If Thursday's episode of Community, "For a Few Paintballs More," served as a punchline, then last week's episode, "A Fistful of Paintballs," served as the setup. There are no written rules about two-part season finales, but one of the unwritten ones is that the two parts should make up a cohesive whole. But Community creator Dan Harmon said "Fiddlesticks!" to that, and completely abandoned the Spaghetti Western motif that occupied last week's Part 1 to spoof Star Wars in Part 2. Yes, Community just mocked the two-part episode.
Last week, I moaned about not being surprised by "A Fistful of Paintballs," which I thought was too similar to last season's classic "Modern Warfare" and traded laughs for style. Well, the surprise came this week, and it was hilarious, too. I may just be geeking out over the idea that Community put more of its own stamp on the two-part episode idea than most, but I thought it was brilliant.
The choice to transform the paintball competition from an every-man-for-himself battle into "more of a Star Wars" thing, with the students united against a common enemy (Greendale's rival, City College), really worked. This was the finale after all, and the heart and soul of the show is the study group (and to a lesser extent Greendale as a whole). Those of us who've watched the series from start to finish now feel like we're part of Greendale's student body—we embrace the misfits, outcasts, and losers and recognize them as peers—so there's nothing like a little school spirit to unify us. Screw you, City College, the Empire of the Community universe!
This is exactly the type of finale I wanted. Abed wooing Annie as Han solo? Troy challenging Jeff for leadership of the group? Shirley and Britta—I repeat: Shirley and Britta!!—making that last courageous stand? It was so ridiculous, yet who could resist jumping up and cheering? I was singing the Greendale fight song for the entire episode. Go Human Beings!
Last week, and for most of the season, I also said that I hoped the series would find some form of redemption for Pierce, who's been villainized all season, and he finally got it. Pierce's heroics were what won the paintball tournament and saved Greendale. Sure, all the stuff he's done up until now has been vile, but it's a step in the right direction to get him back on viewers' and the study group's good sides.
Of course, that's when he walked out on the group. This is Community's idea of a cliffhanger, and it was an appropriate one. I've said all season long that the show loves to take basic dramatic elements and wrap them in comedy, and this certainly fits that bill. The tables have turned on the group, and it will be fun to see how they beg Pierce back, if they do at all.
But above all else, what stands out about this episode of Community is simply that it was funny (a hundred times funnier than last week's). Troy kneeling over a "dying" Magnitude screaming "Pop what!?" literally figuratively made me pee my pants, I was laughing so hard. While I show up for Community's parodies, homages, and trickery, I stay for its unique sense of humor and the camaraderie of the study group. All of those things were showcased in "For a Few Paintballs More." I'll be watching this episode over and over as part of my summer curriculum.
Extra credit:
... Did you notice the Cougar Town cameos by Busy Phillips and Dan Byrd? Well done.
... "Dammit, Shirley! Forget about your newborn baby and think about the people who need you!" —Troy
... I really hope the janitor comes back next year. For those of you wondering where you've seen him before, he used to be a cast member on Mr. Show (as was Starburns, who also was a producer).
... Britta: "See you at Denny's?" Jeff: "Denny's is for winners."
... Great work by the director and crew, who alternated between heart-pounding action and comedy with zero problems.
... "He's just acting out. I've seen this behavior before... in cats. My cats." —Britta
Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom
Awesome, Cool, Godly.....these words can only begin to describe the finale
It was ridiculous!
Just pure awesomeness! The Cougar town cameos was shows ust how awesome community is.
It's interesting that Pierce stayed true to Greendale, if not the study group. They always end up supporting the school they seem to loathe. "It may be a toilet, but it's our toilet."
Right after Pierce shoots the 2 City College troopers left and won the game...It was like 2 seconds.I loved it. Love the Abed/Annie thing. I'm here like a pre-teen girl wishing for a relationship that gladly I know it won't happen.I loved Troy's death and Troy's Pop What? Annnnnnnd, Troy's "Dammit Shirley! Forget 'bout your newborn baby and think about the people who needs you".I loved Leonard!Also, the creator and showrunner lied to us! He told there was not going to be a cliffhanger...and that my friend was a cliffhanger. They left us wondering about Annie's reaction to Abed's kiss, and they left us wondering what will happen with Pierce!.Awesome episode, awesome show...glad I kept giving chances ( I couldn't pass from episode 1...but 20 tries later I fell in love )moreless
Where were the Cougar Town cameos?
I saw the Cougar Town people and was like "wait, what!?" lol
take it eay Tim, ep. was good but it wasn't that good
I liked Part 1 better than Part 2 and really cringed when Abed kissed Annie. She's mine!
Wasn't the janitor also in one of last season's episodes as the plumber who tried to help Troy realize his calling?
I noticed Busy Phillips at the end when everyone was cheering, but where was Dan Byrd?
Community is awesome, best sitcom on tv right now!
I thought Part 1 was good, but yea Part 2 was far better, looking forward to next season.
One of my favorite elements of "Community" is it's self reflexivity. A prime example is when Pierce says "I'm done with whatever this is", and I believe he is suffering the the kind of failure that season 2 was. Of course season 2 had it moments; zombies, D&D, Rob Corrdry, but the best aspect of "Community" is its originality. And with so many parodies or homages or whatever you want to call them, the originality certainly suffered and I hope they can recover it in season 3.
Great episode. Not sure which of the two parts I liked better. Both were gold. There was so much to love.
A lot of you write that this episode ("For a Few Paintballs More") was predictable, that maybe so but that doesn't implicate that it was less good/awesome than last weeks. Awesomeness doesn't mean that there must be a unpredicted change in the story of the episode. Just my 2 cents.And btw. I laughed a lot harder on that one... especially the ending scene where Abed is talking with the janiter, that was just hilarious.
I enjoyed the first part more. Even though it had some really great moments it was a bit predictable. Plus the first part had a short appearance by Anthony Michael Hall which is always awesome :D
Yeah I liked how Pierce was finally made a bit more likeable. The Abed/Han SoloxAnnie stuff was awesome too. As was the rest of the ep but im too lazy to write it all out.
Yeah I liked how Pierce was finally made a bit more likeable. The Abed/Han SoloxAnnie stuff was awesome too. As was the rest of the ep but im too lazy to write it all out.
This episode was awesome!!! I really liked last week's episode but this one was even better. The spoofing of Star Wars and mocking of the two part episode was excellent and I was totally surprised by the other dean being the ice cream guy.
i looooved! annie and abed/han solo's kiss! it was really good, and the whole scene with the paint rainig in the library was brilliant!!
Personally i found the previous episode funnier and much better. Main problem i had, was that the plot seemed to predictable this time. With Annie, Jeff and Abed running the show last episode, i figured early on Troy, Shirley and Britta would be much more prominent in this one. And obviously that Pierce would save the day. Loved the episode, but still not in my top3 favourite episodes this season.
Best parts of the episodes was Troy, Abed Han Solo kissing Annie and Magnitude/Troys Pop - What?
You found the baby birth episode great, the last one not so much and this one was way better than the last? Seriously, this episode was slightly better than the last (which I remember as being the best of the series until last night) because it was very predictable. The only real surprise was the other dean.
Great ending! That was probably one of the best cliffhangers in a season finale I have seen in a long time, except for 24 (can Jack Bauer never die!). But besides that, great comedy too. I loved Annie's shocked face after her's and Abed's kiss. And the scene with the paint raining down... Amazing.
I didn't notice them, where were they? I should watch this again. And they should bring in Magnitude as a regular. I don't care if he "died".
it was the perfect season finale!
I completely agree... the first one was awesome, but more predictable. This just blew my mind with hilarity!! and the action was freakin' nuts. One second they're talking, and the next there's paintball machine guns and city college storm troopers, lol..
Loved it of course is seems like Community gets better and better every week Dan Harmon is a genius!
Haha, "Pop - WHAT?!" was hilarious. I liked the fact that Shirley was showcased more, having her seemingly be the last chance for Greendale. Based on what I've read during the season, fans have been asking for more Shirley quite often, so maybe Harmon took notice (or he may have planned it like this all along). It was a great episode, but while thinking about how awesome it was, it dawned on me that this was a season finale... I'll have to wait months, MONTHS, for a new episode :(
Haha, "Pop - WHAT?!" was hilarious. I liked the fact that Shirley was showcased more, having her seemingly be the last chance for Greendale. Based on what I've read during the season, fans have been asking for more Shirley quite often, so maybe Harmon took notice (or he may have planned it like this all along). It was a great episode, but while thinking about how awesome it was, it dawned on me that this was a season finale... I'll have to wait months, MONTHS, for a new episode :(
One of my buddies came over to watch the Wings/Sharks game, and we both watched this. He's never seen Community before(I'm a die-hard fan), but even he couldn't stop laughing. My favorite part: When Troy got "killed"... we both couldn't stop laughing.
The highlight of this episode for me is they showcased Troy. While him and Abed together by far are the best thing about this show, Troy by himself is possibly the funniest character. He just takes the comedy to another level that borders ridiculous but still manages to keep us from stopping mid-show/gig and saying, "No way."Everybody brings their own element, and in a big way. I really really hope this isn't the end of Chevy's character, because that guy is gold too.
YES YES YES. This brought me to tears, almost literally.
I loved it, both parts. Great season finale. Smart and funny, something we've come to expect of Community...........you know, the show.........not the college.
I did notice Busy Phillips and Dan Byrd but I thought I was wrong :D