10 Worst Episodes Of Community

10. Cooperative Escapism In Familial Relations

On paper, this episode could have had the Midas touch. There were plenty of threads with the potential to find gold, such as Jeff finally meeting/confronting his father and seeing Shirley's home life. But none of it came together, as it was filled with annoying characters and more of the same.

Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations followed two thanksgiving based narratives. The first was Britta and Jeff's visit to the latter's father, and the second followed Troy, Abed, Annie and Pierce as they went to Shirley's family thanksgiving dinner and hid in the garage plotting a Shawshank-like escape.

It made sense that Community would one day parody Shawshank, but they hardly capitalised on it here as most people wouldn't have even noticed the parallels. This felt like a missed opportunity, and their rejection of Shirley's cry for help made them seem unsentimental - which was very out of character for them all, except Pierce.

On the other side of the narrative, the confrontation between Jeff and his father was more like a wet firecracker than fireworks - excluding one genuinely emotional speech from Jeff at the end. Any good that did come from the conflict was ruined by the inclusion of Jeff's half-brother Willy, an annoying younger man whose pathetic personality was grating.