Community "Custody Law and Eastern European Democracy" Review

The most critically acclaimed sitcoms of the last six years have one thing in common: they're like live-action versions of The Simpsons. Follow me for a bit, if you will. The Simpsons combines comedy with lovable and familiar characters. The town of Springfield's populated with endearing and funny character who the audience loves to spend time with once a week. The adventures of the people of Springfield can be surreal, zany or heartfelt. The show blends multiple genres.

Community reminds me of The Simpsons. Dan Harmon understands that good characters enhance the quality of a show. Community's full of wonderful characters. The core study group grounds the show while the supporting characters allows the writers to take the shows to places like paintball battles and rocket ships. One week, an episode's completely surreal. Another week, an episode's grounded in character and heart. "Custody Law and Eastern European Democracy" was the latter episode. Now, each episode of Community balances its surreal, absurd brand of comedy with honest, heartfelt character development because that IS Community. It's not really a balancing act as much as it's the show's identity.

Senor Chang's the craziest character in the series. Critics complained during the early part of season 1 that Chang's too abrasive. They argued the abrasiveness didn't mesh with the dynamics of the other characters. Of course, the abrasiveness of Chang and his insanity is the point of the character. The A story revolved around the possibility of Chang as the father of Shirley's baby. Shirly wants to forget that Chang was ever involved. She tries to get Chang to forfeit his parental rights because she wants her new life with Andre to be perfect. The fun of the Chang story is, Harmon and his writers never try to explain or justify Chang's behavior. Chang proudly tells Jeff that he's nuts. His insanity explains his behavior. Whether or not that satisfies fans is their problem. People might want an explanation for Chang's insanity but it's pointless. The emotional crutch during the A story (the chance that Chang actually wanted to be a father) is discarded almost immediately. As Andre explains, being a good father's more than simply dressing the part. Chang never learns a lesson, even after framing Jeff for kidnapping. But, again, he's insane.

Meanwhile, Britta had the hots for Troy and Abed's new friend, Lukka. Lukka, from The Balkans, plays video games with Troy and Abed. They want Britta as far from Lukka as possible because she always ruins their friendships with their friends. Britta can't help herself though. Soon, she and Lukka are making out on his couch until he kills the mood by describing the brutal murders he committed in defense of his homeland. From there, Britta tries to end Troy and Abed's friendship with Lukka because he's a war criminal. The Lukka angle isn't the heart of the story, though. He's just there for laughs. The story's about Britta's relationship with Troy and Abed, about her insecurity with failure in her relationships with men, about her desire not to ruin things. Troy an Abed assure her that she doesn't ruin a thing before she ruins the ending to a movie the two guys want to watch. The point, she can't ruin her relationship with those two. She needed to hear that. There's been a certain sadness attached to Britta throughout the season, so this felt good.

Community's on a spectacular run of good to great episodes. Each episode never leaves me disappointed. The actors know their characters so well, the writers know this world so well that each week is a pleasure to watch. The dialogue's clever and witty. The casting director obviously watched Dollhouse when Enver Gjokai used an Eastern European accent for the initial episodes so that director knows talent. I loved the shirt that Abed made after the paintball battle that read "It's All Downhill From Here." I once wrote a rant about critics who complained that Community will always suffer because of how good "Modern Warfare" is. Anywho, great episode.

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