Abed's Free-Spirted Quirkiness Borders On Selfishness

Community, S03E12

Last night we saw that Abed, although very cute and amusing with his love of make-believe, was so busy satisfying his own needs that he didn't realize that he was causing trouble for people who are supposedly his friends (most of all Troy).  Jeff, too, showed a new level of his personality by taking therapy that allowed his ego to run dangerously too free.  With the gang being forced to act like famous impersonators at a teenager's party, you would think that would be enough "excitement" for one episode.  Nope.  As a cherry on the top, we had Chang's return to Community and the rise of his "Chang Warriors."

I want to start with Jeff.  I'm not sure why, but I sort of liked him on anti-anxiety pills.  I think that most people like him who are so full of themselves are actually covering for their complete lack of confidence, so I viewed Jeff as a more likeable, confident man.  I thought that Greta was simply just trying to bring Jeff down (as she likes to be a downer about most things) until she warned him about his ego exploding like an over-pumped apple (glad Jeff questioned why she would use an apple to illustrate his ego over-inflating).  I was surprised that Jeff actually listened to Greta and asked for her help when he saw that her warnings were more valid than her psychology credentials would suggest.  She couldn't really do anything for him while the women at the party were fawning over him and the guest of honor was being showered with vanity awards, and he unexpectedly turned into an super-ego fueled Hulk.  That was a pretty good moment.  Jeff was acting like a crazy person, but somehow he managed to save Abed's legs by not ruining the party.

Abed's legs indeed needed saving.  This might have been one of the few episodes, if ever, that I wanted someone to shake Abed or even hit him.  Troy was being a great friend by not only convincing the gang that they owed to Abed to participate in the party so that Abed's debts would be cleared, but he also worked his ass off to make sure that everyone performed well enough to the manager's standards.  All the while, Abed was enjoying himself at the party, with not a care in the world.  I loved how threatening French Stewart's presence was in this episode; he and Troy had some funny exchanges.

The best thing about the gang having to work at the party was that the manager said that with Troy and Greta they would have both versions of Michael Jackson.  LOL.  Shirley as Oprah was a no-brainer, but I would have never guessed those roles for those two.  I felt a little bad for Pierce who couldn't be the celebrity he wanted, but at least one of the guests at the party recognized him as the fat version of Burt Reynolds and made an old man happy.  You gotta toss Pierce a bone every now and then.

When Troy saw that Abed was continuing to purchase the lookalikes for his own entertainment, I wasn't shocked, but I began to worry about their friendship.  I was more worried when Abed didn't recognize Troy's anger (although, you wouldn't expect him to), and Troy had to spell it out for them.  It seemed like Abed was able to trust Troy a little more and their relationship was going to go deeper, but then Abed brushed off Troy's company to play and also didn't do their special handshake with him!  What??  They always do that in the end!  If Abed ruins their friendship, it will break my heart.  They are great characters by themselves, but nothing beats a combo like Abed and Troy.  It just wouldn't be the same!  I wonder if they will address this next time, or wipe the slate clean of their problems.

I wish there was more Chang, and yet I wish he hadn't been there at all.  I'm a little worried about what Chang is planning by recruiting people to work with him, especially since he doesn't really do anything of  value at the school currently.  I never thought he would be able to trick some kids into his security intern program.  If the kids haven't caught on by the next episode that Chang is not operating with a full deck of cards, I would like to see his plans for his new army.

Not sure what's going on with Abed and that other version of him (Evil Abed?).  Does that signal the start of Abed going off in a sinister direction apart from Troy?  Don't do this to me, writers.  I was so looking forward to Troy and Abed getting into strange situations together, not moving apart from each other.  Chang needs to have more screen time so I can hear more of the crazy things from his mouth I had come to love once upon a time.  As for the other characters, I have no complaints at the moment.  Let's see if that will continue for the rest of the "season."