Well, you can't be on all the time, right? Community is so far ahead the typical lot of network television comedies that when it fails to be anything short of extraordinary, it's pretty glaring. "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy" wasn't one of Community's best outings, feeling more rushed than any of the other episodes this season. I won't go as far as calling it "easily the worst episode in Community's history" like the fine folks at Vulture have done, but it certainly wasn't, to quote a college basketball tradition, one shining moment.
The biggest problem with the episode was that it was divided into two sitcom-y halves, instead of following the (non)format we're used to: multiple stories coiling around the same premise in an insane way. One story followed Shirley's dilemma with her baby's two dads (Senor Chang and Andre), and Chang's insistence that he can be a good father when clearly he cannot. The other focused on Britta (yes!) and her infatuation with a dreamboat (played by Dollhouse's Enver Gjokaj) who may be on the wrong side of some pretty egregious hate crimes in the Balkans. But I guess there's really no right or wrong side to be on when it comes to hate crimes, so to be more specific, I mean he dished 'em out.
The Shirley storyline was too reliant on characters that don't dazzle us, and it proved that when they're given the spotlight, they need ace material. Kudos for trying to give Shirley more time (she rightfully deserves it), but the extent of her character was a foil for Chang's advances. Not enough to dig her out of second fiddle to the rest of the gang. What works with Chang, and plays right into Ken Jeong's expertise, is when he drops in from the sky bombarding us with weird bombs and is out as quick as he came him. He doesn't need heart and soul because he's a lunatic, and he's GREAT as a lunatic. Let's never see Chang in a sweater smoking a pipe again, unless it's a heinous Christmas sweater and a crack pipe. Remember the days when Chang would walk into the study room with a snowboard talking about shredding or dress up as a spoof from a John Woo movie? That's the Chang we need more of.
Britta's plot was lifted from the Sitcom Manual of Recycled Storylines, the old Friend of a Friend Isn't Who He Appears to Be. It was a bit straightforward for Community, and there's little to reap when Troy and Abed, Community's A-Team, are reduced to props. Some viewers might gripe about ethnic cleansing being an inappropriate backbone of a joke, but the fact is it just wasn't funny. The show got some mileage out of the "Britta ruins things" bit, with her butchering of Brittany Aguilera and the Catfish spoiler, though.
Annie and Pierce were pretty much given the episode off, which is bound to happen in an ensemble comedy with a cast as good as this, but their absence can't be blamed for the problems of this episode. Annie has already been front-and-center for a lot of Season 3, and as I said before, I at least appreciate the effort to give Shirley more face time.
Community is allowed to have its bad episodes; it's inevitable. It's also a curse, in that the bad episodes really stand out. Let's just write this one off as an anomaly and celebrate the fact that Community was renewed for a third season yesterday. Because as good as this show is, there won't be many more episodes like this one in its future. I hope.
Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom
See my review.
I agree with the points in this article, but some people need to screw their heads on a little more. Yes, I will agree that this was a less than stellar episode of Community, that being this episode was more watchable than 90% of the various other sitcoms out there. I guess Community is a victim of it's own success, because when your episodes are consistently great, when a decent or average episode comes out people tend to overreact same as any show in this situation.
The show sucked, plain and simple!!!! The story ,line is stupid as stupid is!!!
hit me we your genies bottle rub it all over me
i agree, i mean, it wasn't bad but it really wasn't good! for me, it just prooves that britta does in fact ruin things, cause i never like the britta ceneterd stories.also, i missed crazy chang!
Tim, did CBS put you up to this? Be frank !
Yeah in no way was this episode bad. You want bad go watch 2 and a Half Men, but in all honesty I got a great many laughs out of this ep to call it a complete wash. Granted the Chang/Shirley/Andre thing wasn't hilarious, but you have to admit the whole thing is mildly amusing. Oh and you have to give them some credit for ending "sketch".Lately the endings have been a bit humdrum, but this week's was profoundly satisfying. It just puts a ring on the whole "study group" thing and c'mon the Pierce calculator thing was a riot. Anyway humor is subjective, but hey Community got picked up and that's really what's important.
It wasn't a great episode, but you'd be foolish to call it bad. But that's what idiot reviewers do, take something "just okay" and whine about how terrible it is to get attention and page hits.
It wasn't the BEST episode of Community, no doubt, but it wasn't bad. If anything, a traditional sitcom episode is DIFFERENT for Community, like a throw-back to Family Matters or Home Improvement.
I have to agree. The episode was pretty dull. I smiled a couple of times, but that'd be all.
I think the paintball hoodie may have said it best...
I actually liked the Britta-centric plot. Britta's become a very secondary character this season for the most part, and I kind of liked taking a break from the pierce-centric episodes and focus on her a bit more. it wasnt the best or funniest storyline in the world, but it was pretty good in my opinion..... as for the shirley plot - that was pretty horrible. I miss season 1's Chang too - he's wayyy too needy and annoying now, I want to see him make Pierce and Troy his b..ches again, or show up with his paintball machinegun. as for Shirley. she's just simply not funny. I wouldnt mind at all if they write her off the show completely. she doesnt really add anything, her storylines are mostly bad ones, and she almost never makes me laugh... All in all it wasnt a horrible episode, I enjoyed most of it, but I do agree it's one of Community's worst. There was a silver lining though - we learned that there's a Kickpuncher 3!!!moreless
"Annie has already been front-and-center for a lot of Season 3, ..." way to predict the future :)
Yeah, it wasn't great this week. But as the last paragraph said: You can't hit home runs every week. It happens to all shows. I missed Annie and Pierce.
It wasn't my favorite, I didn't like how they over-utilized Chang in this episode. He's better in smaller doses, the Britta storyline wasn't that great either because there really wasn't anything to work from it. Not to mention not enough Annie, you can't have a Britta-centric episode without Jeff or Annie.
I agree; this episode was probably one of my least favorite episodes of its series. But I still liked it quite a bit. One thing I like to nitpick about this episode is its use of the "dramatic" score/song in the background. As far as my memory can remember (?), Community only does those kinds of things when it's for comedic purposes (as if mocking a genre), but I couldn't find the humor or jab in this episode's repeated use of the dramatic score. Also, I feel a little mixed about Abed's reactions to Britta. On the one hand, I think it's a little out of character for him -- it'd be more believable if he was kind of quiet and watched Troy complain about Britta, rather than joining in on the "ugh"s, moans, and groans. On the other hand, I thought it was funny that Abed complained that much. Community standards: kind of weak. Overall, still a cool episode.moreless
I thought this episode was not much different than the rest of the season, i enjoyed it..
I think that the worst of Community is pretty good. So I agree that this was by far one of the worst episodes, but much better than other sitcoms.
"Annie has already been front-and-center for a lot of Season 3" It's only season 2. Unless this was written in the future.
I kinda agree, I didn't like this episode as much as the other episodes this season, but it still wasn't bad either. Though the two separate story format actually bugged me, which I didn't realize until you mentioned it. The Britta storyline was meh, but I liked seeing Enver Gkoaj (prolly messed up the last name) on tv again X3
This episode had its fair share of laughs, but I agree about it not being as great as it normally is. The plotlines didn't really work and they focused too much on the less interesting characters.
Let me begin by saying, I couldn't disagree more. This episode wasn't that bad, c'mon.... There have been worse episodes, and Mr. Surette and Vulture (whatever the f**k that is?) are waaaaaay overreacting. WAY. Community is never not awesome in some way. This episode was funny. And I ate chicken for dinner. Okay that last part is not important, but whatever, I felt sharing...
I would agree to, that this probably was one of the worst episodes of community ever. However compared to other shows it was in the middle there somewhere.
Renewal for a 3rd season made my day atleast.
no idea what you're talking about. the episode was great!
Tim, this episode was an okay episode, but in perspective, that is actually a great complement. Even if it were a bad episode of Community, it would still be better than any other network comedy. In fact, I think that a terrible episode of Community would be equal in quality to that of a good episode of most other network comedies.
Yeah, not one of my favorite episodes...
I quite enjoyed it, to be honest. It being more sitcom like isn't really a reason to not enjoy something... it still had it's great sense of humour and character. A subpar episode of Community is still greater than most things on the air, so why bother with such a pointless article. Oh wait, it is Tim Surette... all of his articles are pointless.
Oh and I feel like this is the first episode of Community that has underwhelmed me in the shows history so far which I think is an amazing feat
agreed!
Yeah maybe the episode wasn't the greatest but I would take Community any day over an episode of The Office (which I love but is not nearly as funny) because its just that awesome!
Chang was and entirely different and entirely superior character last season. The whole lunatic angle wasn't his thing last year. He was nuts sure, but the show focused on the Egomaniac authority figure aspect of the character. The lunatic thing just doesn't work for humor that well. Shirley was uncharacteristically mean, even towards Chang. Not enough Allison Brie. As usual the entire episode could have worked without winger. Troy and Abed as the First String of this show, even as background characters this week they stole the show. Abed being more emotional worked well, Him being so vehemently opposed to Britta's behaviour was very funny. "Noooooooo!" "UNNNNbelievable" haha.
i enjoyed it.
I enjoyed this episode. It wasn't the best episode but it still provided some good moments. I'm also pretty sure this is the craziest Chang has ever been. He kidnapped 2 kids, chased his own backpack, and apparently has an obsession with saws.
I sort of agree, this episode certainly wasn't among my favorites. I probably even consider it the worst of the series. But it was a watchable episode anyways.
Tim, you're fired! .......I know I can't actually fire you, it just felt good to say.