Community

From the moment Shirley began tutoring Jeff I predicted it'd be a Ross/Phoebe kind of connexion, and when it indeed was I wasn't impressed ... but I appreciate the fact they brought that trope to a new generation.

The 'secretly replace a broken priceless item thing' was again predictable and, in my opinion, it's not enough that they lampshaded it to make it less predictable. Twenty-two minutes of very good comedy, but which could've been twenty-two minutes of even better comedy considering those writers and actors are very talented and not only can top that, but regularly do.

Why are Ken Jeong and Jim Rash listed as regulars if they hardly ever appear lately? Once again, they had far more relevant roles in S1 and S2, and their characters were explored better. Chevy and Gillian did appear, but as mere extras, so what's the point?

Why won't NBC make an "Abed is Batman" shirt? I want it!

I forgot that I love Shirley, why can't she have more episodes like this? For the second time in a long while, she teams up with Jeff but this time to take down some German Foosballers. In the end, we uncover a connection in their shared pasts so hopefully future episodes give Shirley a little more screen time beyond baking and shoving religion down everyone's throats.

In roommate high jinks, Annie accidentally breaks Abed's $299 Dark Knight extended, extended cut DVD with aforementioned "Abed is Batman- Christian Bale" signature. Her devastated Disney princess reaction face had me simultaneously cracking up and tearing up. What results is a hilarious attempt to cover it up on the part of Annie and Troy. Abed resumes his raspy voice and Batman costume to catch the culprit resulting in some disturbing revelations about their landlord and women's footwear before Annie comes clean. I also loved the callback of Annie falling for Abed's alpha male personas like Han Solo and now Batman. I officially love them together and am proudly shipping it!

Was that anime bit a little nod to DBZ? Just add that to never-ending list of things I love about Community.

I like the game of Foosball, it's a game that really isn't about skill but simply speed, cordination and luck. Who'd of thought Foosball could become an epic battle. This is another very good entry in the series.

From the plot which is a bit of a parody on sports movies, in a way this one is kinda on "The Karate Kid" (the original version); I know that a wild comparison but not totally off the mark like in that film just like Daniel Laruso, Jeff gets his butt kicked by a group that are more skilled in the sport. And it's a European group that look and sound like characters from the "SNL Sprocket Skit" So Jeff finds a mentor and Sherley has to play the Mr. Myugi role. I really love seeing how skilled she is at the game even though in reality those moves aren't real but it's fun to think they could be.

I really like the repore both of them have which is a first because both never have interacted this deeply, but it leads to a supprising and hillarous revolation. We discover that both of them have meet during their childhood and have played Foosball before and Sherley beat Jeff. It was even more funny hearing what effect that game had on both of their lives.

The subplot was also great, from some of the first part seeing Troy react to the broken second DVD, I don't blame him I'd loose it a bit if any of my DVD or Video Game collection got broken, god forbid it ever happens. Down to seeing Abed in the Batman costume, he is just comic gold all the way he's as funny as the Adam West Batman. From imitating the Christan Bale Batman voice to taking action like climbing down a building with a rope even though all he could of done was decend down the fire escape.

And of course it's gets down to my favorate moment when both Sherley and Jeff getting into a Foosball match with each other and it does the same thing as the film "Kill Bill vol. 1" when it suddenly cuts to an anime sequence which was great since I'm a fan of anime. Everything about that sequence is great from the split screen panels, the way both Jeff and Sherley were animated (Jeff looked like Vegeta from "Dragon Ball Z) , to the expressions and all the crazy explossions and crap happening around them as they played with fury. Just seeing this really makes me wish they made an anime or even manga series of this show.

In the end it leads to a touching moment in both plots, in the subplot the experence has brought Abed, Troy and Annie a little closer together. And same with Jeff and Sherley's experence, that game in their childhood has lead both characters on the right path to find one another and be friends in the present. As a saying goes it's better to make friends than enimies.

A sign of a good show is the ability of actors to make the characters believable to the audience and make the audience care about those characters. A sign of a great show is doing that while adding levels of complexity to the characters, plot and themes of the show. This episode is a prime example of why Community is a great show.

There were two story arcs and neither felt like the "secondary" storyline. In the "Foosball" story arc, we get a rare Jeff and Shirley narrative that starts out as Shirley training Jeff on the finer points of Foosball in order to beat a group of European hooligans (lead by Nick Kroll, who is a real journeyman of sitcoms). The story evolves to a history that both characters shared, and is resolved with an epic Foosball game between the two. The story telling device switches to an well constructed anime sequence that works well within the structure of the story.

The other story arc, "Nocturnal Vigilantism," is a Annie, Troy and Abed story arc dealing with Annie accidentally breaking Abed rare Batman. Annie works out a solution that avoids the clique "let's replace the DVD" with a staged robbery, which means only one person can fight for justice and search for the bad guy.

Both story lines play around the tropes that relate to the thematics of both stories without dumbing down the events for the audience nor borrowing too heavily from story telling techniques from the past to help push the story forward.

As stated in the beginning of this review, this episode is a prime example of why Community is a great show.