Ten episodes in, and the main storyline is (almost) always the same. Group has problem. Jeff has to solve through his convincing nature. This time Señor Chang is crazier than usual and gives the class an absurd amount of homework. Jeff has to calm him down. Here we get a different look at El Tigre Chino and find out why he’s such an awful person. He was  sad man and poor husband culminating in his wife  leaving him. So Jeff consoles him. In an interesting twist in the plot, in the past, Jeff has been out for himself and usually fails. Only when he helps his friends does he get in a position to help himself. This time, Jeff tries to help his friends only to help himself. Jeff gets the work load relieved, but only for himself. The Jeff-Tigre mix has already shown to create some laughs, such as in the Halloween episode, and this delivered at times.

Meanwhile, Pierce tries to help Shirley with her public speaking assignment. Why is Pierce allowed to help anyone? He is the least qualified person to help anyone. But that’s part of the joke. This storyline has moments (mostly in the ending montage which I will get to), but again it shows that Pierce works best in small doses. This is the same reason why Creed in The Office only has one or two lines per episode.

Again, the show stealing plotline involves Abed. This one involves Abed and Troy which is easily the best character mix on the show. Abed and Troy are lab partners where they have to train a rat to respond to a song. Abed chooses “Somewhere Out There” and names the rat, Fievel. Abed would. Abed absolutely would. Troy is horrified of rats, like little girl-screamingly scared, and tips over Fievel’s cage letting the rat escape. This leads to a funny misunderstanding where Abed looks for the rat in Chang’s office where Jeff plans to let himself get a free pass.

The plotlines eventually converges into a montage of Señor and Señora Chang getting back together and Shirley succeeding in her assignment while Abed and Troy manage to get Fievel back by singing “Somewhere Out There” as a duet. Only on Community.

This was an obvious one shot episode as it was a gimmick episode (there was no mention of the Annie-Jeff kiss last episode and no awkwardness between the two), but it managed to have character growth with Troy facing a fear for a friend. Aw.

Annie’s in a debate competition, and her partner dropped out. Who better to fill in a debate opening than a former lawyer? (Hey, at least it fit in better unlike “Hey, let’s get Jeff to convince Troy to do football!”) After the first round goes bad for Jeff and Annie, they decide to prepare for the next round. As they study, they get start to have feelings for one another. A little creepy considering Annie is just out of high school and Jeff had been practicing law for some time. But hey it was different.

Meanwhile, Pierce tries to hypnotize Britta into quitting cigarettes. Why? Again, maybe it’s because to showcase Chevy Chase’s physical comedy prowess but it feels forced. Although, admittedly, Pierce groaning “Damn my talent!” got a smile out of me. But the overall feeling I got from the storyline was that the writers have no idea what to do with either character.

The more humorous subplot by far is Shirley and her reactions to Abed’s student films. He’s creating movies based on the group which somehow predict the group’s actions and reaction. Sure the first time Abed’s film was shown, it was to demonstrate a different side of Abed we haven’t seen, and now it’s used for absurd hilarity. But it somehow works. Abed predicting the different characters’ reactions was a pretty good shout-out to some critics calling the show predictable. And it led to Abed thinking he had foresight and thinking there might be a werewolf.

In the end, as Abed predicted, Annie and Jeff kiss. Then the camera cuts to Britta in disgust. I got the feeling the writers were saying “Oh hey, remember Britta? Don’t you feel sad for her?” Sadly yes,  and no. Again, I don’t care about Jetta.

But hey, the Human Being mascot returned, and the credit tag was the Cool Abed Film version of Abed and Troy doing the Spanish rap Abed and Troy did in the credit tag of the second episode. Oh glorious callback jokes.

Jeff’s storyline led to the interesting character mix of Jeff and Abed. The mix is no Abed and Troy, but they play off each other extremely well. They have a few back and forth’s such as “I like to put Hot Cocoa mix in cold milk and drink it like a cold hot chocolate. I call it ‘Special Drink.’” “And some day you will know it by its true name, ‘Diabetes’” But where the great humor in this storyline is the slow role reversal between Abed and Jeff. First Jeff is the straight man where the hijinks come from Abed. Then Jeff sees Abed’s way of life, and they meet on even ground. Finally, Abed becomes the straight man to disheveled Jeff, and Abed realizes that Jeff needs to go back to his old life (a realization he vocalizes using “E.T.”)

The Annie and Troy storyline led to more sadness than laughs. I mean when Patton Oswalt can’t cause a laugh in a storyline, that’s saying something. But, in this storyline we get back to the premise of the show of “It’s like Breakfast Club- minus the breakfast,” and the storyline seems ripped out of a John Hughes teen flick (yes, he did other flicks also).

I didn’t talk about the Pierce band storyline because it pretty much fell flat. Maybe Chevy Chase wanted additional physical humor to work with, but the scene felt forced. The only part that got a chuckle out of me was the credit tag, which is the first in the series to not feature Abed or Troy.

Again, same deal as the past. Jeff is the focus of the main plotline. This time, he’s trying to sleep with Professor Not-Britta (IMDb says her name was Professor Slater, but are we going to split hairs? That’s who she is this episode.). But his friends get in the way as they need him to come to Annie’s party so it’ll be a hit. So Jeff’s dilemma is “hot girl or friends?” You got 3 guesses on a 50/50 question to guess who he picked.

The subplot concerns Pierce who, dressed as Beastmaster to be hip, switches pills with recurring background character Starburns (because he has sideburns….shaped like stars [I know I’m being unfair her because the writers are trying to add some background characters to this world and Starburns isn’t an annoying character, but really?]). Pierce gets (heavily implied, though never said) esctacy while Starburns gets prostate medicine. Hilarity ensues.

The writers again prod with Jetta with Shirley asking Britta if she minded Jeff going after Professor Not-Britta. Britta says she doesn’t. Then later in the episode, Britta breaks a statue in Professor Not-Britta’s office. Okay. She has feelings for her but doesn’t want to admit them? Or does she just like breaking things? Either way, I don’t really care, and the series never really gives you a reason to care except “Hey, they’re pretty and blonde(ish). They should be together.” And I would discount this as a fault of the series except the show is so self-reflexive that it might be the point.

But back to the plotlines. They converge when Pierce, in his bad trip, traps himself in a precarious fort made out of chairs and desks. And Jeff, naturally, is the only one who can get him out. Jeff manages to convince Pierce to get out, but not before he accidentally breaks the fort. I could describe what happens next, but visuals are better than words.

Yes. Abed dressed as Batman saves the day. Yes. Yes. So much yes. And actually, that scene is a perfect metaphor for the series up to and including this episode. Typical sitcom saved from banality by Abed.

Also in that scene with Abed’s bat voice-over (only through hindsight, though), is the pairing up of Annie and Jeff which we see culminates two episodes later. Also, Troy is narcissistically oblivious which plays a heavy role in the next episode.

The A plot has Jeff coerce Troy into football so that his face isn’t smeared onto all the Greendale flyers and his credibility as a lawyer destroyed. The B plot concerns Britta’s misunderstanding of women group bathroom breaks. Weaving in between the two plots is Annie. Her feelings for Troy come out at random bursts as she tries to help Troy with Astronomy homework until Troy shuts her out when he reverts to being a jock, and Annie goes to Shirley and Britta for emotional support. Allison Brie has the neurotic nerd girl down pat, like Elliot from Scrubs but without the stories of people killing themselves. Not sure if that’s a plus or a minus.

Did you notice something? The episode didn’t concern Jeff and Britta’s not-relationship.

Dr. Cox, what have you got to say about this (at 0:14)?

Noted.

Needless to say, I’m glad it got away from this. It was really bogging the show down with trite fodder. It made room for Jeff and Troy’s back and forth about what’s racist, Pierce and the Dean making up a panracial mascot for the Human Beings (the students “have been called animals most of their lives,” the dean comments), and Troy devolving into the high school ass  former self with politically conservative raps. I can’t make this stuff up.

Another absence of note: Abed. He only appears before the opening credits and during the closing credits. Abed again breaks the fourth wall by insinuating they’re a part of television show and comments on the Jeff-Britta -all right, in case I’ll be saying this a lot in the subsequent blogs, I’m calling it Jetta- on Jetta saying “will-they-won’t-they.” That gives me solace as it seems the writers are as bored with them as I am.

Other comments:

• I liked the callback to the second episode at the end with Jeff calling Annie “my lady” and her replying with “my lord.”
• The B plotline was pretty weak, but it served its purpose with Annie.
• I like that they’re letting Donald Glover play up the ass in his oblivious ass role. Fans of Derrick Comedy know he can do that well. Just check out “Girls Are Not To Be Trusted”.
• The credit tags. This show should be watched if only for the credit tags.

I’ve got 238 words left? Shoot. Fine. Jeff and Britta work out their not-friendship-but-kind-of-friendship relationship. Pierce is asked by Annie to create a school song. Abed messes with Troy.  Jeff and Britta still aren’t together. Pierce acts crazy. Abed continues to provide most of the laughs.

196? Damn.

Okay, seriously writers. Where’s the potential that you guys showed in the pilot and subsequent two episodes? This one and the last one were pretty same-y, and I know you guys are better than that. Hell, each episode tag over the credits shows that you’re better than traditional sitcom fodder. Either put Jeff and Britta together or don’t. And when you make up that decision, let them do other things. Jim and Pam got away with three seasons of will-they-won’t-they because there was a fiancé and a girlfriend that lasted multiple episodes. Either add significant people to their lives that last more than one episode, or just put them together for one episode and break them up forever because all this pandering around is pretty boring.

To the writer’s credits though, at least they didn’t put Jeff and Britta together next to the pool emphasizing that they were * ahem * taking the plunge. (Mimes barfing) I wiped the sweat off my brow, thinking, “Whew, thank God, they didn’t.” And, hey, they added more Troy and Abed, and more Abed is always a good thing. Characters like Abed make me not want to doubt the writers, but moments like the pool turn a giant 180 in my expectations.

Writers- shit or get off the pot. I say this because I like this show and its characters and don’t want to see it become a bunch of wasted potential.

Frank out.

Today’s episode we see Jeff deal with Britta in a relationship with a hippie. Naturally, he immediately makes fun of him with Shirley the gossipy middle-aged black woman. I forget where I’ve seen that before. This leads to some good laughs, with some good riffs on Pierce calling him “Inspector Gadget” (he buys “ear oculars” for some reason or another). In typical sitcom fashion, things get out of hand, leading Britta and hippie into breaking up at the end of the episode. It’s all somewhat the norm of other sitcoms, but it still has some good lines to keep it fresh.

Where the episode really shines is Annie’s pyschological experiment with Professor Duncan (John Oliver, returning for the first time since the pilot). She brings Abed and Troy as test subjects where they sit in a waiting room for the test to start, unbeknownst to them that is the test. Making the most out of 2 minutes of screentime is Señor Chang being the first subject to fail the test in a rage of Bobby Knight proportions, complete with chair throwing. There is no reason for him to be there other than for whacky hilarity, but it works. Funnier is Troy’s extreme reaction complete with yelling at Annie and dragging himself out of the room. But the best is Abed’s nonreaction to waiting in a room for 26 hours, making Porfessor Duncan the unwitting subject of the Duncan Principle. Annie, livid, asks why Abed stayed in the room. Abed responds because they are friends, like Chandler and Phoebe (Abed being Phoebe and Annie Chandler, naturally), turning hilarity into sweet on a dime.

Other comments:

• Chevy Chase is again part of the most minor of plotlines being the crazy guy, which is for the best. His character works in small doses.
• Annie and Troy is being set up, but it seems as though the writers may be putting Abed for a triangle. Not sure how that’ll work, but we’ll see.
• The over-the-credits tag continue to be great. It also continued the tradition of calling Jeff’s character Ryan Seacrest, which never seems to get old.
• Abed and Troy are quickly becoming two great characters that play off each other, like Oscar and Kevin in The Office or Dr. Kelso and Dr. Cox in the later years of Scrubs.

Edit: I forgot to add an error in the writing of the episode. A true hippie/ultimate frisbee player would not refer to Ultimate Frisbee as Ultimate Frisbee. He/She would refer to the game as Ultimate. Frisbee is a trademark by the Whamo! Corporation (like Kleenex). An Ultimate player would know that and refer to a frisbee as a disc instead.

This week’s A plotline concerned Jeff trying to breeze through an “Accounting” course with a teacher who’s taken Dead Poet’s Society a little too seriously, which leads to a very non-serious class. Unfortunately for Jeff, the professor (played by John Michael Wiggins) doesn’t fall for his charm. So Jeff goes tries extremely hard to “seize the day” without ever seizing it, and the professor threatens to fail him if he does not carpe diem by the end of the week. Hilarity ensues in the form of a crazy outfit and paying several girls to perform Double Dutch so that Jeff can enter it spontaneously. Admittedly, when the class was taken out of the classroom was just Jeff screwing around was the weakest part of the episode. Letting Wiggins do his Robin Williams parody in the classroom more than made up for it though.

The B plotline had Britta interfere with Abed’s life as he wanted to study film, but his father refused to pay for it; through a series of events, Britta has the responsibility of taking care of Abed put upon here….all the while Abed is filming her (and Jeff’s) reactions for his film class. In the previous blog, I said I wanted to see Abed’s father, and this fulfilled it. The scenes had laughs, but most unexpected is what happened at the end. In the pilot, we find out that Abed’s father is angry because his mother left. And since the audience inferred that Abed tells his life story to anyone who cares to hear, that was the end of that story. What we find out, through a hilarious 5-minute movie that makes the average David Lynch film look sensible, that Abed secretly thinks that his father believes that Abed was the reason his mother left.

That’s a turn out of left field and a welcome one. It’s where we start to peel away at the layers of the supporting cast. Last week was Pierce, now we’re seeing more of Abed. And there was the line of dialogue concerning Shirley’s failed marriage. Here’s to hoping the show continues to let the side characters shine.
Other comments:

• The cold open was great. Jeff betting that Pierce would break “the most racist thing I’ve ever heard” to Pierce breaking it in less than a minute. I had to catch Jeff’s comment on hulu because I was laughing so hard at Pierce’s statement
.• Looking forward to next episodes: the writers are setting up Troy and Annie along with Shirley and Pierce as romantic pairs.
• The look on Jeff’s face at the end when Britta kisses him was intriguing character development. Jeff thought he was in control of his courting of Britta, only for her to end up kissing him, and not out of feeling for him, but being even with him for his help with Abed.
• Like last week’s episode: there was a minor subplot involving two characters. This week it was Pierce trying to help Troy with his hilariously girly sneeze.

Regarding the comment on last week’s post about character overload, the series manages to avoid it. The A plotline concerns only Jeff and Pierce, while the B plotline concerns mostly Britta, but with a lesser extent Annie and Shirley. Abed and Troy have a total screentime of around 3 minutes, both providing some good laughs, but that’s all that’s seen of them.

However, the series also introduces a new character the Spanish teacher, Señor Chang as played by Ken Jeong (currently most famous as “Naked Chinese Guy Who Jumps Out Of Trunk” from The Hangover). But the introduction is understandable, as the main characters have Spanish together, and Spanish is the only reason they were brought together in the first place. Where John Oliver’s psychology professor disappeared to, I do not know. While it would have been nice to have a few lines of dialogue concerning his disappearance, I understand why the writer’s dropped his character. It was only a device to make Jeff actually work in Community College, and now that Jeff’s working, the psych professor no longer has a necessity.

But the A plotline concerned Jeff and Pierce working on a Spanish dialogue. What was supposed to be a simple assignment, Pierce blows up into an enormous Spanish epic…containing none of the Spanish phrases needed to pass the assignment. Jeff wants to pass so he can be rid of the class and the college itself, while trying to get a date from Britta at the same time. So the quicker Jeff can be rid of Pierce, the sooner he can turn his attention to Britta who still kind of hates him for Jeff’s taking advantage of people. I say kind of because if she really did hate him, you’d think she’d just leave the group. But without her in the group, there’s no sexual tension, and gags and giggles can only go so far. Pierce, meanwhile, is trying way too hard to be friends with Jeff because Pierce feels that if he becomes friends with Jeff, he’ll be closer to the group.

The B plotline concerns Britta’s experience traveling abroad to places like Nicaragua where the people can’t speak their mind for fear of being killed by the government. Upon hearing this, Shirley and Annie decide to protest…by selling brownies and making a piñata in the form of a man who was beat to death by government officials. After initially dismissing this “protest,” Britta realizes she does nothing for causes and better this than nothing, right?

By the end, Jeff realizes that school isn’t only about grades, it’s about making friends. Britta realizes that she’s probably being too hard on people, including Jeff. So at the end of the episode, the audience is left with a step forward to the Jeff-Britta relationship without actually kick-starting it. Jeff still needs to change- a lot- to be someone that Britta can truly see in that way, but he’s moving in the right direction. At the same time Britta is getting to be a little less self-righteous so that she can accept Jeff. And Pierce makes a friend. Aw.

Other comments:
• The side characters stole the show, Pierce especially as he has the most screentime of all the side characters.
• However, Abed keeps stealing what little time he had, from asking for Jeff’s shirt to showing up later in Jeff’s shirt. I want to know more about Abed and why he is the way that he is. His father was mentioned in the pilot, and I want to see that interaction between father and son.
• Ken Jeong is playing Señor Chang with a little too much of King Argotron in Role Models, like petting a student’s face with the back of his hand. That, while funny, takes me out the show and is just a little too whacky.
• While for now and two episodes in, it’s okay that the only focus is on Jeff and Britta, I’d like to focus on other characters in later episodes. While entertaining, Jeff and Britta are the least interesting characters of the bunch. And I know that’s usually the case in most sitcoms with the main characters being the most normal, but I want to know more about the failure jock, Troy. Or Abed. Actually, just Abed would be fine.
• I have no idea what the flag of Israel is doing in a Spanish skit called the Two Conquistadors, but I like it. Mucho.

What the series is at its core, is a bunch of idiots put into a room. If they weren’t idiots, they wouldn’t be at Community College, right? But these idiots are also a bunch of characters that appear from other, current sitcoms. Chevy Chase is the creepy old guy, similar to what Creed Bratton is doing on The Office. Allison Brie is the tight-ass solely concentrating on work, like a less Christian Angela from The Office. Yvette Nicole Brown plays the older black woman who “don’t take no sass from nobody,” like LaVerne did in Scrubs. Joel McHale plays the somewhat likeable main character, although if the viewer were to list his personality traits, he/she would be unable to say why. Gillian Jacobs plays the straight-man (or woman in this case) who is the surrogate for viewer. And Danny Pudi plays the oblivious idiot from every sitcom ever.

That being said, the script seems aware that it’s copying from other sitcoms. The opening scene shows the dean of the college wearing the exact attire that Dwight Schrute wears on The Office, shown immediately before Community. Also, Joel McHale’s Jeff Winger says, “Marry me!” in a possible nod to Arrested Development. So while it is taking from other sitcoms, Community is well aware of it and tries to put its own uniqueness. Case in point is Danny Pudi’s Abed. He is the oblivious idiot that is every sitcom (Michael in The Office, Randy in My Name is Earl, every single character in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia), but he makes it his own. He talks fast and is interested in everyone and anyone’s personal life at the same time telling his own life story without ever realizing how this might affect people.

The pilot introduces many characters in such a short amount of time (around eight). I almost felt overwhelmed, but each character was different and had his/her own funny quirks that I let it slide. A problem that the writers will hopefully avoid is how to prevent character overkill, similar to what happened on the previous two seasons of Heroes, giving every single character screen time that it doesn’t allow for character development.. For the pilot, the large amount of characters is fine; the pilot needed to introduce who the series will follow along with adding some laughs, and it did that very well. I laughed. I laughed a lot. I plan on seeing what whacky hijinks this series has in store.