Season 3 - Episode 9
NBC (US)
"Foosball..." took a long hard look at one of Community's most neglected relationships, that of Jeff and Shirley, and brought them closer together than ever before. Elsewhere, Abed got silly, aided by Troy and Annie, while Britta and Pierce are given very little to do. But you can't focus on everyone every week in an ensemble show like this, can you?
The main plot of the episode sees Jeff being annoyed by a bunch of rowdy foosball players (led by The League's Nick Kroll in a fantastic guest spot - complete with comedy exaggerated German accent) and accepting a challenge to play them. Shirley, a childhood fosball expert - offers to train him, and in doing so reveals that she was the girl who bullied Jeff as a child and caused him to pee his pants. Joel McHale's facial expressions during this scene are absolutely fantastic - the man's comedic timing is absolutely spot on! The story ends with the two having a heated match with each other (which descends into an absolutely remarkable anime parody sequence animated by Metalocalypse's Titmouse Inc) and becoming closer friends than they had ever been before. It's a nice resolution and adds some much needed depth to Shirley's character, as well as giving Jeff another layer to his already complex character.
The b-plot sees Annie accidentally break Abed's super duper special edition DVD (wouldn't a nerd like Abed be on Blu-Ray by now though?) of "The Dark Knight". She tries to cover it up (much to the chagrin of Troy) by staging a break-in, which leads to Abed dressing as Batman, and raidng the apartment of their landlord. It's a delightfully silly storyline that shows Annie as the type who would do anything to avoid disappointing her friends (and also do anything to avoid getting into trouble it would seem) and gived Danny Pudi the chance to do his physical comedy. Also, Allison Brie does a fantastic little Christian Bale as Batman impression. She is literally perfect.
"Foosball..." isn't a classic episode of Community, but is funny and has some nice storyline progression. Unfortunately, the next episode is the last before NBC's extended hiatus of the show. We do know the back order of (I believe) 12 episodes will all be shown, but the show's future is seriously in doubt. I really hope next week's Christmas themed Glee parody is as amazing as it sounds on paper. Because Community isn't a show I'm prepared to lose just yet.
Six seasons and a movie!
****
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