tvdinner&amovie

Previously on Community: Contemporary Impressionists

Remember that time Community went on a hiatus and we weren’t quite sure when, or even if, the show would be returning? We all panicked and thought how that would indeed be the darkest timeline imaginable. Well, that was nothing compared to how far my heart sank last night when Troy and Abed went from fantastic duo to two men on different sides of a war (blanket fort vs. pillow fort). It hurt, but after last week, I suppose it’s not all that surprising.

Maybe if the group wasn’t so splintered this week, they’d have noticed the the divide between the BFFs. Shirley and Pierce were too busy concocting a plan to have Britta seduce Subway in order to get Subway out of the cafeteria (sounds strange, right?). Jeff and Annie were off on their a quest to find the person who would dare dislike Jeff enough to send him hate mail.

I was torn between loving this episode from a storytelling standpoint and hating this episode for further shattering the childlike innocence of Troy and Abed’s friendship. In typical Community fashion there were so many awesome parts of this episode, but here are just a few of my favorites:

• Subway clearly has an appreciation for unappreciated NBC shows. Sorry Shirley and Pierce, but unless your sandwich shop would result in advertising dollars, I’m rooting for the franchise.
• “Another pillow fort, kind of repeating yourselves aren’t you?” -Britta, but more importantly, the self-awareness of the show’s writers.
• “All difficult things are better, like carrying a disease or holding in a fart right now.” -Troy, in better pre-war times.
• Is Pierce going senile? I think Jeff’s “uh-oh” denoted that this will get increasingly worse, which could mean it will get increasingly hilarious.
• Of course Greendale even has a Pre-Menopausal Post Feminist Experiential Marketing class and OF COURSE Britta is taking it this semester.
• Slowly raise your hand if you’d be willing to go through corpo-humanization for a brand. That has to be an awesome job for the right company!
• “Did you know that technically, Greendale students are in the Army reserves? Let’s say a little prayer for peace.” -Dean, who is not even remotely casual with his crush on Jeff at this point.
• Annie’s kangaroo Ruthie, which hides Nathan in the pouch, felt a little like season one Annie. It was cute.
• Who else would pay money to read Britta Unfiltered?
• It’s the little things that make Community great. For example, Troy and Abed had on the same outfits from Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design. Also, another Bed, Bath and Beyond reference. Viva la continuity.
• I loved Vice Dean’s ponytail so very much, but if his only contribution to the next few episodes is to use Inspector Spacetime to further distance Troy and Abed from one another, I will be glad to see him go.
• “Sorry to drop that on you and run, but there’s a rally for Garrett.” -Kim, who is a guy
  “But we saved him.” -Annie
  “Did we?” -Kim, still a guy
• Subway, the forbidden lover of Britta, was played by Travis Schuldt. If you’re familiar with Scrubs (Keith Dudemesiter) and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Ben Smith) you’ll notice that this guy has a penchant for playing the romantic interest to feisty blonds.
• The 1984 symmetry was amazing and to be a mindless corporate tool, Subway was such a romantic. The quote he started from the book (and the passage he circled) goes like this: “She had become a physical necessity, something that he not only wanted but felt that he had a right to.”
• Troy humming “Abed’s song“. The continuity continues.
• “I’m not even your sidekick. I’m your underkick.” -Troy
• Did anyone else slowly begin to despise Abed mid-way through the episode? I didn’t want to but I’m definitely Team Troy on this one.
• “Apologies are opportunities to admit your own mistakes.” -Annie, who thought she was speaking on behalf of all the women that Jeff had loved and left.
• “Who do you think I am, I lived in New York!” -Britta
  “You never lived anywhere. You’re a weapon designed for sex. You only think you lived in New York because I implanted your memories.” -Pierce, right before doing a “shot” of ink
• “Yeah, I’ll remember that when I’m being given a key to the secret Guinness Record Holders Club House where I’ll be hanging with those two fats guys on the motorcycles and being fitted for a beard of bees.” -Troy, at the start of the war
• Great to see Magnitude, along with Meggie McFadden and Dominic Dierkes, albeit briefly.
• “Hey, you are really mean!” -Kim
  “Put it in a letter Jane Austen!” -Annie with the literary burn
• “Don’t do what you always do Abed. Don’t corrupt the host to pacify the parasites.”-Vice Dean. Seriously, go away. Unless you’re going to do a Kelvin and the Zeroes performance.
• “Corporate America has destroyed love.” -Britta
  “Again?” -Annie

Nicole is a TV junkie and TVDM helps her feed a lifelong addiction. She can be found here, providing biased commentary (sprinkled with a few Pop Up Video-esque insights) on her favorite shows, every week.