TV Review: Community 3.15, ‘Origins of Vampire Mythology’
The aftermath of the civil war is quickly forgotten as Community jumps straight back into a grounded episode.
rating: 3.5
The aftermath of the civil war is quickly forgotten as Community jumps straight back into a grounded episode, written by show runner/creator Dan Harmon, that successfully gives the nine main cast members something to do, builds on the romantic relationships in the study group and establishes Britta as the new wild card/Charlie Kelly of the group. The carnival comes to town leading to Britta asking Annie, a former pill head, to keep her cold turkey from talking to her ex-boyfriend, Blade, who works as a carnie. All this talk of Blade naturally leads to Troy & Abed deciding to watch Blade that night at the apartment, whilst Annie treats Britta like a junkie. Elsewhere Jeff is intrigued at how crazy Britta is around Blade so decides to investigate at the carnival with Shirley. John Goodman and his ponytail make a return, this time to get Dean Pelton to do his dirty work and persuade Troy to once again join the Air-Con repair school. He attempts this by turning up at Troy & Abeds in his PJs to watch Blade with them. The funniest running gag of the episode is everyone asking the Dean why hes there, yikes! As well as my favourite line of the episode as Annie realises Britta is lying to her as she leaves the room and the Dean comments, Whats wrong Annie? You came out of the room smiling, then your smile faded as you leaned against the door. We need another Dean centric episode. Although season three has had its flaws, its been the best season for Gillian Jacobs character and this episode is no exception. Britta was hilarious last week with no lines at all and was the driving force behind the storyline this week. Shes arguably, along with Abed, the shows most rounded and detailed character at the moment. We love to laugh at her, even more so than Pierce. I wish we got a glimpse at the no doubt graphic texts she sent to Blade. Troy deflates the situation by sending Britta, as Blade, a complimenting text that diffuses the Britta bomb. Abed meanwhile spends all his time silently watching Blade. The least interesting part of the episode has to be the Pierce and Chang throwaway plotline in which they become best friends at the carnival, it felt lazy and just fell flat. Pierce needs another episode as strong as Advanced Gay. Elsewhere at the carnival Jeff is still trying to find out what it is about Blade that drives Britta crazy. Not because hes in love with Britta, but (more true to his character) that he cant accept that there isnt an answer behind the control. We later find out that its because he was involved in an accident resulting in his brain not being able to feel shame. Jeff is suitably satisfied, acting like hes reached an epiphany that Im sure hell forget next week. He rounds the episode off with a Winger speech. As they all sit down to watch Blade, Britta realises it was Troy who sent her the sweet text, and she has a different reaction this time. The closing tag was strong this week, as it usually it when it involves Troy & Abed. Abed performs observational comedy but specific only to his apartment, and Troy being the only person laughing. Overall a good episode, but this is Community, we expect greatness. Dan Harmon continues to foreshadow the Jeff/Annie and Britta/Troy impending hook ups. Although the Britta and Troy relationship seems sweeter and more genuine than Jeff and Annie, which usually consists of Annie staring at Jeffs bare chest wide eyed. Next week dives back into another concept episode, this time set entirely in the Dreamatorium, a lot of buzz surrounds this one, lets hope it rivals the seasons best episode Remedial Chaos Theory. Im off to watch Blade now Community returns next Thursday on NBC with Virtual Systems Analysis