photo: nbc
Community
Aerodynamics of Gender
Original Air Date: Nov 4, 2010
Meg – Sr. Reviewer
meg@thetwocentscorp.com
Move over Texas, there’s something new not to mess with: Abed. Community channels Mean Girls this week, with Abed. Britta, Shirley, and Annie are excited to be taking a women’s studies class so they can hate on the patriarchy. I would totally be with them, but since the episode opens with Jeff and Troy in tank tops, I’m a little distracted… (and very, very shallow).
Is Abed the ultimate mean girl? Read on for the full recap and review—and find out!
The ladies are a tad miffed that Abed is joining their class, so they ditch him in the back row and get seats up front for their first lecture. This turns out to be a bad move as they find themselves face to face with… Lizzie McGuire? No, apparently this is Queen Bee “Megan.” She and her minions go to town on our study group gals, jabbing at Britta’s roots and Annie’s bleached moustache (ouch!).
However, the trio soon realizes that Abed’s over-analytical means he can zero in on a person’s flaws and shoot rapid fire attacks without a second thought. Britta, Shirley, and Annie unleash him on Megan and her mean girls… and pretty much anyone they don’t like. It’s hilarious, but feels a little wrong and exploitative.
With Chang acting as a one-man Jerry Spring audience, Abed takes down Megan in the cafeteria. Seriously – the zingers are so quick, it’s hard to keep up. I think my favorite is: “what’s with your uneven bra padding? You like you’re smuggling a lime and a coconut.”
Britta, Shirley, and Annie are nearly drunk with power, not realizing that they’ve created a monster… or at least a member of the automated bitch police! We see things through Abed’s “flaw assessment matrix” which calculates a person’s degree of bitchery. Suddenly he realizes that Shirley, Britta, and Annie are kind of being bitches too. He smacks them all down and unleashes an epic lightening rod bitch slapfest on everyone (including his own juice box).
Abed meets with Megan in the library and hands her “the strike codes” so they can restore the natural order. Much like the way Shirley sacrificed herself for him when he made his Jesus movie, Abed throws himself under the bus and allows Megan to take him down in public. She berates him for being a jerk just to fit in. Abed’s targeting system goes off line and the world order is restored with apologies and group hugs all around.
Meanwhile, Troy and Jeff have found The Secret Garden of Greendale, home to a potentially illegal, but nevertheless, enchanting beauty: a massive trampoline. This may seem silly, but having once danced in the trampoline palace myself, I totally get this B plot. Jeff and Troy become fabulously mellow and joyous. And of course, Pierce, captain of the “me too!” squad ruins it. He threatens to tell everyone about The Secret Garden unless Troy double bounces with him. Pierce ends up landing in a dumpster. Karmic trampoline says what?
This was a really funny episode and definitely has more in the “pro” column than the “con” column. However, I still have a couple quibbles. The Pierce plot had some funny moments (especially when he solicits Leonard for computer help), but he felt pretty one-note tonight. I like my characters with layers! Also, the Hilary Duff cameo was random and pretty unnecessary – it could have been any actress. It was great that Abed was able to fix things, but I would almost have preferred it if Shirley, Britta, and Annie had debitchified themselves.
Exchange of the night? Is it any surprise I’d pick:
Shirley: Why name your daughter Megan? Are you stocking up for a bitch shortage?
On behalf of Megs and Megans everywhere, hee. What did you think of the episode? Leave some comments and share your two cents!
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