*Spoiler Ahead*
Since heading to Yahoo, Community has had issues with how exactly to pace it’s episodes now that it has no strict runtime to follow. The first three episodes of this season have either felt too crammed or too drawn out, which has kept them from being truly great. This week, however, the show manages to hit the sweet spot and also has it’s longest episode to date. “Queer Studies” manages to use it’s runtime to tell three stories that manage to be engaging and fleshed out while also giving just about the entire cast something to do, all while keeping that manic energy that makes Community special.
The best of the three centers on Dean Pelton, who is offered a position on the board if he openly states he’s gay. The show has always played coy about The Dean’s sexuality and it continues to play it smart by making the issue of his sexuality much more complex than a simply “gay or straight” dichotomy. Pelton is willing to lie if it means getting ahead, if only slightly. It also makes him something of a role model to the gay men and women on campus. He’s eventually forced to make some tough choices and eventually loses his board position after coming out as “openly political.” The story does a great job of poking fun at the role sexuality plays in a person’s life and how it can help and hinder someone. The episode also messes with the expected story beats, something it does elsewhere as well, by making it much too simple for The Dean to put himself under the banner of “gay dean.” As he is quick to point out to his fake partner, Domingo, “I make gayness look like Mormonism.”
Elsewhere, Chang is planning to audition for a role in Greendale’s upcoming stage production of The Karate Kid. He hopes to land the role of Daniel-san despite his race and age. Annie attends the audition for moral support but ends up landing the role of Daniel-san when she gets noticed in the crowd by the director (the fantastic Jason Mantzoukis.) Chang, meanwhile, gets the role of Mr. Miyagi. This story mainly is an excuse to get Mantzoukis’ character to yell horrible things at Chang while they attempt to make a serious play out of The Karate Kid. The story takes a neat turn when the director reveals that he is attempting to drive a pure performance out of Chang as Miyagi is the real lead and he knows the potential that lies in him, despite Annie’s belief that she was the lead this whole time. It does a decent job of humanizing Chang, something that was sorely needed after seasons of him growing more and more ridiculous. It also gives us lots of shots of the cast enthralled by Chang’s performance in the play, which ends up being some of the funniest parts of the episode.
Finally, Greendale’s wi-fi is down and The Dean decides to assign Elroy with the task of being the new IT man. He also assigns Abed as Elroy’s friend, because he can do that now. This serves a two-fold purpose of giving Elroy a reason to be in the group and giving Abed someone he can consistently have fun stories with. It helps that Keith David and Danny Pudi have a good dynamic going on. Elroy is convinced to guard the bird’s nest that is causing the wi-fi issues by Abed but the two are forced to move the nest. This story gets the least amount of focus and suffers a little for it but gets to end the episode on a slightly light-hearted note as Abed and the gang free the only bird from the nest that survived.
In the end, Community manages to offer up a funny and compelling episode that reminds me why I fell in love with it in the first place. I can only hope this is the start of the season kicking into gear and that we can expect even greater things from here on out.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- I can’t really say I was expecting a parody of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” to the tune of “Gay Dean” but I’m not complaining.
- To add insult to injury, Annie is eventually replaced in the play by her rival, Annie Kim.
- “Donkey Kong my ass, that’s Construction Snake!”
- “You waste of a soul-shaped hole forgotten by god.”
- “You make me embarrassed to have thumbs.”
- “Maybe we all lost a button.”
If you’d like to give me feedback or just chat about Community you can email me at theSuperAlbino@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter @JesseSwanson