Annie’s ruse is just one weak character moment in an episode full of them.
“Conventions of Space and Time” might be one of the worst half-hours of Community ever. This is the kind of episode that fans feared the new showrunmers would produce, a soulless slog through attempted fan service and weak characterization.
The episode begins promisingly enough with a thoroughly ridiculous glimpse into Troy and Britta’s relationship. Troy, thinking that Abed would freak out if he found out that Troy and Britta were sleeping together, forces Britta to sneak around Abed, and show up at the front door for breakfast every morning.
It’s a cute gag, though it does cause some plot holes – didn’t Britta move in at the end of last season and didn’t the last episode imply that Troy was scared of sleeping with Britta? But cold opening mostly works because, as it turns out, Abed, characteristically, has known for weeks.
“Conventions of Space and Time” is perhaps the most sitcom-y thing Community has done in a long while. The setup is of that road trip episode: the study group goes to an Inspector Spacetime convention at the behest of Troy and Abed. Abed, unbeknownst to Troy, is planning to spend much of the time hanging out with Toby, an Inspector Spacetime mega fan, since Troy’s now preoccupied with Britta. Shirley and Pierce, of course, aren’t invited, but wind up crashing the convention anyways. Jeff and Annie, meanwhile, tag along to go skiing, only to find that the mountain has been closed. Jeff decides to bail, while Annie decides to stay in the hotel room Jeff booked.
So, yes, “Conventions of Space and Time” is another episode with A, B, and C plots, and it’s starting to resemble latter day Simpsons in its overreliance on one-note characterization to drive the plot. The thrust of the episode is, basically, place characters in new setting, introduce vague conflict and watch the fireworks. Essentially, you’re watching a half hour of Abed being Abed, Annie being Annie, Jeff being Jeff and Pierce being Pierce only at a convention instead of at Greendale.
Troy and Abed’s main plot, Abed seemingly ditching Troy out of the fear that Troy’s going to dump him for Britta, would be compelling stuff had the writers not entirely nerfed Britta’s character.
Throughout the entirety of the episode, Britta’s relegated to the sidelines, cheering and supporting Troy while lamely maintaining a fake interest in Inspector Spacetime. This episode has turned the show’s most assertive and forceful character into a pushover; she doesn’t seem to care about largely getting objectified and ignored by Troy while he tries to break up Toby and Abed.
Jeff and Annie’s plot is far stronger by simply being bad. Annie, discovering that the hotel thinks she’s “Mrs. Winger,” ends up pretending to be Jeff’s wife and constantly hassling the hotel personnel. Jeff, on the other hand, starts flirting with an Inspector Spacetime fan who believes he’s the actor behind one of the show’s most beloved villains. This B plot is pretty much the setup for a punchline that never really happens – a whole bunch of convoluted stuff happens without much sticking or being funny.
All told, “Conventions of Space and Time” is a largely mediocre half-hour of television, were it not for the god awful, insultingly masturbatory focus group subplot. Watching Shirley and Pierce make a point about how intelligent programming fares on television is the equivalent of getting nudged and winked at by one of the show’s writers for a third of the episode. Yes, Community, I see what you did there. Maybe, before you get all uppity on us next time, you could have the decency to be good.
That’s the overall vibe coming from this episode – a grossly unearned smugness; as if the show thinks it convincingly moved character development along and fulfilled the requisite meta-zany-bullshit quotient.
I sincerely hope that this is the worst episode of the season, rather than a general turn for the worst.
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