This week Community begins where all good stories should begin — with the make-up of Trobed (unlike last week’s forced apology, this was a real make-up, handshake and all.) Pierce laments the fact that everyone seems to have a best friend but him, but before the group can get start an argument, Dean Pelton arrives to share his newest obsession — trains. All in favor of admitting you missed the Dean Pelton costume parade, say ‘aye!'(Aye!)
Dean Pelton tells them that they need to abide by the rules because the traveling circus is coming to town. This seems to pique Britta’s interest, and when she confirms the name, she realizes that it’s the carnival that employs her ex-boyfriend, Blade (Parks & Recreation‘s Kirk Fox.) Yes, Blade as in the same name that Wesley Snipes harbors in his famous vampire movies. The group barely has a chance to get over their laughter about this before Britta admits to them that she needs her friends to help her — she knows that he’s bad for her, but if she doesn’t stay away, she’s going to end up doing things she regrets. Hey, points to Britta for at least attempting to look out for herself.
As Jeff enjoys his new locker arrangements and Annie enjoys Jeff’s brief bout of gratuitous shirtlessness, Britta manically arrives and asks Annie to take her phone so that she can go into lockdown. She also asks to stay with Annie, Troy and Abed so that they can be sure she doesn’t run off to find Blade while he’s in town. Meanwhile, Vice Dean Laybourne and his ponytail go to visit Dean Pelton and Laybourne convinces him to try to work his magic on Troy.
Thanks to the earlier study group discussion, Troy and Abed are spending the night watching Blade, which obviously doesn’t sit well with Britta. Like any good junkie (or really, anyone obsessively connected to technology), she becomes desperate in her attempts to reclaim her phone, despite Annie’s arguments. Troy accidently lets it slip that Britta’s phone is hidden in the fridge and Britta goes crazy, which leads the group to be forced to lock her in Annie’s room. And then things take an even weirder turn — the Dean shows up for ‘boys night’in his pajamas. Oh, Dean Pelton…
We got a few nice scenes of Jeff and Shirley bonding as they went off on their own mission to stalk Blade at the carnival. Shirley called Jeff out on being jealous of Blade, but Jeff denies it — and then spends about $300 on Blade’s shooting booth trying to figure out information, all the while becoming more and more competitive and frustrated. Meanwhile, Pierce, still upset that he’s been left out of the ‘best friend’loop in the study group, latches onto Chang. Things go seemingly great until Chang decides they should have a fight and leaves in a huff, causing Pierce to be sad all over again.
As Annie and Britta bond, Britta slyly uses sentimental friendship speak to sweet-talk Annie into returning her phone (I would be upset at how diabolical this was, especially for someone like Annie, but it’s Britta so are we really surprised?) Annie relents, which surprises Troy and Abed until Annie reveals that she switched Blade’s number — when she texts, it’ll go to Annie’s phone instead. This seems like a rather perfect idea on Annie’s end — at least until Britta starts obsessively texting Blade, harping on her co-dependency, her need for sex and her undying love. Troy becomes increasingly more upset with the situation and Annie finally decides try to get her to stop by giving into her antics. Wrong move, Annie. Britta ends up calling and the four have a hysterical moment where they pretend to be Blade at a carnival (nice acting chops, as usual, by the wonderful Alison Brie.)
Can we say ‘poor Troy?’We haven’t seen much of the Troy/Britta relationship lately and I wondered at times if it had been dropped completely — but tonight definitely reminded us that Troy’s affection for Britta is still a force to be reckoned with. He finally gets fed up and tells Annie he knows Britta and he knows what will get her stop: not giving in, but doing the exact opposite of what she’s attracted to (aka, being nice.) True to form, Britta finally emerges, upset by Blade apparently curteous response and claims he isn’t the man she used to know. This upsets Troy even further, and he retreats to his blanket fort to be depressed while Dean Pelton attempts to (pathetically) drop the Air Conditioning Repair Annex bombshell. When Annie admits to Britta that it was her that she was texting, Britta surprisingly isn’t upset — rather, she’s ecstatic, because it means that he’s not a ‘loser.’As she goes to leave, she runs into Jeff who has finally found out what Blade’s secret is. He apparently has legitimate brain damage that causes him to feel no shame (seriously, only Community could come up with someone like this and have it feel like a normal part of the conversation.) Jeff gives his classic speech, reminding us that we need to stop hating ourselves — a bit convoluted, but hey, I missed the Winger Speech Sessions, so I really can’t complain. He’s interrupted by Pierce, who has joined the apartment party after his fight with Chang.
Despite the fact Troy is still slightly upset with the whole situation, the group (minus Shirley and the Dean) end up finishing Blade together, seemingly enjoying themselves and each other’s company. The tag for the episode is Abed doing a stand-up routine in the study room for Troy, Jeff and Dean Pelton. Obviously, Troy is the only one who thinks Abed is hysterical (Troy and Abed back together!)
What did you think of the episode?
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