5 Awesome Things from Community: ‘Contemporary Impressionists’

I really enjoyed last week’s return (See the 5 Awesome things) and this week, “Contemporary Impressionists” managed to be exponentially more awesome. There were more jokes-per-minute, an extra dose of the wild and crazy, and it brought in the ever present emotional elements that keep this rag-tag study group together.

In “Contemporary Impressionists” the group must unite to pay off Abed’s debt to celebrity impersonators by appearing as celebrity impersonators at a Bar Mitzvah. The whole night must go off without a hitch to prevent Abed’s magical elf legs from being broken, for real.

“Abed is a magical, elf-like man who makes us more magical by being near us… All we had was dumb reality before we met that man. And he’s made all our lives better than reality.”

1) Evil Abed. Hot Hot Hot. I think my face almost melted when Abed’s Dreamatorium creation came to life in front of our eyes. Being privy to the weird inner workings of Abed’s mind was a complete trip. Watching Abed confront difficult issues in his real life through an invented reality isn’t new (see Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas), however watching Abed wrestle with his issues with his “Evil Abed” self was an incredibly moving moment where we were able to experience the way his mind works. It (forgive me) left the episode to end on a uniquely dark note.

2) Attack of the Aviators. Oscar Winner Jim Rash continues to top himself as Dean Pelton. The Dean has always had a thing for Jeff so his absolute on the floor Kristen-Bell-saw-a-sloth style breakdown when new swagger Jeff dons aviators was spot on and absolutely priceless.

3) Real Talk. At first “Contemporary Impressionists” seemed like it was going to be a turn for Jeff to deal with his issues and Britta to put her community college psychology skills to work, which it was. Very quickly we delved into the increasingly insular Troy & Abed relationship.  The episode took a hard look at the realities that come with the way Abed exists in the world, and how Troy, and the study group support him.  Community uses “real talk” moments sparingly and wisely. For a show based so much on heart but existing in such a wacky environment it’s a very thin line to walk.

“Contemporary Impressionists” dives into the issues surrounding the problems that occur when Abed exists in the real world without adhering to the rules of it, and how the people who love him enable this behaviour. The way Abed views the world can be magical but it also has real consequences and it was important for the show to address this. It was interesting that this issue was brought up but not solved in one episode alone (it’s way to big for that). Troy voiced his concerns to Abed and then Abed went to go process these new revelations alone in a way that he can understand. It’s a rift in their soulmateesque relationship but one that will just make them stronger.  It left this episode off on a uniquely (and forgive me) dark note and I look forward to when the show picks up on this again. Amazing work from both Danny Pudi and Donald Glover, as always.

4) Community Gets Graphic. Last week I noted in “honourable mentions” how much I loved the graphics that depicted the inner-workings of Jeff’s heart. I was so happy to see them make a return this week as Jeff’s apple ego and the Dean/Moby/DJ equation in Chang’s head. I hope this trend continues, it’s such a neat little feature that makes a huge impact.

5) JeffHulkSMASH. Jeff deteriorating from cocky swagger where his swagger has a new swagger to Ryan Seacrest lookalike (famous for being good looking) to losing it when he lost “Most Handsome Young Man” to the Bar-Mitzvah Boy was a hilarious and wonderful journey. Jeff’s ego-explosion story was a lighter mirror of self-exploration to Abed’s. His self-confidence issues have been a recurring theme throughout the series, it’s good to know that he was trying to get help, these particular pills just created a monster (and the corresponding shame) instead.

Runners Up (a.k.a Bonus  Awesome):  Shirley’s Oprah (all the impressions), Britta Analyzing,  the Dean/Moby impersonator is a fake DJ, “I’m an exceptional narcissist”, the dean’s dalmations, and Abed was the volleyball

Chang Watch 2012: Chang works for me when he’s used in service of the study group’s stories, and then when he’s used minimally. With the exception of Renee Zellweger level pouting much of this week’s Chang thing felt extraneous  (I’ll also allow “who brings a scalpel to a bris?”). Points awarded for explaining Chang’s presence with his brother the Rabbi throwing him security gigs.

What were your favourite moments of “Contemporary Impressionists”? Let me know what you thought of the episode in the comments.