Community – Episode 3-13 Review – “Pillow Fight”

Reviews

After what I considered a bit of a disappointing episode last week, Community returned last night with another hilarious installment in “Digital Exploration of Interior Design”. The episode focused largely on two things that will rarely let viewers down: Jeff’s ego and Troy and Abed’s relationship.

The episode revisited the famous blanket fort episode, but this time Abed was building a giant pillow fort. I loved how John Goodman as Laybourne was used here, purposely tearing Troy and Abed apart to serve his quest to lure Troy into air conditioning repair school. Their blanket vs. pillow fort fight was something these characters needed and I’m really intrigued about how it will develop.

Kim-sensitive

Meanwhile, Jeff became obsessed with figuring out who a girl named Kim was after discovering that not only did he have a locker at Greendale, but someone had shoved a hate letter in it. Someone named Kim — and even worse, she’d recently died. Jeff was freaking out over the idea that someone died thinking he’s a jerk, and Annie freaked out over the idea that Jeff was more concerned with what someone thought of him instead of wanting to offer a genuine apology for the behavior that caused the impression.

There were a couple of fun twists. First of all, Kim was alive and well — and also male. In fact, it was the unfortunate ginger boy who’d informed Jeff of Kim’s death. He was so angry about constantly being overlooked by Jeff that he lied to make Jeff feel bad.

More interesting was Annie’s reaction. When she thought Kim was another woman who’d been tossed aside by Jeff she made his apology her personal mission. But she didn’t give a crap about Boy Kim. Because really, it was all about Annie’s unresolved feelings (good and bad) for Jeff. Jeff and Britta have been such a thing lately, ever since the reveal that they’d secretly been sleeping together, that I was glad to see the Jeff/Annie thing revisited a little.

Keeping it Fresh

Is Subway sponsoring Community now the way it did with Chuck? If so, thanks for continuing to save my favorite struggling NBC shows, Subway! If Parenthood ever ends up on the bubble (crossing my fingers that it won’t), we should talk. Drew looks like he could work at Subway.

So, Subway opened in the Greendale cafeteria where Shirley wanted her sandwich shop to go, and to skirt around a pesky school rule that students must own 51% of an on-campus business, a student named “Subway” was enrolled. He’d erased everything about his previous identity and was now a living, breathing interpretation of the brand. I loved how wacky and ridiculous this storyline was, and it really brought out the best in Britta. Because, of course, Britta fell for Subway and had dirty, dirty sex with him.

Honestly, this storyline was so hilarious that I think it would make anyone feel OK about product placement. I loved how in the end, Subway was swapped out for a near identical Aryan looking kid. I hope this continues to happen every time the personification of the corporation makes a transgression.

A few favorite quotes & moments:

  • All Greendale students are technically in the Army Reserves.
  • “I am not a whore, and not that I’ve done the math, but if I were, I’d be the super classy kind who gets flown to Dubai to stay in an underwater hotel.”
  • “Put it in a letter, Jane Austen!”
  • Laybourne used Inspector Spacetime to pit Troy and Abed against one another. Well played, sir.

Now head to the comments to share your favorite quotes and tell me what you thought of the episode!


You can follow Jill at her blog, couchtimewithjill.com, or on Twitter @jillemader Jill has been an avid fan of TV since the age of two, when she was so obsessed with Zoobilee Zoo that her mother lied and told her it had been canceled. Despite that setback, she grew up to be a television aficionado and pop culture addict.