It was a very relationship-heavy episode of Community this week, and I really appreciated it. I’m a stickler when it comes to dropped storylines, and sitcoms can be the worst offenders. That’s why I was thrilled when Professor Slater, to whom we were first introduced in the Halloween episode, returned as a love interest for Jeff. It’s kind of fun seeing Jeff date a grown-up, and actually trying to fit into the “boyfriend” role.
We also were reminded about Annie’s feelings for Troy, which we haven’t really touched on in a few episodes. I love how subtle it was. All it took was Annie’s terrified squeak when Britta and Troy held hands for not only everybody in the Spanish group to know what was going on, but also everybody at home. They didn’t even have to do much with the Annie/Troy storyline: just acknowledge that it was still there. Annie’s obvious discomfort during his dance with Britta was enough to let us know that there’s going to be plenty more to this down the road.
Community manages to have a delicate (and hilarious) touch, even when it’s dealing in total cliches. How many times have we seen the woman who wants to be “just friends” realize that she wants the guy as soon as he’s with someone else? Yet somehow, it manages not to annoy me in this episode. Probably because I’m pretty certain it’s not going to be some huge, overwrought thing– it’ll just be in the background like it usually is in real life.
Troy’s dancing storyline is another one that’s been done to death, but it was done with enough humor (“Girls are supposed to dance. That’s why God gave them parts that jiggle”) that it doesn’t matter that “the football player who takes dance to help with his coordination” is one of the tiredest stories out there.
Community doesn’t seem to be in any hurry, which is good, as they have to find some way to justify keeping these people in community college for years on end. It doesn’t feel like they’re letting plot lines languish, but they’re keeping enough things on the burner to make each episode exciting, kind of like the Kate Winslet porno, Our Library’s Back-Door Conundrum.
Clacked by Kona Gallagher 
on Jan 21, 2010 @ 21:45 EST5EDT
I absolutely loved how Shirley kept talking about baking with pepperjack cheese while Jeff and Prof. Slater were revealing their secret to the group.