Community ended its second season with more paintball. When this information was released on the Internet, there was much rejoicing from 75% of the viewing audience, while the other 25% of the audience crossed their arms, grumbled, and preemptively decided that no way could this two-part finale possibly live up to season one’s “Modern Warfare.”
Well, this part of the audience was correct. It didn’t live up to “Modern Warfare.”
It was better than “Modern Warfare.”
Why?
1) No forced sexual tension between people who don’t really have it. I’ve enjoyed almost all of Jeff and Britta’s scenes in season two, but their interactions in season one were highly annoying about 90% of the time. Their scenes in “Modern Warfare” took up too much time for my taste. In the paintball sequel, though, the sexual tension was mostly between Annie and the Black Rider, and then Annie and Abed. As someone who couldn’t stand Sawyer on Lost, I thought Josh Holloway was perfect and amusing in his small role as the hired assassin. And, as someone who has been rooting for Jeff/Annie for the last year, I enjoyed the brief foray into Annie/Abed and wouldn’t necessarily mind if that chemistry was explored more next season.
2) Everyone in the group got the chance to be a hero. “Modern Warfare” is a brilliant episode of television, but due to the Battle Royale format, some characters had to be eliminated from the mix too early. It’s always disappointing to see Troy, Annie, and Pierce taken out so early. This year, Annie got to be the star of the entire first part, Jeff and Troy divided strategy responsibilities between them, Abed was Han Solo, Britta and Shirley had the heroic golf cart chase, and Pierce won for Greendale in the end. I liked that, even if a character was removed from the game, s/he wasn’t removed from the episode.
3) More participation from the rest of the Greendale campus. Vicky, Fat Neal, Garret, Leonard, and Starburns all got to play a little more than they did last year, but the best part was Magnitude sacrificing himself by diving on top of the paint grenade.
4) Reference after reference after reference! First it was a spaghetti western, then it was a Star Wars movie, and I have no idea what it was by the end, but it made me laugh and clap and dance with joy.
I think I love Community so much because, if I had my own show, it would be very similar in style. Some viewers get tired of the constant reference humor, but I can’t get enough of it. I feel like watching Community is like watching a live-action version of The Simpsons. I even laugh at the references I don’t understand.
What a way to end a season.
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I loved this finale so much. I’ve been preaching Community to anyone who will listen since season one episode one, but I’ve won a whole lot of new converts this year thanks to the jaw-dropping brilliance of season two.
Btw, you maybe knew this, but I only just found out that Magnitude is Lee Jordan from Harry Potter! (He’s also Ben from Tracy Beaker, which I think is awesome but may be less exciting to those without access to CBBC.)
I love Annie and Abed, much, much more than Annie and Jeff. To me, the Annie/Jeff thing is a bit too creepy. There is too much of a sense of a much older guy taking advantage of a much younger, more neive and insecure young woman. In the case of Annie/Abed, whatever is going on is weird, but it’s also more equal. Abed has problems expressing his emotions, except when he is playing some kind of character. It may not be too much of a leap to imagine that he may have feelings for Annie that he cannot express as himself. Anyway, I enjoyed their interaction and hope we get a lot more of it in S3.
I think JEFF thinks of it as him taking advantage of a younger woman, but I think Annie is much tougher and capable than he gives her credit for. Honestly, I just think McHale/Brie have great chemistry together, and Jeff wrestling with his attraction to Annie while thinking it’s wrong will never not be funny to me.
That said, if the writers decide to pursue this unexpected Annie/Abed twist further, I wouldn’t mind at all.
I disliked it for another reason: a teenage girl wrapping a mature man (here also a genius manipulator) around her little finger. This trope always makes me squirm. In the visual novel game “don’t take it personally, babe, it just ain’t your story”, I even wanted to ruin this dynamic badly, with the protagonist not getting interested in his student who throws herself at him for an obsession based on his looks and a knight in shining armor-personality she imagined for him, and even calls her out on her stalkerish behavior.