Logan J. Fowler believes time is of the essence…
The third episode of Community, “Conventions of Space and Time” was one I was looking forward to extremely due to my love of comic book conventions and their ability to bring all sorts of people together. It just so happens that Community did demonstrate this feature in two separate storylines connected by the big geek outing.
The main plot of this episode is that Troy and Abed plan to invade “InSpecTiCon,” a convention devoted to the Inspector Spacetime show, which is a riff on the much beloved Doctor Who tv series which everyone and their mother loves in the real world. Troy plans to bring Britta along which doesn’t bother Abed too much, and Jeff and Annie book a hotel near to the convention where the two are put down as a married couple. Jeff plans to go skiing with Annie but the outdoor adventure falls flat, and Jeff is mistaken for an Inspector Spacetime villain which attracts a lovely fan (all sorts of people) to Jeff’s attention. Pierce and Shirley, meanwhile get left out of all of this but decide to seek out the convention and get pulled aside for how to properly make an American version of Inspector Spacetime tv show.
Abed, kind of distraught at his friend’s girlfriend relationship growth, seeks out Toby, a pen pal who’s also a big fan of the show (all sorts of people). The two bond quickly much to Troy’s disgust, but Abed soon realizes the errors of his ways. Oh, and there are two epic cameos at the end of the episode for a brief clip from the American version of Inspector Spacetime.
A good number of people have been harping on Season 4 for not being solid enough as it was in the past. I’ll admit there’s an atmosphere that makes the show feel a little off and not so tight in the gears. Perhaps Harmon’s departure and the knowing of Chevy Chase leaving does hinder a lot of stuff going on here, but the fact that the episodes are still providing entertaining value and much needed laughs edge it above a lot of the other crap seen on tv. And with this episode, there is not only character growth, which I think this program doesn’t showcase as well as it can, but still some funny moments and the strongest outfit of it all which is Troy and Abed getting to be front and center and tested on both sides. It’s not the best episode ever but I had a good time with it and if Season 4 progresses with more of this quality then I’ll be ok with it. I think people are coming down too hard on it because they expect to be something more, if you think about it most of the episodes of the program weren’t too much outside the box except for a true handful, and maybe we just have to wait for those to come along down the line. I’m not giving up on this show, not yet.
http://youtu.be/4li3fkzk6Io
