In Which Abed lets his bitch flag fly.

“Community” is awesome. Let’s go ahead and put that out there. Last night’s episode had many of the traits that has endeared the show to this viewer, namely fast paced dialogue that is actually quite sharp for a network show as well as the trademark goofiness. Also in this week’s episode, a fair amount of racists (not expected, but still well done and amusing).

The show began with a new setting for the gang, a basketball court. I don’t think the show had ever established that anyone besides Troy play sports, although Jeff does do a fair bit with the pool cue in hand (as we learned last year in possibly the best episode of the series so far). That said, I wasn’t surprised at all about how petulant Jeff sounded about losing, him kicking the ball after the game was a great way to get that story arc moving.

Meanwhile, on the women front, it’s odd to see the three females of the group be so enthusiastic about hanging out. Not too long ago, Annie and Britta nearly came to blows while Shirley was pissed about being excluded. That said, they worked well together, the cast does have a pretty strong chemistry between the three.

The whole “Abed is a Robo-Cop who makes bitchy comments” storyline worked for me up to the point when he just started to make indiscriminant fun of everyone. Snappy comments are like the salt of the dinner table, use too much and the food becomes unbearable. Although, Senor Chang (Student Chang?) saved a few by laughing hysterically in the background. And having yet another moment where we get to see him get shut out of the study group.

The second storyline worked a bit better, at least for me. Troy and Jeff find an enchanted secret garden with a trampoline, guarded by a seemingly awesome gardener (who turns out to be a sneaky racist, its great to see Troy face when he figures it out.) Until Pierce shows up and ruins the fun by asking Troy to double bounce him and breaking both his legs. That’s just pure genius. Anytime Pierce gets to be unhappy and grouchy is a win for the viewer because that’s when his old man sensibilities kick in (and lets be fair, how often must this happen to Chevy Chase in real life? Twice a day?) Great gags all around, including the little man in the helicopter and the question of the week: “Who’s going to make sure Pierce doesn’t OD?” Where can I volunteer?

On a small note, Hillary Duff guest starred in this episode, but I found nothing that she did to be of any real importance or particularly funny. Mainly, she seemed to serve as a set up to the punch line, which I suppose is the best a has-been Disney star can expect to be in her late 20’s.

The “Troy and Abed in the Morning” skit is awesome. Straight dope, as Troy would say. Even better that it involved one of my favorite side characters, Side-burns. Seeing that guy get shot by Betty White in the premiere was still one of the funniest moments in the season for me.

Lines that made me giggle:

• “Bring it in for a boob bump ladies!” – Annie
• “Why name your daughter Megan, are you stocking up for a bitch shortage?” – Shirley
• “Its Wednesday, sometimes I eat in Jeff’s car…don’t tell him” – Abed
• “2008 called, to say that even in 2008, those were tacky” -Abed

What are your thoughts on the episode?