Oh, Community. Only you would start off the season with a big flashy musical number about how you're going to be more normal this season. Of course the whole number is a daydream Jeff is having when asked what they're going to do now that Pierce has apparently left the group for good. But since it's Community, we fans can take it as a meta-joke and message that the show is going to be a bit more grounded this season (while still being Community). That's been something that creator Dan Harmon has been saying pretty much all summer. And it's something that I'm really excited for (even though I loved season 2's weirdness and experimentalness), because as the creators of Community have proven, they can pretty much do anything and make it great.
Before we proceed with this recap though, I feel the need to give some background (as I always do). I've always been a fan of Community. If you read my Glee recap you would've learned that before I can love a show, I must first have a moment (Known as the Moment of Truth) where I realize that I love the show and will never give up on it no matter how bad the show may get. My Community moment of truth happened in the pilot. Jeff has revealed the whole study group to be a scam and before he leaves Abed speaks up: "I thought you were like Bill Murray in any of his films but you're more like Michael Douglas in any of him films". Jeff's reply? "Yeah? Well, you have Aspberger's." (If you read my Glee recap, you'll know I have Aspberger's and find most jokes about it really funny. Also I really relate to Abed.). From that moment on I was hooked. I loved the first season tons (especially when I realized that there'd be commentaries for every episode on the DVD) and I loved the second one more than the first (I don't own the season 2 DVD but when I have money, I will.). I even let the show enter a special circle of shows I consider Office-good. So of course I was psyched for season 3. And with each new detail about the season (The show would be weird in different ways and become more grounded, each character will have an arc, the season's about the high cost of loving people.) I became more excited. So now that it's here, was it worth the wait? Yes. Yes it was.
So season 3 starts with the flashy song and dance I mentioned above. Pierce is gone, possibly for good and Jeff is happy about it (though the rest of the group isn't.). Then Pierce comes back, apparently with a new perspective (He spent the summer in a Laser Lotus celebrity clinic), eager to rejoin the group. This is a bit of an anticlimatic way to resolve the cliffhanger from last season, but it's handled funny enough that I don't mind. But Jeff doesn't want Pierce back and says that because Pierce can't get into the class they're all taking this year (Biology), he can't be in the group. Pierce argues that the group is beyond all being in the same class now and Jeff argues by stating they can all still be friends, even if Pierce isn't in the room.
Then we meet the teacher: Professor Marshall Kane, who got his degree while serving a prison sentence of 25 to life. He's very passionate about Biology, and when Jeff's new cell phone keeps interrupting, he kicks Jeff out of the class. Leaving room for Pierce to get in. So now, because Jeff didn't want Pierce in the group, he finds himself out of the group while Pierce is back in. This of course, bothers Jeff more than he lets on and his mental decline, leading to him getting hit with a knockout gas intended for monkies (specifically, Annie's Boobs) while he's chasing Chang in the vents with a photo he thinks can get him back in the group (He thinks it's a photo of Pierce with Professor Kane in prison proving they're old friends. It isn't.) is one of the highlights of the episode, as is the aftermath when he hits the study table with an axe.
In the end, Jeff gets back in the group (of course), with some help from Pierce who claims that he bribed Professor Kane into kicking out Jeff. He's lying, but he doesn't mind being the bad guy, because he knows Jeff isn't good at it. And Jeff gets in the class by giving Kane his cell phone (Plus Starburns is trying to get a Breaking Bad type-thing going with the Professor and gets kicked out of class.). This is a good story and it makes an interesting point that whether he likes it or not, Jeff and Pierce are similar people (Jeff basically goes through Pierce's season 2 arc in one episode). And I already like Pierce's character a lot more than I did last season.
Meanwhile the Dean (who's now a series regular. It's about time.) has a new goatee and a new attitude and is determined to whip the school back into shape and be a better Dean. But when he looks into the extra spending of the air conditioning repair annex, and crosses Vice Dean Layborne (played by John Goodman) wanting to know why he bought a cappucinno machine without consulting him. He quickly learns that most of Greendale's money comes from the air conditioning school's alumni donations (they're nationally renowned), and just to show how much power he has, Vice Dean Layborne arranges it so Greendale has much less money. Looks like Pierce doesn't have to be the villain after all. This story works well and definitely sets up some interesting things down the road, now that the air conditioning repair school has been established.
And in a last story, Britta tries to help Abed get over the delay of Cougar Town's third season by introducing him to the British "original" Cougarton Abbey. Except in episode 6, all the characters kill themselves and the show ends. This is a great reflection on how British television is a lot different than what we're used too. Abed is more distraught than before so Britta introduces him to "Inspector Spacetime", which is much longer and fixes it again. The plot serves a bigger purpose than to make jokes about British television though, because it inspires Britta to choose a major: Psychology. She's gonna be a therapist.
All in all, this was a great way to start Community season 3. This is said to be the darkest chapter of the story, but there's still bound to be a bunch of great laughs among the way (and great storytelling.). And more than ever, I can't wait for the next episode. Oh, and Chang becomes a security guard. That won't end well.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments-"We're gonna fly to school each morning. We're gonna smile the entire time. " "We're gonna be more happy. We're gonna finally be fine". "We're gonna get more calm and normal". "We're gonna fix our state of mind." "We're gonna be less crazy". "We're gonna finally be fine". "We're gonna stand holding hands in a brand new land far away from the borderline". "We're gonna seem like a mainstream dream" "and be appealing to all mankind!" "We're gonna have more fun and be less wierd than the first two years combined. And we're gonna live forever." "And we're gonna sleep together (Jeff and Annie!)." "And we're gonna finally be sunny and shiny. We're gonna finally be fineeeee!"
-“If I wanted to run a monkey hotel, I’d install a banana buffet. I’d use vines as elevators, I’d put tailholes in all the bathrobes, and I’d lower all the shower heads.”
-“All hail, Sir Eats Alone!” “Shut up, Leonard. I know all about your prescription socks.”
-“That’s the great thing about British TV. They give you closure.”
-"You wanted to feel real power this year. Well now you're going to feel my power coarsing frome me to you, from nose to rectum for now until the end of time." "I forgot everything you said right before rectum!"
-“I just came by to tell everyone this year isn’t gonna be that different, with the notable exception we won’t really have any money.” Another meta comment?
-The head security guard, when finding out that they'll now be paid with a course voucher instead of money only stays because he needs his scuba ceritification.
-Oh! And Starburns has a lizard now, in addition to the top hat. Poor guy. Really wants to get away from his namesake.
-"So this is the year we all die."-Jeff after seeing that Chang is a security Guard.
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