Wow. I’m really excited to be writing about Community. It’s been one of my favorite shows since I cheaply acquired the first season DVD’s a couple of years back. I even own a Troy and Abed in the Morning Mug (morning without the “u”). I’m afraid this intro paragraph will go on too long if I keep going so let’s just fat dog and jump right in!
To state the obvious- the show isn’t the same without Pierce and Troy. However, when mixed with the remaining study group members correctly, Duncan and Hickey can serve as more than adequate replacements. This episode is proof that Dan Harmon was the driving force of Community, and no one else. I’m convinced that Dan Harmon could keep this show funny with any cast of characters. This episode, while maybe not eventually iconic like some previous Season 5 episodes, was still in the true spirit of Community and laugh-out-loud funny. Let’s begin, shall we?
At today’s “Save Greendale” committee meeting, Duncan enlists Jeff to help him *ahem*get close to* Britta. So of course he finds a “cause” event to go to and then everyone decides to go, with the exception of Hickey (who stays silent about his weekend plans) and Abed, who plans to attend the premiere of the new Kickpuncher movie dressed like the old Kickpuncher (strangely close to the real-life premiere of the RoboCop remake…coincidence?). They should never have redesigned that costume.
After the initial meeting, we split off into two plots (I’m sure Abed could tell you about it). Most of the group attends this event for “starving children” with Britta and Duncan (nobody notices Chang, though), and Duncan’s plans are derailed by Britta running into some old anarchist friends. Chang stumbles into a room and does performance art for what may or may not have been ghosts, and Jeff and Duncan may BOTH have feelings for Britta, though Jeff only likes things when everyone else does. He “HATED Reese’s Pieces before ET at them.” Ultimately, this plotline resolved in self discovery for Britta, Jeff, AND Duncan, but I’d still like to know if Chang was performing for ghosts, or just fellow members of the “Old Timey Photos Club”. The world may never know.
In the other (slightly more entertaining) plot, Abed stops by Hickey’s office on his way to the Kickpuncher premiere. Abed tries deliberately to bond with Hickey (who has an amazing zombie apocalypse plan, by the way), and it backfires (who would’ve guessed that?!). Abed being Abed doesn’t jive with Hickey. After Hickey handcuffs Abed to a filing cabinet to keep him from his premiere, and Abed makes fun of Hickey’s “chicken” doodles (HE IS A DUCK!!), Abed and Hickey find a way to feed off of each others talents. Abed even gets Hickey’s help with a screenplay he was writing about Police Justice (SPOILER ALERT: Police Justice is the main character’s name). Abed and Hickey turning the tables on each other was one of my favorite scenes from this season so far, and we may have found another Troy/Pierce type odd-couple for our beloved Community!
This episode was a lot of fun. Revisiting the Jeff/Britta relationship, Jeff and Duncan’s friendship, and creating the Abed/Hickey dynamic all worked really well to put beloved characters in interesting situations. Chang and the ghost plot worked even better than those, and may have been the best Chang-related plot all season (except for Bear Down/Fat Dog, of course). Annie and Shirley didn’t have much to do, but they’ve had their “share of focus lately”. Well, Annie has at least. Last, we must not forget the incoherent babbling between Duncan and Dean Pelton at the end of the episode. One of the funnier bits without any coherent sentences I’ve seen all year (but, it IS only February).
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this episode:
“Which kicky punch movie is that from?! The ones you’ve seen, or the one I’m gonna watch you miss?”- Hickey
“Unlike a Dane Cook movie, someone’s watching”- Duncan
“Bullets just kinda kill ya”- Hickey (Abed’s going to use that)
If I could write everything down as a favorite quote, I totally would. I’m truly excited to be writing about one of my favorite sitcoms of all time. Hopefully there will be at least one more season (and a movie) to provide source material for me! Hopefully I’ll see you all again next week! Cool? Cool Cool Cool.
[Photo via Adam Taylor/NBC]
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