15. Series 2 Episode 8: Cooperative Calligraphy
Written by Megan Ganz
FRIENDS Title The One Where Annie Loses Her Pen Quote of the Week
Abed - I hate bottle episodes. They're wall to wall facial expressions and emotional nuance. I might as well sit in a corner with a bucket on my head. Outstanding Character Alison Brie, playing
Annie here shows the neurotic side of her character to such an extreme extent that she makes Annie not only the definitive version of the well known character-type but puts such a spin on her that Annie becomes something new altogether. It's a common problem I have with comedy shows that women are denigrated to the role of the boring love interest (alla The Inbetweeners) or the 'sensible one' who has to keep those crazy men in check (alla IT Crowd) but Annie gets, in 'Community' to be among the weirdest, most interesting and funny of the characters and this episode is a good example of that. Why this Episode is so Good One of the best things about the show is its ability to take existing tropes of television shows and turn them on their heads. The trope this week is the 'bottle episode' idea as acknowledged by Abed early on. The term - coined by fans of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' refers to any episode where the characters stick to only to the established sets of their respective shows, this episode parodies the whole concept to extreme degrees making the entire reason for the main characters staying in the study room that Annie lent her pen to one of them and she won't let them leave until she gets it back. The tension in the episode notches up as every minute passes by making the audience see how contrived the idea of drama taking place in such a simple set up really is. Despite making fun of the bottle episode formula the episode is still littered with hilarious one-liners and classic moments of character observation that make this one of the best episodes of Community.