NBC’s ‘Community’ season 5, episode 2 review: Nicholas Cage … good or bad?

Even in the world of “Community,” one of the last things that we ever expected to see unfold was a complete breakdown of the acting resume of a certain Nicholas Cage. Is the actor really good or bad?

We already believe that we may have the answer to that question raised at one of Greendale’s newest classes: Good, mostly because it brought us so much entertainment tonight. Danny Pudi playing Cage was beyond awesome as Abed had a nervous breakdown after trying to figure out the answer to the class’ question, and the rest of the episode that followed brought up nearly as many laughs.

If there was a problem with this second episode of the season, it was that it almost tried to do too much. You were introducing Jonathan Banks as Professor Hickey, an interesting new character who was actually at the study group table at the end. Does this mean that he has replaced Pierce? It may as well, since he is going to be a part of almost every episode the rest of the season. The “Jeff as a teacher” story started a little slow, but it moved very quickly after and ended up to be uproarious when the true meaning of an A- was revealed to the student body.

Moving forward, the big question when it comes to “Community” is trying to see if the rest of the season can keep this same quality up. There still isn’t really much of an explanation for Donald Glover’s exit, and there are only just a small handful of episodes left until that happens. Grade: A- (or an A, take your pick to reference the show again).

What did you think about this “Community” episode: Did it improve even more on the premiere? Share your thoughts with a comment below.