“I told Pierce a thousand times! I never wanted to meet LaVar in person! I just wanted a picture! YOU CAN’T DISAPPOINT A PICTURE! I hate you Pierce! I hate you so much!” -Troy
What I love, and all of us love about Community is just how rich the characters are. They all have a unique voice, a complex set of problems and obstacles, and yet they all seem to work together perfectly in this show. Community celebrates the differences of each character and allows for them to make discoveries about themselves and the other characters in each episode. The show isn’t about them studying for Spanish class, it’s about why they choose to study with each other. Because we like these characters so much, it’s always so nice when we get an episode that is largely just the study group. No ways of trying to figure out how to make Chang fit in or Jeff trying to self-sabotage a relationship he’s in with this week’s current flavor. Just the group.
The use of Pierce in Community is continuing to be interesting. Is he the bad guy? Is he necessary for the success of the show? In this episode they acknowledge that he is the most disliked and even recounts that the idea of shooting a documentary on Pierce wasn’t inherently interesting. However, the writer’s have found a solution to dealing with Pierce. We become interested in his excursions because of the reactions to the other characters circumstances. If you want an actor to come across as crazy, don’t have him play crazy, rather show all the other people react to him like he’s crazy. So with Pierce, we don’t really have to care about him. As long as the others care about Pierce, we will also. It does not give the show carte blanche to do what ever they want with any character, because then we will cease to care about the show as a whole.
It seems like every week we have a new favorite character on the show. That’s a testament to the show’s brilliant writing and the excellent performances of the actors. This week Troy was particularly strong. He played all the emotions tonight. He acted goofy in front of the camera, went on a mad rant about hating Pierce for introducing him to LaVar Burton, and even gave a strangely moving performance of the Reading Rainbow theme while bawling on the floor of the restroom. It was also nice to see him do so well in an episode where he doesn't interact with Abed. We love the relationship they have, but I don't want it to become a crutch for the show.
Community’s ability to be creative and innovative with their story telling all while allowing their actors to flourish is the reason this is the number one comedy on television.
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