photo: nbc
Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy
Original Air Date: Mar 18, 2011
Valentina D. – TwoCents Reviewer
valentina@thetwocentscorp.com
Hey, everyone! I’m covering all the Greendale hijinks for Meg this week and I couldn’t be more excited since things at Greendale are reaching the height of excitement! As Shirley’s due date gets closer every week, her ex-husband Andre is back for this episode and the babydaddy drama is at an all-time high with Chang trying to inch his way into her good graces with a “World’s Greatest Dad” stunt.
This episode asks the question, how low can Chang sink? Answer: very low. Britta’s new love interest, a student from Eastern-Europe and a new friend of Troy and Abed, turns out to be much more intense than she bargained for.
The group throws Shirley a baby shower in the study room and since they’re still not sure who the father is, Annie points out that both men’s backgrounds are represented right down to the food and gifts. Shirley is adamant about raising the baby with Andre and really, can you blame her? Chang is borderline certifiable insane and probably shouldn’t be anywhere near a child.
The B-plot here is a great highlight for Britta, a character who’s been strangely underused this season. She shows interest in Luka, a friend of Troy and Abed’s and they automatically ban her from dating him. As the group’s appointed buzzkill, the pair claims she’d “ruin him,” just like she ruined Jeff for them. Britta isn’t letting Troy and Abed tell her who she can or can’t date and later walks in on one of their video game sessions, where she meets Luka. This scene was a great showcase for Gillian Jacobs’s comedic talents and she launches into a poor yet hilarious attempt at some improvised pop song after Luka asks if her name is “like Britney Spears.”
Elsewhere, Shirley had an attorney draw up a contract for Chang to sign over paternal rights, something we knew was coming ever since we discovered the baby might be Chang’s. She asks for Jeff’s help since Chang is still freeloading at his place. Jeff, fully aware of Chang’s crazy, tells her “don’t poke the bear,” which is smooth foreshadowing of what’s to come.
What’s this? Britta making out with Luka at his place, after Troy and Abed forbid her from getting close to him? After promising he won’t tell Troy and Abed about them, he brings up his life in Eastern Europe during wartime which interests Britta, a sucker for social injustice and oppressed people. As Luka paints a hilariously horrible picture of life in the war-torn Balkan Peninsula, she quickly realizes he was actually one of the villains. This entire scene, where Luka fondly reminisces about villagers running from tanks and corpses piled like firewood, is a great example of how well this show does comedy. You’d feel bad laughing at this stuff but guest star Enver Gjokaj delivers these lines amazingly deadpan with a hint of excitement.
Back at Jeff’s place, he presents the papers to Chang –“Parental rights? You’re adopting me?!” and realizes he’s probably going to lose the kid. Jeff, ever the selfish one, sees an opportunity to get rid of Chang and uses the situation for his own gain. Jeff plants the idea of responsibility in Chang’s head, saying Shirley would only allow him near the baby if he got a job and his own place. This seemed like a step back for Jeff, character development-wise, but in the long run it was necessary to get Chang’s later attempt at being a father figure.
Chang shows up at Greendale dressed like a 60s sitcom dad, rocking a pipe, cardigan and all. Shirley is understandably upset and catches on with Jeff’s game, calling it low even for him. Considering what Chang pulls next, she hasn’t seen low yet.
Britta struggles with what she knows about Luka but doesn’t want to ruin him for Troy and Abed. She crashes another video game session and it turns out Luka’s a huge fan of the Kickpuncher series. He asks to borrow the DVD from Abed, who employs a strict “no lending” policy and whoever breaks that rule would be dead to him forever. Cue the classic Troy and Abed hand-chest high-five!
Britta takes the DVD in hopes Troy and Abed would stop hanging out with Luka, but Abed is one step ahead of her and has footage of her stealing the DVD. Apparently, Abed has security cameras in his dorm room and is making an “extremely thorough” documentary about his life. Sidenote: I really want to see that.
Britta remains the show’s punching bag as Troy and Abed just throw out rapid fire insults at her: “You’re inhuman. You’re an inhuman person,” “you’re a monster,” “so undesensitized.” No, I didn’t make that last one up. The whole scene is very funny and extremely well-done but sad at the same time, as Britta is desperate to have the guys find out the truth about Luka’s war criminal past but she goes ignored. Troy’s response: “In what war is he a criminal? The Battle for Our Affection?”
Finally at Jeff’s, Chang goes a step too far to prove he’d be a good dad and picks up Shirley’s kids from school after having a talk with Andre. There’s only one problem these two boys aren’t Shirley’s kids. I always appreciate when Community takes a more serious turn. It’s risky but they always handle their dark subject matter well. Jeff unleashes all his feelings towards Chang, telling him he’s a horrible human being, he doesn’t care what happens to him and he’ll never feel sorry for him. Harsh stuff, but Chang’s hit rock bottom and has done some truly heinous things. Including reporting Jeff to the cops for kidnapping when Jeff leaves to bring the boys home.
I thought this was an interesting move in Chang’s development. The show has worked very hard to make Pierce the darkest and most morally foul character of the season but has laid off that in the past few episodes. My prediction is that they’re gearing up to put Chang into a more antagonistic role, like in season one. Sure, he’s been a pain for the gang this season but I always thought he worked better as Senor Chang and for him to reach that level again, I think he needed to hit rock bottom first.
Andre and Shirley show up at the jail house, where Jeff has spent the night in jail and Shirley convinced the boys’ mother to book Chang for child endangerment. Chang makes some apologies but ends up staying in the slammer for now.
Troy and Abed confront Britta and they’re now aware of Luka’s war genocide past and don’t want to be friends with a guy who “made hats out of babies.”As much fun as it is to see Britta as the eternal buzzkill, there was a kind of nice commentary from the show conveyed through Troy and Abed saying they’d go easier on her from now on.
What did you think of this episode? Do you like where they’re heading with Chang? Let us know what you think in the comments! Also as many of you know probably already know, NBC officially renewed Community for a third season earlier today!
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