Community- Episode 5.09 "VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing" Review- One plotline is better than the other

This episode wasn’t particularly stellar to my eyes; don’t get me wrong, I liked it a lot, but I sense that the two storylines have a tremendous difference on quality. I loved how Annie and Abed were figuring out who their new roommate was going to be (and that includes the crazy VCR game they played) and how it was tied down to them still dealing with Troy’s departure. It speaks really well of the show that they haven’t forgot the character at all, some shows would rather forget some characters that existed once they said their goodbyes, but Community keeps the ghost of Troy just as it would happen on real life. The other plotline with the chemistry books though… I’d say that’s what was less than stellar.

Let’s get off with the bad… or more realistically with the regular stuff. I feel that Community has been in such a great roll with this season that when I see something that seems just works but doesn’t leave an impression I tend to consider that’s a bad thing. And it’s not, seeing Shirley becoming greedy and double crossing everyone is fun, but I need more to it… there’s a lack of substance if you may.

When Jeff, Hickey and Shirley find a hidden stash of chemistry books (oh, my god… I laughed so hard when I saw the cover! I have to give this plotline that) they decide to make money out of them by selling them. Britta gets involved as they ask her to get someone who can give them a good price for the books and Chang accidentally walks into the scene, and he is both forced to confess on video he stole the books and then he is tied down. All that is kind of funny, but while I watched this plot unfold I couldn’t help but notice that something was lacking: true conflict.

Community’s best plotlines comes when there is something underlying the conflicts they face, such as last’s week power struggle between Jeff and Shirley or two weeks ago when Hickey and Abed put their own frustrations on each other which lead to a fight. This plot lacks of that and it leaves a series of events that are funny, but that have no more meaning than that, which makes it feel a little bit shallow. And the resolution is far from perfect; Shirley figures out the books are worth nothing more than 20 bucks the whole set of thousands books and then she sets them free. That’s it, the group is pretty upset with each other at the end and there’s nothing more to it.

The Abed and Annie storyline on the other hand has plenty of substance, funny moments and heart at its core. Annie’s brother have been living with them for a couple of days (since he's in town for the weekend), but Abed doesn’t come to terms with having him in the apartment, he rather have his girlfriend Rachel living with them. I can’t begin to explain how happy I was when I saw her in the episode, because the show is finally ready to give Abed the love interest he deserved.

After they share dinner with both Rachel and Anthony (Annie’s brother) for a little bit and some fails attempts to speak them up, Abed decides that the best way to choose their new roommate is by playing a VCR game… I can’t even begin to explain how much I laughed once they started playing that game. It was utterly complicated, and as Anthony and Rachel both gave up midways (well, Anthony pretty much did nothing from the word go) Annie and Abed only got more competitive and they started taking the game so seriously that they committed 100% to do it right. The whole sequence with both of them saying “BANG!” at the same time, spinning around when the tornado came, drawing cards out of dumb logic was beyond hilarious for me.

When Abed finally spills out that he wants Rachel to move in she is caught off guard and Annie brings in Anthony into the mix. Rachel leaves as she doesn’t like Abed’s reasoning for her to move in. The night is ruined, Abed’s feel bad, and Anthony is so fed up with what happened that he decides to move too because of the unresolved issues; Annie thinks at first that it is a family issue and that she was taking a moral victory when he moved in, but Anthony was actually talking about the void Troy left when he left and so he leaves too, pretty much insulted (“And screw you! What do I have to do with mom? I was 13!).

Then comes Abed’s apologize, which although it is over the top, it’s pretty sweet and actually on character considering how Abed sees the world as a TV show, and he asks someone to pour water through a sprinkler so he can ask for forgiveness while raining. Rachel finds this adorable (who wouldn’t?) and Abed tells her that the reason he has been going so fast was because he was afraid their relationship may not endure the tests, because he knows he is different, he doesn’t know for sure if he might screw thing up unintentionally, but Rachel is ok with it, she just want him to be honest and not manipulative. It’s so great to see this moment of vulnerability in Abed and I like to see him with someone who accepts him with his limitations because she sees his worth (caught the reference?).

Finally Abed and Annie got to talk and they recognize how the absence of Troy has been affecting them, who he held the piece that kept them together, and they suggest living with a therapist or someone crazier than them, then Britta shows up and they decide not to go there, at least not yet. They still have to figure out their living situation, but admitting how Troy’s ghost is affecting them is a step forward and it’s quite nice to see. This is how I like my Community episodes, where the conflicts have a root on the problems of the very same characters and where there is a lot of heart. If only the B-plot was as strong as the main one…

Grade: B+

Stray observations:

-The Dean’s rap was quite disturbingly funny, mostly because of his reaction once he finished “I don’t know where that came from!” *soobs*. Also loved that at the end he was working on how to fix it. Jim Rash has been criminally underused this season.

-Anthony: “What do you thinks happens after you die?”
Rachel: “I don’t know”.
Anthony: “You’re lucky”.
The concerned look on Rachel is gold!

-Annie: “Flip a coin?”
Abed: “No, flipping coins create parallel timelines”.
Annie: “Rock, paper, scizors”.
Abed: “That’s a nine-sided coin”.
Any reference to “Remedial Chaos Theory” is more than welcome, as it stands as one of my favorite episodes (if not my favorite).

-Abed: “Who wants to play Pile of Bullets?”
Anthony: “Not me”
Annie: “You have to!”
Rachel: “its ok we don’t have to”.
Abed: “Yes, we do have to, and one day we’ll tell you why”.
Annie: “But for now let’s simply retire to the TV area”.
I love how Annie and Abed were so decided to play the game that they practically formed an unintentional alliance right there.

-Rachel: “I don’t like that side of VCR technology. I’m glad that it is a dead medium!”

-A guy falls after the water has been spilled.
Rachel: “Oh, you hired a stunt person”.
Abed: “No, I did not”.
Another good laugh!

-Poor the guy who ended up making “Pile of bullets”, his wife was so sure VCR was the future and not apple computers. That’s what happens when your wife is more interested in money than in you!

About the Author - Pablo

I'm currently studying Psychology while also writing fantasy books (one already published in my home country, Chile, you can check it out on the facebook icon). I watch many different types of shows, including my favorites Revenge, Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time and about 23 more. Currently writing reviews for Once Upon a Time, How I Met Your Mother and Community