What's it about: Jeff begins to bond with Shirley over
Britta's new boyfriend and his teeny tiny nipples...
Ensemble: I'm sure we've all had that moment where we have
been part of a group of friends and have found that there is one person
included that we would rather avoid spending time with alone. Like Jeff, I
found that once I started spending time with them I actually had a great deal
in common and began to enjoy and look forward to my time with them. He pigeon
holes Shirley as a squeaky clean mum of two without any vices but the truth of
the matter is that this God fearing Christian is the biggest tattle tale on the
planet. She ruthlessly enjoys taking the mickey out of those who come onto her
radar and Jeff and Shirley have an ideal target in Vaughn, a man who is
screaming out to have the world mock his naiveté. It is a joy to watch them
ripping on the eccentrics that surround them at Greendale (and there is
something about Shirley's laugh that I find impossible to resist). Annie lost
her scholarship and virginity to the pills that she took in High School, that's
why she has found herself stuck at Community College. I am deeply in love with
John Oliver's portrayal of Ian Duncan and so more time in his company is a huge
bonus in this episodes favour. Teaming him up with Annie is a stroke of genius,
the stuffy (but horny) English Professor and the perky (and chaste) American
straight-A student. Donald Glover was somebody who wasn't on my radar in the
initial episodes but he grows to become one of the most versatile and nuanced
of performers in the ensemble. His breakdown in Duncan's experiment is the
first signs of the greatness to come. Interestingly this is the first instance
of the impenetrable nature of the group and their closeness hurting people
around them. Vaughn might be a bit of a dork but what the group do to him is
bullying, plain and simple. Their destructive nature is revisited several times
in later seasons to fascinating effect (poor Todd).
Introducing: Britta's new boyfriend who lasts about as long
as sneeze before moving onto fresher pastures within the group. I would like to
say something deeply profound about this new ager who seems to do everything
but hug a tree but my one residing impression of him (despite his hilarious
break up songs) are his microscopic nipples (and kudos to Olsen who runs with
the gag). Shirley searching for them on his chest when his back is turned is
laugh out loud hilarious.
Feeling Hot Hot Hot: Vaughn is something of a cutie, despite
is widdle diddle nips. Even Jeff thinks so.
Meta: 'I figure we were more like Chandler and Phoebe. They
never really had stories together' - Abed on his relationship with Annie. This
is something that would drastically change over time.
Great Gags: 'My kids got hamsters with bigger nips!'
'Honestly Jeff, how dare you!' - sometimes timing is
everything.
'They call me Tattleina. It's a bumble bee nickname. It's
cute but it stings.'
'What are we going to talk about? My kids? Your Doctor
career?' 'I was a lawyer' 'See, I'm already bored...' - reminds me so much of
one of my friends with the shortest attention span ever.
Funniest Moment: Duncan's experiment revolves around people
being kept waiting for an experiment to begin and seeing how long they take to
break. The punchline comes when all the test subjects breakdown and leave the
room in various spectacularly dramatic ways but Abed waits patiently for over
an entire day. Which in turns double backs the experiment and causes the good
Professor and his students to succumb to the 'Duncan Principle' as they are
forced to endure the never ending wait to see the experiment throughout. The
emotional punchline comes when we realise Abed was seething with rage the whole
time but contained it because he wanted to be a good friend to Annie and she
had asked him to participate. He really doesn't exist on our plane, does he?
But he is so sweet. Chang breaking down within seconds is worth a chuckle too
with Ken Jeong losing it in the way only he can.
Sidelined: Community has such a large cast that not every
character can be highlighted each week and this is the section that will flag
up who has been shunted into the dead end gag of the week. Pierce and his
'earnoculars' take the biscuit this time around.
End Tag: Gleefully funny, Troy and Abed take the piss out of
a handful of people behind a glass partition that they think cannot hear them. 'Just
pretend like you were sleeping.'
Result: 'We'll always have tiny nipples...' Joyfully
ridiculous and finally shining the spotlight on arguably my favourite character
(Shirley), Advanced Psychology had me in stitches from beginning to end. At
some point the show has to drop the ball but it's opening stretch of episodes
is one of absolute confidence in it's mission statement to entertain. Season
one is something of the odd man out when it comes to Community, the only season
that sits comfortably beside all the other happy go lucky sitcom out there
before things get anarchic and out of this world. But within that ordinariness
the creators have cultivated a stunning ensemble and some outrageous scenarios.
Duncan's psychology experiment gone hideously wrong proves delightfully oddball
and has a fine heart-warming sting to it and Shirley and Jeff's outrageous
tittle tattle builds bridges between the two characters in a way that neither
of them were expecting. What else is there to say except stop reading these
reviews and grab yourself season one - I cannot see how you could ever regret
it: 9/10
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