Quick Take: Community, “Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism”
“The night beckons – its black fingers curl and uncurl, going like ‘Hey, come here.’” – Batman-Abed
Review: Community, “Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism”
(S0309) Dan Harmon is certainly making us more disdainful towards NBC’s abysmal decision to postpone Community’s 2012 return. Not only are we treated to call-backs to earlier seasons and reminded of Abed’s obsession with Batman in "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism," but we get an extra serving of The League’s Nick Kroll, who guest-stars as a foosball “power-kraut,” complete with his most embellished German accent. There’s a lot going on this episode, and it still manages to surpass expectations, even with Britta, Pierce, Chang, and Dean Pelton – almost half of the show’s starring cast – remaining almost entirely absent.
Much unlike most cookie-cutter sitcoms that manage to excrete season after season of effortless jokes and laugh-tracks, Community has seen its characters establish and build relationships with each other through their shared experiences, adding certain depth and continuity that tends to get comedies cancelled prematurely. For recent examples of such gags, I refer you to the characters’ live tweets during Annie’s move, and the series-long set-up to a Beetlejuice gag.
Though their interaction has been largely contained within the group-dynamic, Jeff and Shirley finally discover a shared past that ultimately builds a more lasting bond between them than making fun of Britta’s boyfriends. When Jeff gets fed up with Nick Kroll and his foos-bullying entourage, he challenges them to a match for control of the table. Shirley opts to coach Jeff against her best judgement, thus unleashing her competitive darkness, and exposing her and Jeff’s being mutually instrumental in tarnishing each other’s childhoods.
In the ongoing shenanigans that are popping up at Casa de Chez Tro-bed plus Annie, the housemate trio embarks on a missing limited-edition Dark Knight DVD-inspired investigation. Once again donning his $30 Caped Crusader`s mantle, Abed sets out on the false trail staged by Annie who forces Troy’s complicity in trying to cover up her own guilt. In the end all is forgiven between them – and their shoe-swiping landlord – even though the exclusive commentary by Christian Bale and all the other extra extended goodies that I wish were real are lost forever.
Batman-Abed’s introduction in the first season was the defining moment that determined my unyielding interest in Community. His character’s complete immersion in other universes as other characters contravenes typical sitcom scenarios, much like the way the intensity of Jeff and “Big Cheddar” Shirley’s foos-off pushes them into an old-school, Dragonball-inspired, anime showdown.
It’s going to be tough for next week’s holiday-themed episode to live up to last year’s “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas,” but it will be the last new Community we’ll have for an indefinite while. If you’re like me and don’t want to see Community go the way of the Troy-timeline for good, make sure you follow the #SaveCommunity campaign if you have Twitter, and spread the word like a true (Greendale) Human Being.
