Community more than just "Cooperative Escapism"

Article first published as Community more than just "Cooperative Escapism" on TheTVKing.

NBC's Community delivers the second consecutive solid episode of the fourth season this week with "Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations." It's Thanksgiving, and Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) invites everyone to her home for dinner. They accept, except Jeff (Joel McHale), who has a surprise - he's going to visit his estranged father, William (James Brolin, Castle, Catch Me If You Can), this holiday.

Jeff is a shallow jerk of a man, or so we believe for the first couple of seasons. But at the end of season three, Community made a choice to begin to explore his psyche in a real way, allowing for growth and development, and delving into what makes him the way he is. It's great to see "Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations" continue that trend.

Who Jeff's father is has long been eating at the character, as William abandoned Jeff as a young boy. In this episode, we see a lot of what Jeff gets from his father, but also the type of guy that would disappear from his son's life. It's a complex portrait, developed in such a way that we see the similarities and differences between the Winger men, as well as the cause of them, all in a single episode of a sitcom. It's quite a feat.

At first, William wants to take credit for Jeff. Jeff appears confident and successful, having had a good life, and William thinks that may be what has helped Jeff. By contrast, Jeff's younger half brother, William Jr. (Adam DeVine, Workaholics), who William raised reluctantly, is a blubbery emotional mess. But Jeff sets William straight, baring a lot of his soul, a deeply painful story, and a literal scar. It's a bit of a wake up call for William, though only time will tell if he will squander the second chance he doesn't deserve that Jeff is graciously giving him.

For someone who originally seems sarcastic and closed off, this honesty and rawness from Jeff in the episode is startling and impressive. For the first time, viewers get to really know Jeff. It's a whole new side of the character, and one that explains a lot. This is McHale's masterpiece in the series, and he handles it with brilliance and a huge amount of talent that seems to come effortlessly. Bravo.

It completely adds to this plot that Britta (Gillian Jacobs) follows Jeff to his family's home. Everyone makes fun of her, and rightly so, for her desire to be a therapist, and the poor way that she seems to perform as one. Yet, here, she has clearly gotten through to Jeff, and as reluctant as he might be to admit it, Jeff owes her a huge debt of thanks.

The whole thing perfectly pays off when Jeff prepares a lovely and sincere Thanksgiving for the group, and even invites the Dean (Jim Rash). These are his chosen family, the people that mean the most to him, and he finally ready to start showing it.

Meanwhile, at Shirely's house, the rest of the group finds a horrible mess of an event, and end up hiding from Shirley's family in the garage. Shirley's feelings are hurt, which we eventually learn, since she invited them to have a buffer from her husband's horrible family. At this revelation, they rally and support Shirley the way that they should.

Some of this arc is weak. Having Abed (Danny Pudi) turn their garage stay into a Shawshank Redemption and Prison Break bit is going a little far. There are some solid jokes, such as digging the tunnel behind the poster and the unnecessary map of the house on his stomach. But I do wonder if perhaps Abed is losing it. What I perceive as a hollowing of the character could be symptoms of a larger issue that will have to be dealt with, a continuation of the problems glimpsed in the season premiere. If so, this is a smart, not lame, arc for the character, and would redeem the first couple installments of the season. If not, the writing for Abed is just so much more flat this year, and that's disappointing.

Besides the bigger stories, there are a ton of fun callbacks and references stuffed into the episode. We see Shirley's sandwich shop sign, Abed utters "cool, cool, cool," Pierce (Chevy Chase) tries and fails to engage Abed on numerous occasions with Star Wars references and being meta, and Jeff uses Britta's name as a verb against her. Also, in the opening scene in the study room, inside messages are written on the board behind the cast, including a thank you to fans for tuning in. Awesome.

After a soft opening, spirits are buoyed as Community picks up steam. Maybe the emotional stuff Jeff in particular experiences isn't completely consistent with what the show was, but they have been earned and feel natural at this point. Community airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.