One of the things that sets Community apart from other sitcoms is they fully embrace continuity. A small beat from one episode can become a major plot point in the next episode. In “Mixology Certification” it’s mentioned that Annie’s apartment is in a really bad neighborhood because that’s all she can afford. In this episode we begin to see a glimpse into her life as a whole, and of course hilarity ensues.
Annie is directing an an anti drug play to be preformed to ‘at risk’ high school students. In it Pierce plays drugs, in the form of a giant anthropomorphic pot leaf. When he wants more lines he follows Annie home to her apartment above Dildopolis, a superstore specializing in marital aids. Feeling bad for Annie and respecting her independence Pierce gives her rent money. Its just a happy coincidence that Annie is willing to rewrite the play for him. Annie and Pierce aren’t the typical comedy pairing. Of course Peirce gets carried away with himself and things get even more ridiculous. She’s usually coupled with Jeff, Britta, or Troy for hilarity. With Annie as such a tightly wound perfectionist, and Pierce playing the role of crazy old man who doesn’t give a damn about social graces, I’m surprised they aren’t played off of each other more often.The B plot of Community also was fairly solid. When Jeff tries to prank by texting one of the guys in her phone contacts, he accidentally incurs the amorous intentions of her nephew. Wait was that an incest joke? When did Arrested Development come back on the air!?
Community has many recuring gags, but one of my favorites circles around the Dean. Besides the Dean’s excessive political correctness, his pan-sexuality, and furry fetishism are hilarious. In the opening scene he shows up wearing a bee costume similar to the ones Troy and Abed are wearing for Annie’splay. Apparently it’s for his own use. It even has a ‘front stinger’. Some other gems the Dean gives us is when he muses that “Jeff Winger is attractive even as a corpse.” and steals a picture of him wearing cat ears. If I were Jeff I might want to sleep with one eye open.
On a scale of 1 to Epic, (Epic= 10) I’d give it a 8.1