Community – Spanish studyin’ is better when you’re buddyin’

I realize it’s kind of dorky, but I kind of love that the holiday hiatus Community was just on was also the students’ winter break. It was exciting seeing these characters for the first time in a month or so and having them see each other for the first time as well. Plus, they came back with a bang — or a high-kick to the nose.

One of the things that has really worked for Community is that the characters are evolving pretty much in every episode. Jeff’s whole, “I wish I were still a lawyer and I’m only here to get into Britta’s pants” joke at the beginning is a perfect example of how refreshingly self-aware these characters are. I enjoyed Jeff’s struggle with his image and role in the group, but not as much as I loved him for revealing that he’s never watched MASH.

MASH is one of those shows that’s become so pervasive in pop culture, that we continue to reference it, even though we’re so far removed that many people who can throw out a “Hot Lips” or a “Hawkeye,” have very little idea what they’re talking about. I’m guilty of it: in high school, we nicknamed our Journalism teacher Hawkeye based on two facts: his last name was Hawk, and we knew Hawkeye was a character on MASH. If someone like Abed were to ask us what our favorite episode was, I’m sure all of us would have given answers similar to Jeff’s, “The one with the Army.”

I love the fact that Community actually understands that its audience did not grow up with the show that they spend the entire episode referencing. This understanding surprised me, but it wasn’t the biggest surprise in this episode.

When they were in Spanish 102 and Senor Chang was dead, I totally fell for it. I was shocked because I hadn’t heard anything about Ken Jeong leaving the show, but dude is in a lot of movies, so I bought it. I was glad to see him back though, sporting that amazing jacket.

Also surprising was Owen Wilson‘s cameo at the end. I hadn’t heard that he was going to be on this show either, so that was a pleasant surprise. It was a nice way to wrap up Jack Black‘s storyline, but since Owen Wilson is playing a student at Greendale, now I’m hoping we’ll get to see him actually featured in a later episode. All in all, it was a strong return for Community, and a nice reminder that NBC doesn’t actually fail at everything. Just most things.

Clacked by Kona Gallagher
on Jan 14, 2010 @ 21:05 EST5EDT