Abed Is The Sanest of All

Community, S03E19

Abed had to see a psychiatrist to avoid trespassing charges from the "dean."  Jeff and the other accompanied him (he hates to see doctors on his own), and they all defended Abed's eccentricity by showing their own and proving that he was no crazier than any one else.  The doctor not only determined that Abed should be committed, but revealed that Greendale was not a school but an asylum they had all attended for 3 years.  Everyone believed him for about a few minutes before they got the truth from him--he was working for Chang and the dean had been replaced with a lookalike (as Abed kept telling them).  They planned to get the dean back.

I'm happy that the gang was still finding a way to see each other after two months have passed since their expulsion.  Troy had a really interesting dish that had Bagel Bites, Doritos and a deconstructed Hot Pocket mixed in it.  I probably would try that no matter how odd the combination sounds.  It was also good to see Abed up to some mischief, wearing his Inspector Spacetime outfit, but unfortunate that it led to him having to go see a psychiatrist.  Especially because he was probably trying to find evidence to prove that the dean had been kidnapped and replaced and no one was paying attention to his theories.

I loved that Jeff and the others went with Abed to the psychiatrist.  On one hand you could think that they had nothing else better to do (being ex-students with no jobs), but on the other hand, they all really love Abed so much that they wouldn't let him go alone.  They didn't let the doctor step over Abed and make him sound insane, but instead made themselves sound just as crazy (if not crazier) than Abed through stories of their own lapses of sanity.  Now that's friendship.  But I really liked when they were recalling some highlights of Abed's weirdness.  Troy had a really good quote about him regarding that:

You have to understand about Abed, he’s usually adorable weird like Mork from Ork but since we got expelled he’s been creepy weird like present day Robin Williams.

Some of the best Abed memories were Shirley's and Pierce's.  In the former, he got pissed that Shirley claimed someone was the "new Speilberg" and called her a  "bad person."  I could see him shoving the tray in her face if she wasn't his friend.  I love angry Abed.  But the latter, where Abed was narrating Pierce's life, was absolute gold.  I couldn't stop laughing at that.  He was saying such rude stuff and Pierce was getting so angry!  And it was great that he even narrated when Pierce spoke to him, but made it seem like Pierce was talking to himself.  Abed is so damn good!  That was my absolute favorite scene.

I got a little scared when the doctor said that Abed needed to be committed, but I was glad that Jeff was trying to joke his way out of it.  It was cute when he told Abed to do his Don Draper impression and all Abed really did was pose and say "cigarettes."  Adorable.  But what I liked best is that they didn't readily accept that Abed should be locked away as if he were a maniac on the rise.  It made my heart smile to see them fight for him.

It was also a little cute how they noticed how the dean always used to have their back, even for the most trivial things.  He's creepy and odd, but he's most certainly their friend, whether they want him to be or not.  He's at least less of a negative existence in their past Greendale life than Chang was.  If anyone needs to be committed, the guy snorting corn chips up his nose like crack is a better choice.

It was a good trick that the doctor pulled on the gang to make them think that Greendale was never a college.  They are a little guillible sometimes, so I'm not surprised they began to believe it at first (plus they are a little co-dependent at times).  I almost thought that would be a great twist (though kind of a cop out) on this show, but I was happier that they caught the doctor trying to sneak out and called him out on his shit.  If they hadn't, Chang would have been able to keep them oblivious of his plan (save Abed) for longer, and he might have come up with a better plan to eliminate them.  Plus, it was really funny when the doctor tried to come up with another lie on the spot about Greendale being purgatory and Jeff slapped Troy for falling for that.  Oh, Troy.

It's also funny that Chang was plotting to take care of them now that they were on to him.  He is really starting to look a villian!  I like how he's changed from an unqualified Spanish teacher who used to make their lives unnecessarily miserable to a power-hungry mastermind.  I wonder what will happen to him if he's fired from that job?  Someone as crazy as him can't be left to his own devices for very long.  He's needs to have some kind of task or we might see him setting off explosives somewhere.

It's wonderful how the gang all hugged each other when they realized they weren't crazy and that they had something they needed to do (aka save the dean).  Chang may have one foot in the crazy house right now, but his horrible plan is really bringing them all together.  I thought they were tight before, but they are really proving that their bonds go deeper than a shared class or school.  I can't imagine anything ever breaking them apart.

This is one of my favorite episodes.  It's been a while since I've liked one that wasn't a more adventurous tale of battle or chaos in the school.  This time I just really enjoyed the depth of everyone's friendship and the hilarious memories they could look back upon.  Abed, although being silent throughout most of the doctor's appointment, was really funny through his friends' eyes.  Finally, everyone has seen that their enemy Chang needs to be taken down and the dean needs to be rescued.  Can't wait to see how Chang plans to stop them and how Jeff and the others manage to take him down.

The Starburns Memorial Riot

Community, S03E18

The group decided to have a memorial for the deceased Starburns to handle the grief they were supposed to be experiencing from losing one of their classmates.  Annie and Greta insisted that they should feel something at Starburns' passing, but Jeff was impassive about it until he heard that his death prevented them from a complete Biology grade and guaranteed them a summer course instead.  At the memorial, Jeff began to speak about his displeasure with Greendale and the others in the group followed in suit, each sharing one of their personal complaints about the nature of the school.  The other students in attendance got fired up by the ideas the Jeff group were presenting and a riot broke out.  The dean panicked and allowed Chang and his kids to use force to stop them, including pepper spray.  The event caused so much damage and attention that the school board wanted a hearing concerning those responsible.  The dean agreed to use Chang a scapegoat to protect Jeff's group, but Chang countered that idea with a much more cunning one that was successful in getting the group expelled.

I agreed with Jeff that them wasting time on grieving for Starburns was pointless.  It was mostly a chance for Greta to use some of the crap she thinks she has learned in her psychology class.  Thus, I didn't expect the memorial for Starburns to be anything but a joke (but not in a funny way), until Jeff got up to speak and started bad-mouthing the school.  I really liked how everyone had something bad to say about Greendale, even Annie and Shirley who are usually good for spinning things in a positive way.  The dean has never had any control over the school (thus why things like school-wide pillow wars and paintball fights can break out), so it's little surprise that he would turn to Chang to bail him out.

I'm happy that Chang, who is usually in the background like a little crazy time bomb, has finally stepped into the spotlight again.  I really liked that his request for more force on campus was written in crayon with pictures as if a child had written it.  Later, when he sent his little army out to handle the riot, Chang was just standing around laughing like a maniac.  That was damn funny.  I actually felt bad that Jeff's group and the dean were going to blame him for everything that happened (when the dean could probably be looked upon the most guilty for his lack of managing skills) until Chang tranquilized the dean and replaced him with a lookalike.  Wow.  Then he showed up at the hearing in a nice suit (where did he get that from--he looks like he's never owned a suit in his life), acting like everyone's best friend.  I thought he was just a hop away from the looney bin, but he's actually a damn good evil mastermind.  As much as I like Jeff's group, I had to applaud and admire Chang's scheme.  I wonder how long he's going to keep that fake dean around.

The last scene where the group was gathered at Abed and Troy's was nice.  I liked that Abed brought up that amazing episode where they showed a different timeline each time someone rolled the dice, and Abed wondered if the current timeline was the darkest of them all.  However, instead of ending on a sad note with everyone worrying about what they would do now that they were expelled, they all seemed to accept what had happened to them because at least they still had each other.  That was much better to see than them having a pity party or a bitch fit about it all.  I guess there's still hope for them all.

I want to see what will happen with Chang's position now that he's gotten rid of Jeff and company (not that I think they were exactly in his way to "glory").  It would be funny if he tried to take over the dean's position somehow, but I know that with him in a position of power, he would quickly abuse it and cause his own downfall.  It will also be interesting to see what the group does now that they don't have to go to Greendale for school.  Hopefully they will still find a way to see each other and have some kind of wacky mishap like usual.  However, I'm mostly hoping that the real dean will come back and get the seven of them reinstated as students as they should be.