'Community' Watch: "Conventions of Space and Time"

Troy & Abed together forever! 

When NBC sent out two episodes for TV critics to review for the 4th season this was the episode they sent along with the premiere, perhaps thinking it better than people reading about the 2nd episode being Halloween themed in February,* & of the 3 reviews I read two found the premiere solid but this episode lacking & the other felt the exact opposite. So while the chance to see an episode at an Inspector Spacetime convention, the storyline Dan Harmon said he most wished he'd been able to tell, excited me  my expectations were tempered &, much like the premiere, that led to my enjoying it quite a bit despite some clear shortcomings.

*As someone who knows a number of fellow "Community" nerds & frequents Hitfix & The AV Club's reviews, & reads the well informed comments on those sites as well, I generally expect most "Community" watchers to have a good deal of knowledge both about the show itself & the behind the scenes stuff involving Dan Harmon & the various delays the last 2 seasons. Based on the comments on "Community's" facebook page though I'm apparently quite wrong as a fair number of people were ignorant as to why there was a Halloween episode on Valentine's Day, & even more annoyingly didn't seem to realize Abed's imagined laugh track version of the show in the premiere was part of that episode & nothing more. It seems for all of its fervent, intelligent, fans even "Community" has some ignorant & downright stupid ones just as "The Big Bang Theory" has some smart ones. 

What I've found fascinating about this episode is that both times I watched it I really liked it, but upon any serious reflection I end up wondering what I liked about it so much (essentially the opposite of last week's episode). The biggest problem is that while Troy & Abed's story follows the basics of what Harmon described,* of Abed having a friend Troy is jealous of, it doesn't work particularly well until the very end, which provides an emotional payoff but it never gets off the ground comedically outside of a few of Britta's observations ("Do they even have to talk? They could just touch tentacles & download.") I think one of the problems is how obvious it is from the start that Toby is a total ass trying to steal Abed away, a little subtlety would've gone a long way here––making Troy's "going psycho" funnier & Abed's realization that Toby is actually insane would've added some oomph to it rather than being something completely obvious that we'd been waiting all episode for him to figure out. Still they partially saved it towards the end, first with Abed's little smile at Toby describing him as his soul mate for realizing Inspector Spacetime is both his own grandfather & grandmother,** then his Inspector Spacetime epiphany ("But maybe there's a reason why the inspector always chooses a human companion. He's an alien but his human friends keep him grounded & invested in the world... like me & Troy") & follow up Winger moment, & finally his realization that "for the first time in [his] long history of being locked inside things*** [he] knew someone would come." It was honestly touching & proved once again that in this new season they still get the heart right even if the humor is sometimes missing.

*Harmon had imagined Richard Ayoade in the role which, & I mean no disrespect to Lucas, probably would've been way better.

**Whether it's in a chicken finger homage to mafia movies, a "My Dinner with Andre" homage, or an Inspector Spacetime convention I always enjoy when the show allows Abed's need for friendship to really shine through. Speaking of the those former two episodes though it saddens me to think of how the latter seasons have progressively ignored Jeff's relationship with Abed & Pierce which were both driving forces at the start of the series. I know part of that is the cost of the show becoming more of an ensemble, which has worked in its favor, but can't Jeff do stuff with people who have y chromosomes, besides the dean, every once in a while? Please?

***A good callback to the locker scene in "Virtual Systems Analysis."

Jeff & Annie had a rather odd storyline in that it keeps them isolated from not only the rest of the group but each other for the majority of the episode. As the name of the show suggests this a show in which the characters tend to be constantly interacting with each other so this was definitely a change of pace but, unlike the A.V. Club's Erik Adams, I thought it was relatively strong. When Jeff indifferently announces, "Sad news: they closed the ski slope. A dozen scouts got buried in an avalanche," he does so with the expectation that he & Annie will leave,* but she chooses to stay & they go their separate ways for the time being. Jeff ends up meeting a surprisingly attractive Spacetime fan** who, like many others at the convention, mistakes him for the actor who portrays the show's villain Thoraxis. That story doesn't really go anywhere, again the more I think about this episode I'm confused as to why I liked it so much, until Annie reenters but it does feature an appropriately terrible British accent by Joel McHale.

*My brother Sam posits that Jeff made this up so he & Annie could leave & truly be on their own for the weekend. On the one hand I'm skeptical since he paid for both their hotel rooms, on the other it's not like Annie didn't have a ride without him so why wouldn't he just leave rather than skulking on a hotel couch unless he was disappointed at the way things have turned out? 

**Played by Tricia Helfer of "Battlestar Galactica" fame, which is a show I'd encourage you to join me in watching on netflix. 

The true focus of this story is Annie as she retreats to her hotel room & is mistakenly labeled Mrs. Winger by room service, something she takes delight in & decides to endulge. In some ways this, & the season as a whole thus far, reduces Annie to nothing more than her relationship to Jeff* but the story adds some much needed comic momentum to the episode as Annie's clearly over her head in her charade ("What kind of scotch would your husband prefer?" "The... good kind."), &, as she did in "Mixology Cerification,"overdoes her backstory** ("My husband will finely see me not as a world famous police detective, but as a woman.") It's simply a fun little story culminated by the hotel staff thinking Jeff's cheating on her & liking Annie so much they tell & give her drinks to throw in his face. The show does all of this without going overboard in Annie's affections because, as she explains to Jeff, it was just a little day dreaming & she's "married you at least a half a dozen times, & Troy, & Zac Efron. Mostly Zac Efron."*** Obviously there's something to that, as you don't just imagine yourself marrying anyone, but it grounds the story as a simple flight of fancy & not her being hopelessly obsessed with Jeff as one might have worried.

*Of the various combinations of Jeff/Britta/Annie/Troy that the show has tried over the years this is easily the combo I'm most invested in. It's not that I have any problem with the others but McHale & Brie just have the most chemistry. 

**I loved when Jeff recounts his going to the room & finding "two coffee cups one with lipstick and one without." Technically she could've just drank out of of the one with lipstick, but I feel pretty sure she drank her cup & wiped her lipstick off to drink his. 

***Two things. First this is a good callback to Annie having a "Charlie St. Cloud" poster in her room. Second the answer is yes, I have daydreamed about being married to Alison Brie & in that daydream I'm an Emmy winning writer for a comedy I created (a combo of "The Office," "Parks and Rec," & "Community,") about a high school principle's office & starring Brie, Danny Pudi, Zachary Levi, Amy Poehler & Martin Starr. I've actually thought a lot about that show.

Lastly we had the Pierce & Shirley C-story about them screen testing an American version of Inspector Spacetime, which is actually the most effective of the stories all the way through as it skews both Pierce's general taste & the studios at large. The best moments come back to back as Shirley tries to save the American version by talking up how her friends like the original because "it's smart, complicated & doesn't talk down to it's audience," which gets her a confused look from the mustachioed executive, & then Pierce responding with, "Instead of this constable what about a blonde with long legs and a tennis racket," which is met with complete agreement from the same executive. Then it all pays off in a great tag that shows why Pierce (& Chevy Chase?) should never have too much input on a TV show.

While it wasn't quite up to par with last week's episode still another solid outing for the new, & still figuring itself out, Community.

Grade: B

Other Notes:

• Even if it undercut the end of last week's episode, where Troy & Britta didn't seem to be having sex & Britta showed interest in Inspector Spacetime, I loved the tag––especially Britta having to  swing from window sill to window sill––as they attempted, for nought, to hide their sexual relations from Abed.
• Even if he's much more down on this episode than I am Adams did mention something I touched on last week, Community's never been a particularly strong starter to seasons. 

• We need more study table!!!

• "You're on your own Al Capone."Apparently this rhyming with a celebrity's name is going to be a thing now, as Britta, Troy & now Annie have each done it. Not sure how I feel about it, but I'll bet on Jeff next. 

• "Why are people staring at you?" "Because they've never seen a man who's had sex before." I thought it was interesting Britta found that answer funny while Annie was annoyed by it, though I think it has more to do with how they felt about the convention than Jeff.

• "You never mentioned him." "Well you've been so busy lately having sex." Now that he's no longer going to be getting donuts Abed may be a little bitter. 

• I loved that Toby actually paid Abed back, assuming his check doesn't bounce, for the whole Nigeria banking thing.

• "Did you watch the Christmas special?" "Horrible." "But when you consider what it set up..." "Brilliant."I've never seen an episode of Doctor Who, let alone a Christmas special, but that exchange made me laugh. 

• "Normally we don't concern ourselves with adultery, because then hotels wouldn't exist." Easily the line of the night.

• "I can tell you one thing your fantasty got wrong. If we were married you would not have caught me flirting with another girl in a hotel bar." I should certainly hope not, you don't want to be Pete Campbell––he's such a douchebag. 

• I've never had an Apple Tini. I want one.