[This was written last night, before I realised Blogger decided it didn't like working for ages.]
Well that was fun, wasn't it?
'Community's first season was almost exclusively brilliant episodes from start to finish, and though the win/loss ratio for Season 2 is far more debatable, I feel like these two episodes should go down as two of the best 'Community' has produced so far.
Considering that 'Modern Warfare' seemed to be the most popular episode from Season 1, Dan Harmon et al were going to have a difficult time coming up with a sequel that felt fresh. Going with the Western & Star Wars themes (though the latter was a much looser fit) was definitely a good move, as it gave the writers something else to parody, rather than movie shootouts themselves.
And I think I actually preferred tonight's second installment, mainly because I've never been a huge fan of westerns, but am a much larger Sci-Fi fan.(*) Though I got all the references of Part 1 and adored the wonderful Josh Holloway (who even got to use a nickname: 'Bean Allergy'!), I felt like 'For A Few Paintballs More' was written for me. Abed instantly taking on the role of Han Solo, the opening crawl ending with 'Let's not drag this on' (or something to that effect), the Empire parody from City College's Dean Spreck, all great stuff. Only a Princess Leia-bikini clad Annie punching Jar Jar Binks in the face could have made me happier.
(*)It's a shame this was the finale, and that there wasn't a third part to the Paintball Saga 2011 - all throughout this episode I kept wondering what a Western/Sci-Fi mix would be like, then remembered all the 'Firefly' references we've had this year. If only. If gorram only.
I also loved just pretty much all of the action sequences, but the stand out for me was the one mentioned in my title post - Britta and Shirley in the buggy shooting down the 'Stormtroopers'. Britta and Shirley are often the least well used members of the group, so it was nice to get to see them in an awesome sequence like that. It was also a great callback to any number of movie car chases with guns that almost always rule. More than those, though, it reminded me of one of my favourite Season 1 episodes, where Annie and Shirley become security and fight over who is the 'bad-ass'.
It's been a difficult year for Pierce, who has at times been a cartoonish villain (particularly when in the wheelchair), and at others just been downright vile. It's probably the one thing I would say I struggled to get on board with this year. But if it means that Pierce gets a brilliant redemption story, where he not only wins the game but donates the £100k to Greendale? That is how you make the unpleasantness worth it, and I suspect I'll rewatch episodes with awful Pierce in a completely different light. Of course, I'm also interested in what the writers intend to do with Pierce in Season 3(**), as I was completely shocked that he didn't choose to rejoin the group. His reasoning for being an ass this year was a bit convenient, but I felt for the guy and I got a bit of a lump in my throat when he admitted that he was finished with the group. Man.
(**)And a Season 3 I was completely not expecting. Community's ratings this year have been pretty dreadful, and I was gearing myself up for losing the Greendale gang. Not only that, but NBC have renewed Parks and Recreation for another year, and rumour has it we'll be seeing more of Chuck and co. in the autumn too. It's probably not a smart move for NBC, but I'm not complaining.
Community was a show I came a little bit late to, but I'm so glad I did. Many weeks (particularly before Parks and Rec came back) it is the highlight of the NBC comedies, and I'm absolutely thrilled that I get to go back there in September.
A few other thoughts before 'The Office' comes on:
- I laughed so hard at Magnitude's diving on the paint bomb, followed by Troy's 'Pop-what?! POP-WHAAAT?!' Donald Glover screaming will never, ever, not be funny.
- I was half expecting Annie to tell Abed she loves him, with of course Abed replying 'Cool'. 'I Know' seemed too obvious.
- Speaking of that, is it possible we'll be looking at an Annie/Abed arc next season? The writers have already made it quite clear that the characters know there's not really many boundries when it comes to hooking up. I can see a scenario where Annie begins crushing on Abed and he has to learn to deal with her on a human level.
- Thought it was nice that this episode made some good use of the minor characters. I love Leonard, and Garrett, and they even gave Red-Haired Guy (and apparently that's also his name) a little cameo. Shows like 'The Simpsons' and 'Parks and Recreation' very cleverly built up a strong background set of characters, and I'm glad to see 'Community' doesn't forget its supporting players either.
- No shout out for this show on 'Cougar Town' yet, but here we get another little reference to one of my other favourite comedies right now with Laurie (Busy Phillips) and Travis (Dan Byrd) from 'Cougar Town' appearing in the background, and in the photo at the top of this post.
- This is the second of my finale reviews that I'm committing to, the first being my Fringe finale review which you can find here. I've got Chuck next week, as well as Modern Family, Cougar Town, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Parks and Rec coming up soon and a couple of others I'll likely get to. Hope you can join me for those too.
But for now, what did everyone else think?
