TV Review: Community - "Studies in Modern Movement"

Season 3 - Episode 7

CBS (US)

"Studies in Modern Movement" is a fantastic episode of Community, bringing together all that's good about the show. It's moving day, as Annie prepares to move in with Troy and Abed.

And of course things don't go to plan. When she arrives, she finds that her "room" is nothing more than a blanket fort. While she's understandably annoyed by this, a shadow puppet play from Troy and Abed brings her onside. Until she finds that there is actually a spare room, which is lying empty (save for some gridwork on the walls, ceiling and floor) dubbed the "Dreamatorium". A room where Troy and Abed go to conduct their silly little games. Annie storms out, but when she returns later to pick up her stuff (I assume to move back to her old shitty apartment that Pierce had just wrecked - more on that in a bit), Troy and Abed have turned their room into Annie's room, and moved into the blanket fort themselves. It's the type of touching moment Comminity does so well, and it's handled immaculately.

Jeff is nowehere to be seen during the moving, he's at the mall, but has told the gang he's sick (a great scene shows his deception, roping a sales girl into the lie) where he's cornered by Dean Pelton. The Dean blackmails Jeff into spending the day with him, which includes having lunch together, and the absolute highlight of the episode - the two of them singing Seal's "Kiss From A Rose" in a cheesy "make-your-own video" booth. This scene intercuts with the stories involving Pierce and Britta and Shirley brilliantly, but it's the chemistry between Winger and Pelton that makes it. And when he shows up at the apartment later, only to be ribbed mercilessly (Dean Pelton had tweeted the video) it was a great full circle moment. (An aside here, the tag scene, where Jeff gets overly emotional at a Troy and Abed puppet show, is brilliant).

Elsewhere, Pierce almost manages to kill himself by accident once again, as he spills toxic paint in an unventilated room following a series of calamities in Annie's old apartment, and Britta and Shirley pick up an insane hitchiker - named Jesus - and find themselves becoming closer as a result.

"Studies in Modern Movement" is a fantastic episode of a fantastic show, which is still one of the best on TV at the minute.

(After I wrote this piece, it was announced by NBC that Community would be getting taken off the air in midseason to accommodate the return of 30 Rock. While I'm delighted that 30 Rock is coming back, the lack of certainty over Community's future is highly worrying. NBC have said it will only be off air for a short time, but we'll need to see. Let's hope they find a new home for it, as it would be a real pity to see this magnificent show end prematurely without a proper resolution.)

**** 1/2