tvdinner&amovie

Previously on Community: Virtual Systems Analysis

I decided to stage a 1-person boycott against Law and Order: SVU at the end of season 12 after Christopher Meloni left the show. No matter how dreamy I find Mr. Harry Connick Jr., there was no way I wanted to enter a parallel universe that left Benson without Stabler. Basic Lupine Urology gave me the opportunity to revisit a show I once loved and enjoy a show I’m currently obsessed with, while holding steadfast to my outraged, yet silent boycott.

I avoided any potential spoilers because I didn’t want anything to ruin the perfection I was imagining when they first announced that this episode was in the works. However, I spend at least half my days week on the Internet, so it was inevitable that I’d stumble upon some teaser from Community‘s homage to Law and Order. Fortunately, it was nothing more than a few stills from the opening theme. No biggie. Avid (and bored) fans set the stage for this months ago (Arrested Development and Buffy were my personal favorites). But I found myself wondering…would Steven Zirnkilton provide the opening narration (“In the criminal justice system…”)…could I depend on Troy and Abed to give me some Tutuola and Munch-style back and forth….and most importantly, are Annie and Jeff going to resurrect that Stabler/Benson sexual tension or did last week’s realization that she only loves love and not Jeff ruin any hopes of that?? The short answer(s): No, yes….kinda?

Typical Annie wants to save the group’s grade when their yam (Pam the Yam) experiment is destroyed, while typical Jeff wants to catch the culprit quickly, utilizing the least amount of morals possible. Shirley uses her familiarity with procedural crime dramas to send Troy and Abed on the hunt to catch the perpetrator. Pierce was…well, Pierce was absent (did anyone else think for a moment that this is what the show would be like without Chevy Chase?) and Britta was pretty much MIA as well.

In what has been consistent of the second half of a pretty amazing season, Community has yet again managed to be funny and attempt a themed episode that would be a complete fail for (most) other comedies. Without further delay, here are my favorite parts of tonight’s episode:

• Professor Kane is a fan of Mama’s Family. Vicki Lawrence was HI-LAR-IOUS.
• “We can’t both do the zinger” -Abed
  
• “Youth! Scatter!” -Leonard
  
• Given his last interaction with the group and Annie practically making him cry on the witness stand, is it safe to assume Todd will play a villain on the next paintball episode?
• Britta’s brief appearance portrayed her as the Instagram specialist; however, as a psych major she would have done quite well filling the “George Huang” role.
• Abed can’t tell time, but it’s fine because he’s gifted in other ways.
• Magnitude cameos, while brief, are ALWAYS appreciated. Pop! Pop!
• When Troy was dressed in the cardigan and glasses during the “sting operation” was anyone else, just for a moment thinking he would mention pooping his pants and skateboarding? Just me then? Fine.
• I believe Shirley was Captain Don Cragen.

• Troy’s tie? Yet another lovely nod to ‘Donald Glover for Spiderman’.
• Were we all that shocked that Star-burns was building or had something to do with building a meth lab? He’s never really kept his side gig as a drug dealer a secret (See: Introduction to Statistics and Introduction to Political Science)
• The Miranda warning should now, and forever, end with a polite “please and thank you.”
• Did you ever think you would hear Omar Little utter the words, “I’m upholding the pinky swear”?
• The word ‘pedophile’ has now been used twice in the last three episodes. That’s not interesting, just something I noticed.
• Codette: The girl version of the man code….according to Jeff.
• Neil boiled the yams for Vicki, so they could have sex during the warm summer nights. However, Neil loses his keymaster position and has to go to summer school, which negates the whole point of the crime….still a better love story than Twilight (some might say).
• “I fell asleep in a sun beam” -Pierce
  “Likely story” -Abed
  “Actually it is. I used to live with him. It’s sort of adorable” -Troy
• Star-burns Alex is dead. There’s that “oh wow, didn’t see that coming!” ending Law and Order has perfected over the years.
• Where does the word ‘bunk’ come from? This could be the wrong answer, but it sounds pretty good.

Troy and Abed off to dreammm-land. Sweet Deans everyone!

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.