Have I mentioned to any of you guys lately how glad I am that Community is back? Well I’m very glad. It’s so hard for me to imagine a world without this show. No matter if it’s on NBC, Yahoo, or whatever prominent streaming service exists next, watching it makes my heart happy. Of course, on top of that, it makes me laugh!!
This week on Community: The school board offers Dean Pelton a position, but he must come out as gay to receive it. Meanwhile, Chang and Annie are cast in a stage adaptation of The Karate Kid, Annie as Danny and Chang as Mr. Miyagi. Abed and Elroy are tasked with fixing Greendale’s wi-fi, but they don’t want to move a bird’s nest to do it.
There has been some really great material in this season of Community. As often happens with a perpetual bubble sitcom, I was worried that the show would eventually lose that spark. They lost it for a while in Season 4, but it has since returned with such vengeance. Not only is it funny, but it’s attacked stories with such bravado. The “Gay Dean” story was one of my favorites that Community has done, maybe ever. It’s not only hilariously entertaining, but also poignant. It points to people being more than their sexuality, and I whole-heartedly support the truth in that. Also, the “Gay Dean” song…priceless. I really hope I can get that on iTunes in the near future.
Was anybody else absolutely thrilled to see Chang get a victory? They’ve done so many ridiculously insane things with Chang that I never know what to think. My favorite, of course, was when he was the Spanish teacher that didn’t really know Spanish, but I appreciated evil mastermind Chang also. However, he’s been through a lot of stories in which he was an imbecile or a sad sack. Seeing him give a great performance that impressed the others (even though there would never ever be a stage version of The Karate Kid) was both refreshing and compelling. He, like Jerry Gergich before him, got his long awaited but well-deserved victory. The whole cast is riveting, but I’m especially impressed by Ken Jeong’s performance.
All in all, another stellar episode from the Greendale gang. I’m having just as much fun as I ever was, and I owe it all to Yahoo. Community is just as funny, meta, and weirdly emotional as it’s ever been.
Here are some of my favorite quotes/moments from the episode:
-“We HAVE oxygen. We need Wi-Fi.”- Elroy
-The whole thing about the IT lady being terrible (Paget Brewster appeared as IT lady Debra Chambers in “Analysis of Cork-Based Networking” last season).
-“I’m not openly anything, and gay doesn’t even BEGIN to cover it.”- Dean Pelton
-Jeff and Dean’s silent conversation about Frankie’s sexuality.
-The “Gay Dean” song/montage.
-“YOU ARE THE WORST ACTOR I HAVE EVER DIRECTED, AND I DIRECTED BOTH WAHLBERGS!”- The Director
-“I’m a big fan of the performing arts, but I’ll go to Chang’s play anyway”- Elroy. Old man jokes are the best.
-The Dean weeping at Chang’s performance was one of the best things, ever.
-The return of M’lady/M’lord
What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the episode as much as I did? Let us know in the comments!
[Photo via Yahoos Screen]
