NBC’s ‘Community’ season 5, episode 7 review: Kickpuncher returns, and a Britta battle
At first, “Community’s” return following the Olympics tonight was not something that we enjoyed nearly as much as we really wanted to. While there were some good assorted moments with it here and there, it really felt like the story was a little too disjointed, and could have done so much more to produce big laughs.
But, the funny thing with this show is that it can recover from a slow start, and build to something that is both funny and memorable. We’re not going to say that “Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality” was the greatest thing that the show has ever done, but there were a number of nice little heartfelt moments. For example, seeing Britta actually realize that she doesn’t need the acceptance or approval of someone else to be happy … and then having Professor Duncan tell it to her at a time when he could have taken the easy road and tried to sleep with her in the most pathetic way possible.
The story with Duncan and Jeff at the end was a nice little reminder that these two characters knew each other before the pilot, and are the closest thing that each other have to real friends. Hey, they have partied together … and with Magnitude and various other people.
When it comes to the other characters, Annie and Shirley were mostly absent during this story, and the Abed / Hickey story was nice from an emotional point of view. They each learned a little bit from each other, and decided that they actually were perfect collaborators now on a movie project that they could make together.
We don’t even know how to properly talk about that story with Chang, mostly because we have no real idea at all what in the world was going on here with it. There is some humor in him having an existential crisis, but this is a story that was a little too far out of left field … even for this show. Episode Grade: B-
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Photo: NBC
Mike Pooler
March 4, 2014 @ 9:10 pm
Me and the people I tweet with loved it like crazy. We put our heads together about Chang’s episode (as in mental) and figured out that it was caused by the phone arguement with his ex-wife. You’d have to know her name, their history, and caught him saying it to have a chance of realizing that. It was also a homage to The Shining, which I caught at about 8:12, but everyone agreed on with the last shot. You’re right that Community episodes tend to grow & age well, and a lot of reviews are like yours in that the first-impressions are not always the best! Thanks!