COMMUNITY

S02E21 - "Paradigms of Human Memory" (B+)
                 or:
"Best. Clip Show. Ever."

          It's a clip show, but it isn't, and for that we can all be thankful.  Not that Community doesn't have a wealth of funny material in it's catalog of episodes, but clip shows tend so suck.  Leave it to Community to poke fun at an old TV standby, and do a damn fine job of it.

          I've always liked Community, partially because every single character on the show is, in some way or another, a failure.  I can identify with that completely.  I even attended a community college once upon a time, although my time there was brief and I made no friends.  So I see the show as a love letter to the community college experience I never had, where people are inherently flawed, but accept each other, and ultimately come to depend on one another.  But this is merely the premise of the show.

          Like most failures (and Americans), I watch a substantial amount of television.  Do I watch television because I am a failure, or am I a failure because I watch television?  I'd like to think it's a little bit of both.  Anyhow, television is probably my best friend anymore.  I know television better than any person, I look forward to seeing television, and television has always been there for me.  So a television show about failure that's really a television show about entertainment as a whole is right up my alley.

          I've always hated clip shows.  The first one I can remember is "So It's Come to This, A Simpsons Clip Show", and back then I was young enough not to know a fast one was being pulled on me, but when I re-watched the series over the past couple of years I hated it.  30 Rock's clip show (the 100th episode, aired last night) was bad enough to push me over the edge and disown the show.  So, to see a clip show format that consists almost entirely of original material, is a breath of fresh air.

          It's hard for me to summarize this episode.  There's a lot going on, but at the same time, there isn't.  Nothing new is introduced, but we are given a series of flashbacks to events that occurred in the past (but really didn't).  It's kind of a mindfuck.  The group begins the episode making a diorama of the group making their previous 19 dioramas.  Their progress is halted when Annie's Boobs (Troy's monkey, which is never referred to by its name, so I'm guessing S&P wasn't fond of the joke) steals their paintbrush and escapes into the vents, followed by a greased up and speedo clad Chang.  When Chang returns with the assortment of items Annie's Boobs has misappropriated over the years, the group begins to reminisce about the good times. Except, all of the good times are somewhat tainted.  Their stint at the Glee Club (which was a fun parody, although I've never watched Glee I'm all for making fun of it) came about as the result of the original Glee Club dying in a bus accident.

          The group slowly begins to realize that their good memories aren't as rosy as they recall, and turmoil ensues.  Jeff and Britta's secret romance is exposed by Abed, and the group blames their woes on their secret couplings.  Jeff and Britta point out to the rest of the group that they have had their selfish streaks as well, and everyone is suddenly at odds with each other.  By the end of the episode, the group has reconciled, and despite the fact that you can see this coming a mile (or fifteen minutes) away, seeing them get from point A to point B is a delight.  I know this show won't last forever, despite Abed's prediction of six seasons and a movie within this episode, but damn it, I'm going to enjoy the hell out of it while it lasts.

Potent Quotables

• "You can yell at me all you want.  I've seen enough movies to know that popping the back of a raft makes it go faster."
• "These drug runners aren't going to execute Pierce because he's racist."
• "Those guys don't care who they hurt, do they?  You know I still don't even know if I'm in the group?"