't love DIE HARD. And I'm sure there was more in this episode but I'm already exhausted!

Quotable

Annie: You're mad at me for playing matchmaker for Troy and Britta. You think you're gonna lose Troy.
Abed: I'm not petty, Annie. I'm mad at you because you tampered with the fabric of the group. How do you know Troy and Britta pairing up wouldn't destroy everything? I run the scenarios. I examine this stuff from every conceivable angle.
Annie: Oh and you can do that but I can't? You don't have a patent on being a control freak.

Abed: I'm able to simulate any of the study group and even a half-accurate Chang in over seven thousand unique situations.
Annie: Abed, it's cardboard tubes and a funnel.
Abed: You see it that way because it's calibrated to a specific level of brain function.
Annie: Right. I'm stupid.
Abed: Not stupid. Just less able to see what I see.

When Annie gives dreamatorium Doctor Troy a shot of truth serum to find Abed, he confesses too much.
Doctor Troy: I saw Abed's name in the hospital school files. I love butt stuff. I hate spiders. I stole a pen from the bank. I cried during 'About A Boy' (beat) the soundtrack. I don't wash my hands before a surgery. I can see why women find Clive Owen attractive to the point where I might just as well be attracted to him. I use comparisons to Hitler to win arguments on the Internet at the drop of a hat. I know nothing about wine! I'm more turned on by women in pajamas than lingerie. I just want to know they feel comfortable. (breaking down) I didn't get 'Inception'! (crying) I didn't get 'Inception'!

Abed: I've run the simulations, Annie. I don't get married. I don't invent a billion dollar website that helps people have sex. I don't make it into Sundance, Slamdance, or dance pants. Troy invents dance pants in 2019. Don't tell him. He needs to stumble onto it.

Rating
If I had to rate this episode, and I almost don't want to, I'd give it:

90 out of 100

I am happy to love a show that is willing to do really strange episodes like this even when I'm not particularly entertained by them. I may have felt strong dislike for what I was watching at first, but made the wise decision to watch it again after I had absorbed the message of the episode and that enhanced the overall experience.

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Review - COMMUNITY 3.15: 'Origins of Vampire Mythology'

Following a number of excellent episodes, the show tries to hold onto the magic. Does it work? Does it finally jump the shark? Find out below!

PLOT
The carnival is in town and Britta's ex, Blade, is inbound. She is weak for him.

Jeff loves his locker. Annie loves his bod.

Britta asks Annie to put her on lock-down to keep her from banging Blade.

Dean Pelton and Vice-Dean Laybourne discuss enrolling Troy in the air-conditioning repair program. Pelton doesn't know if he can make that happen. Laybourne impresses upon him that he must.

Britta is at Troy, Abed, and Annie's apartment on lock-down, behaving like a junky, trying to trick Annie into revealing the location of the phone using the potential of her mother dying as the logic. When Troy accidentally tells her where it is, the gang is forced to lock her junkie ass up. When things couldn't get much worse, Dean Pelton shows up with root beer and chips.

Jeff and Shirley go the carnival together to spy on Blade. Shirley is concerned Jeff is jealous and in love with Britta. Jeff admits jealousy but denies love. Also, Pierce and Chang develop a great friendship that lasts a few minutes.

Junkie Britta cons her phone back from Annie but Annie has switched Blade's number for her own and receives Junkie Britta's horny psycho texts. But when Annie makes the fatal mistake of responding with "Leave me alone" she elevates the insanity and has to fake being Blade.

No one can figure out why Dean Pelton is there. Eventually, Troy takes over as fake-Blade and texts something nice, immediately curing her of the addiction because she isn't attracted to losers.

Blade reveals his secret to Jeff. Brain damage. He lacks the ability to feel shame. Jeff then gives a speech to Britta and everything is back to normal, except for Pierce who is now addicted to Chang.

QUOTABLES

The group wants to know about Britta's carnival boyfriend.
Britta: Fine. I'm not ashamed of my past. And if it entertains you guys, that's great, because we're friends. (pause) His name is Blade and... (the group bursts out in laughter)
Jeff: She invoked friendship to undercut the laugh and we're still laughing, that's how funny it is!
Abed: His name is Blade. Is that legal? Shouldn't New Line Cinema be suing him?
Britta: He was called that before that stupid movie.
Troy: (correcting her) He was called that before the fantastic movie.
Abed: And it was a Marvel comic in 1973.
Britta: Well, nerd alert!
Pierce: Well, ex-boyfriend named Blade alert.
Pierce and Shirley high-five.
Shirley: Her love life makes Pierce seem with it.
Pierce: Her pain unifies us. She has the King Arthur of bad taste in men.

Jeff: So what, Britta? You're in love with a guy who's named after a kickboxing vampire movie?
Troy: (correcting him) A fantastic kickboxing vampire movie!
Britta: No, I don't believe in love because of this guy (getting emotional) named after a kickboxing vampire movie.
Annie: Ohh, Britta!
Shirley: Oh, sweetie.
Troy: (leaning over to Abed) You wanna watch BLADE tonight?
Abed: Yes.

Britta hurries over to Annie with some news.
Britta: I need your help. It is Blade's carnival that's coming. He's working the BB gun duck shooting gallery, I guess he finally got that promotion, and he will call me. And left unattended, I will end up doing him like a crossword and I will regret it! So I need you to take my phone, and don't give it back until Monday!
Annie: Of course! Okay!
Jeff: For real?
Britta: (shutting Jeff up with her hand in his face) And I need to stay with you this weekend. Not just stay with you, I need to be on lock-down. You are a pill-head, so think of Blade as adderall and handcuff me to the radiator like a mother flippin' carny banging werewolf!

When Annie has to fake being Blade, Britta's texts get more and more desperate.
Annie: (typing a text) I told you, not to call me at work! (reading Britta's text) 'I'm sorry. I forgot. Don't be mad at me'?! She's whipped by an imaginary douche!

RATING
If I had to rate this one, and Buddy Jesus says I do, then I'd give it:

87 out of 100

Britta centric, funny and full of quick stabs of memorable dialogue. Nowhere near the genius of some others but it works.

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Review - COMMUNITY 3.12: 'Contemporary Impressionists'

Since I am crazy sick this week, my usual killer COMMUNITY review will be short and sweet so I can pass out in bed... but not before getting out a few puppy whimpers.

In this episode:

• Abed's addiction to acting out his favorite movie scenes with celebrity impersonators he can't afford affects the whole group. 
• Jeff's on anti-anxiety medication and it makes him a much bigger narcissist.
• Chang begins his master plan (I think) to overthrow the dean.

Troy decides to help Abed pay off his debt by enlisting the group in a Bar Mitzvah celebrity look-alike job. The result is Jeff going Hulk on a kid when his ego explodes, and actually kissing a shocked Shirley. However, things actually work out and blahblahblah.

Finally, Troy and Abed seemingly come to a greater understand about their relationship, but that results in Abed entering his dreamatorium alone, only to find Evil Abed waiting for him. Shit just got dark.

If I had to rate this one, I'd give it:

92 out of 100

Even sick as a filthy dog I laughed outloud several times. In fact, it was just about the only thing that made me feel good last night. Jeff's ego issues; Britta's attempt to save him; Annie and the Dean's attraction to Jeff; Troy and Britta playing the two versions of Michael Jackson; Jeff being a better looking Ryan Seacrest; Abed looking JUST like Jamie Lee Curtis; and even Pierce's desperate attempt to be Burt Reynolds just worked on every level.

Sorry about the lack of quotables this week. But that... would... just... take more focus than I can afford right now.

So, what did you think?

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