Community

Highs:
- Study group playing DnD.
- Chevy Chase's evil plans. He was excellent as the antagonist of the game.
- Abed as the DM was pretty cool. I'd love him as a DM with his extensive tv knowledge I think he'd be particularly good at creating an engaging narrative.
- Not much Chang. I'm not a fan of him as a student and I was glad he didn't get much time in this episode.

Lows:
- The premise was about helping "Fat Neil" because Jeff felt guilty about starting the nickname. Jeff is mean to everyone, I didn't think it was very plausible that he'd go so far out of his way for someone he really doesn't know.
- Chang's night elf... not really offensive, but not worth it either

This is true of what passes for comedy on most of the network's sit-coms. I watch Community occasionally because of the talented comedian, Ken Jeong. He wasn't in this episode long enough, but the decision to put him in "blackface", was borderline offensive. Comedies that have as their premise the ridicule of the morbidly obese are just cruel. It would be like making fun of a retarded person. And Chevy Chase trying to be funny while simultaneously being mean is not a good comedic device - at least not for him. A "Bill Murray" may have been able to pull it off. And Dungeons and Dragons, except for a very few, is neither interesting or humorous.

I understand the point of the episode, but there was no reason for Pierce to get so nasty with Neil. Yes, Pierce felt left out for not being invited to the game, but the show went overboard with repeating "Fat Neil" over and over, and putting Neil down in many other ways. I don't understand why no one in the study group won't kick Pierce out. He offers little if anything to the group, and honestly, Chevy Chase offers little if anything to the show.



Chevy Chase used to have excellent timing and he was very funny. Aside from the material being cruel and mean, he just cannot deliver lines like he used to. I don't understand why he's on "Community." It's an established show and trust me, viewers are not tuning in to see him!

Can you believe 90% of the episode involves characters sitting around some pushed-together tables to TALK could be so unfailingly funny and heartwarming? One of the riskiest things ever done in a primetime comedy...oh man, did they just pull it off so spectacularly.



As a teacher in training, I am acutely aware of bullying and emotional health issues in an educational setting, and so it was awesome to see how the characters dealt with issue.



Yes, we were presented with the most extreme bad side of Pierce ever (and it'll be interesting to see how this is addressed in future episodes), but would the episode have worked as well if there wasn't just a high stake for playing Dungeons and Dragons?



The social issue was a personal highlight for me, but of course it was the comedy platinum that made it instant classic of epic proportions.



Here are comedic highlights in no particular order (I'm just naming them as I think of them)



1)Cold opening/woman's narration who turned out to be a janitor

2)Drow aka Blackface Elf Chang

3)Britta and her Hermione Granger turn about inequality of social status

4) Of course, the funniest thing ever shown on TV, Annie's seduction of Abed

4) Abed's Dungeon master, maiden elf, and various other characters he had to take on

5) Troy's oblivinious, and insistence on board game and Jenga

6) Jeff still trying to be cool playing the game

7) Although Shirley didn't get a moment to shine, her presence and reactions and small utterances would have been sorely missed in her absence



One final ponderment: how much different was the pre-production table read of the first draft compared to what we saw on TV? i mean, come on, all the characters did was deliver lines around a large table?

Every week this show seems to outdo itself and consistently make better and better episodes. This episode was a perfect dramedy, it had emotion without taking itself too seriously and becoming melodramatic. There were legitimately funny scenes for those who don't play the game and in jokes for people who actually play the game. Fat Neil was a great character for this plot, especially when he turned around the pity from himself to Pierce, who played the villain very well this episode, as he usually does. Even the music was great, it was the right amount of epic and the dramatic narrator was perfect for this type of story, made even funnier by the fact that it was just the cleaning lady. This was definitely the best episode of the season and the best since Modern Warfare.

Most of this episode was just the study group sitting around and talking, which sounds kinda boring, but somehow the writers managed to make it into one of the best this season. In this episode, Jeff and the rest of the group are concerned about another student, nicknamed "Fat Neil". They decide to invite him to play Dungeons and Dragons with them. When Pierce finds out that he wasn't invited, he decides to join anyway to spite the group. 9.5/10

Before I start talking about this episode, It was great to see the writers not focus on one of the main characters for a bit of a change but on one of the community college students (Neil) he played a minor roll in past episodes. The theme of this episode was Dungeons and Dragons, the highlight of this episode was defiantly Chang, Troy was also extremely funny as well as the rest of the study group all the characters intertwined it was great. A lot of people are hating on pierce because of this episode but seriously there just had to be a bad guy in this episode or else it wouldn't make sense people shouldn't hate on pierce. Best episode in season two BY FAR!

Community was excellent this week! Continuously making me laugh out loud, this week focused on the trials and mishaps of the group while playing [Advanced] Dungeons and Dragons. In an attempt to save 'Fat Neil' from his depressed self, the study group team up and try to create a game that Neil can win. But look out for the evil Pierce and his mean-ness! But seriously, I think that without Pierce's intervention, the game wouldn't have been that great. Neil defeating Pierce was like defeating everyone who had ever slighted him. There were sooo many great scenes in this. The narrator for one, also Annie seducing the elf, and Britta always looking out for the ones who aren't fairly treated was pretty funny too. But wow, hats off to Chang and his get-up! And how everyone treated it as his normal crazy self as well. His fade-out was pretty hilarious. Loved Abed's dungeon master, and another fantastic ep of Community.