Quick Take: Community, “Biology 101”
“You are human tennis elbow. You are a pizza burn on the roof of the world’s mouth. You’re the opposite of Batman.” – Troy to Britta
Review: Community, “Biology 101”
(S0301) It’s a happier, “deanier,” less weird semester according to the show’s opening dance sequence, and you definitely can’t argue with Chang in a money suit... and... Shirley and Dean Pelton wearing the same glittery purple dress... okay, so the overly cheery outlook is all in Jeff’s head. But Starburns has added a lizard to his hat and namesake, Leonard has prescription socks, and the show is definitely setting itself up for what should hopefully be another great ride through the study group’s struggles with their post-secondary education, Abed’s meta-verse, and of course, their sense of community.
Pierce’s departure from the study group at the end of last season has been on all of our minds this summer, and Greendale’s favourite misfits are no exception. With the introduction of the head of Greendale’s prestigious Air-Conditioning Repair Annex – Vice-Dean Robert Laybourne (John Goodman) – and the group’s new biology professor, Michael Kane, (Michael K. Williams), Jeff and company will need all the support they can get.
Aside from an “enlightful” summer of evolving through Laser-Lotus soul re-zoning, Pierce has concluded that the study desk is magic, and wants to come back. Issue solved. Or is it? Following Pierce’s lead, Jeff suggests that everyone has evolved; that everyone’s friendships extend beyond a study group, and assures Pierce that they’ll “see him when they see him.” Well, the magic desk gives Pierce a One-Up. On the waiting list for Biology.
After interrupting the fiercely intense ex-con, Professor Kane, with his cell-phone and his “classic Winger” attitude, Jeff gets kicked out of the class, and by extension, the study group. While he confronts his own mortality in a monkey-gas-induced hallucination in the vents, the group attempts to help Abed cope, first with the unrighteous postponement of Cougar Town to midseason, and then with the trauma brought about by Britta’s attempt to cheer him up with the fictional, British equivalent, “Cougarton Abbey.” It only lasts six episodes and ends with everyone dying, which breaks Abed even further, until Britta uncharacteristically restores the balance by showing Abed “Inspector Spacetime,” the Doctor Who-inspired sci-fi saviour of television since 1962.
Right, so I mentioned monkey-gas, and no, I haven’t been near any. The Dean’s new goatee-infused power-trip leads him to start trying to be proactive, and, believing that Troy’s pet monkey is living in the vents, has his security team fumigate all the ducts and air-shafts. But it’s not Annie’s Boobs bouncing around in the vents – it’s Chang. Implicit rat jokes aside – Chang has no job, no home, and no money to go to school, so he’s taken up refuge in Greendale’s ventilation system. Jeff chases Chang back to his hole, believing he has evidence of Pierce’s sabotaging his Biology spot, but gets stuck just as the gas is being pumped.
Jeff eventually confronts the group in a furious craze over his being left out, and takes a fire-axe to the study group’s desk, doing as much damage as his latent, and possibly delirious, racist rant just prior. Pierce, too, uncharacteristically restores the balance, by making up a story about bribing Dr. Kane to get into the class. He convinces everyone, thereby making room for a stirring Winger speech to take it home, uniting everyone before they learn very terrible news.
Britta is going to study psychology to be a therapist. No wait, that’s not it...
Dean Pelton – emasculated, broke, and clean-shaven thanks to the imposing figure of Vice-Dean Laybourne (who really knows how to command a power trip) – has discovered Chang’s secret hideout. After the opportunity crashes onto his desk, Dean Pelton offers Chang a job that pays in room and board. But it’s not Señor Chang that’s making his return; it’s Security Guard Chang. El Tigre. Ya bit? YA BIT?
I’m very excited for this season’s recurring guest-stars. Goodman and Williams are both extremely accomplished actors, and carry a great presence with them. Goodman just exudes Vice-Dean Laybourne’s power, perfectly contrasting the inept and insufferable Dean Pelton. Beneath Williams’ rough exterior and his proclivity to play gritty, street-tough gang members, is a new layer for Community to evoke from the actor. Professor Kane has a new appreciation and respect for life after observing a blade of grass breaking through the floor of his jail cell. All right, it’s not a huge step, but it might very well be the right one.
