Surfing Sitcoms: Community – “A Fistfull of Paintballs”
There’s going to be some Community spoilers coming up right after we figure out what kind of ice cream company DOES this?!?!
For many fans, “Modern Warfare” still represents the apotheosis of Community, and while I think there have been a couple better episodes in Season 2 (with “Cooperative Calligraphy” probably my all-time favorite), it was definitely the moment where the series figured out just how great it could be and took things to another level. Thus it takes a certain kind of cojones for the series to do what is essentially a direct sequel to that episode. Not only that, said sequel apparently serves as the two-part season finale. However, there are some key differences that really make “A Fistfull of Paintballs” a success. For one, rather than being a general action spoof “Fistfull” appears to take its inspiration almost exclusively from Sergio Leone westerns, which makes the inclusion of paintball essentially the use of the same means for a different end.
Perhaps more importantly, unlike many (but not all) of the show’s more gimmicky episodes, “Fistfull” doesn’t shoehorn the characters in to fit the gimmick but rather the other way around. While most of the gang went out during the middle stretch of “Modern Warfare”, making it essentially a Jeff/Britta episode, none of our core study group is eliminated for the entirely of “Fistfull”. Thus they stay together, and in the end many of the season’s more important storylines seem to be coming to a head (with the exception of Shirley’s baby, dispensed with last week). Bet you didn’t realize quite the extent to which this season was about Annie until this week, huh? She’s the one who needs the group the most, and thus is most stung when Pierce “acts like a villain”. At the same time, the closest thing this season had to a romantic throughline (the late reveal that Jeff and Britta had been doing it all along notwithstanding) was Annie’s feelings for Jeff. So she’s placed right at the center of “A Fistfull of Paintballs”, and as Abed says “she’s pretty awesome today.”
Amidst the character beats the Western-ness almost fades into the background. Almost, except when it’s utterly ridiculousness reaches levels Jeff feels himself obligated to comment upon. Pierce creates “Fort Hawthorne”, “a safe zone where people can rest, eat, or if necessary pump breast milk.” It even has dancers, even some “more to Jeff’s taste.” The most obvious and most important element, of course, is Josh Holloway of Lost‘s guest turn as “the Black Rider”, hired by whoever desired this paintball-related chaos to protect their 100 grand. Though of course he gets fooled in the end when Pierce fakes a heart attack, leaving to go the Coldplay concert without Annie and paving the way for this to turn from a western into a war movie next week. I am one hundred percent up for that.
Perhaps most impressive, considering this is supposedly a sitcom, was how well the series handled one of its first real cliffhangers. The writers put everyone into a dramatic Westerny situation with real dramatic consequences and then hold on it for minutes on end, minutes where I was both on the edge of my seat and expecting “to be continued” to slam down at any moment. But then Pierce acts like he’s having a heart attack, so I then thought THAT was going to be the cliffhanger. And then that’s resolved, too, Pierce runs off, and we cut to a completely different cliffhanger, complete with Chang getting rather thoroughly eliminated just as I was halfway convinced they were about to have him survive to the end through sheer duplicity and dumb-luck. And also it was pretty funny.
Bits:
-This was only the third episode of the series to not be named for a class, after “Pilot” and “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”. It appears next week will probably be the fourth.
-Loved seeing much of this season’s guest cast return, including Anthony Michael Hall! Plus my current theory is that it’s Professor Slater inside the ice cream costume. It’s gotta be somebody we already met, right?
-”Hey, Christina Ricci, I said kick.”
-”Free ice cream and that one guy having a heart attack aren’t the only surprises this year!”
-”There’s the guns… and here’s the prize! $100,000 cash! Go nuts!”
-”Yeah? And I want pants. A lot of people want a lot of things.”
-”Does that guy even go to this school? He’s really good-looking. I mean network TV good looking.”
-”Look, I don’t name people, Annie! I’m a deputy. I deputize.”
-”She’s a dance major, Jeff! She likes Twinkies!”
-”You can’t distract me with your handsomeness. You’re creepy.” “Yeah? Then why is your heaving chest starting to flush?” “That’s a rash. I’m allergic to beans.”
-”I can’t go back out there. This is the only life I know.”
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