'Community' Season 3, Episode 3 Recap - 'Competitive Ecology'

Remember in the first episode of this season, when the group said "So this is the year we all die" when they found out that Chang would be a security guard? Well it almost happened. Almost.

In "Competitive Ecology," we got to go a little deeper inside Chang's head than I think any of us ever wanted to go. His boredom with being a security guard has him living delusions of grandeur about being a detective and getting to the bottom of the conspiracy that involved the Arizona Match Company, Greendale, and Celtics great Larry Bird. He's also been sleeping with a mannequin leg that he calls Victoria.

The film noir homage and Chang's inner monologue (and outer lip movement) was funny, and as far as I know this is the first time we've seen Chang have his very own storyline that doesn't intersect with that of the study group. I might be wrong on that, but I'm pretty sure.

Speaking of the group, they're arguing again: the new biology professor (Michael K. Williams is back!) pairs them up with strangers for lab partners, and the group isn't happy about it. So they tell him that they need to work with each other, and Omar obliges.

Some quick math here will tell you the problem: there are seven people in the group, which means one is going to be left out. That ends up being Pierce (of course) who is stuck with Todd.

Here's what we learn about Todd over the course of this episode: he has a wife and a newborn child, he fought in Iraq, and he doesn't often take offense. The group doesn't learn any of that, because they're too busy bickering over who is going to be stuck with Todd as a partner.

This was a fun little change of perspective, acknowleging the fact that this study group thinks they're the center of the universe. They are, after all, the stars of the show... but really, they're kinda jerks, aren't they? They totally hog that study room, they've assigned horrible nicknames to people, and they generally treat everyone at the school like they're... well, like they're secondary characters. As Starburns tried to tell them last week, there's a person under his appearance. And as Dr. King tells them in this episode, "You guys are the mean clique."

With most shows, we would be asked to suspend our disbelief and ignore all of the men and women behind the curtain (or in the halls, as it were). But this is "Community," and there's a twisted logic that dictates that it must be a show that knows it's a show but also doesn't. And that's what makes it so darned good.

However, it seems as though all we've seen this season (and for the end of the last) are episodes where the group argues, then makes up. It's a basic storyline that will work over and over, but that doesn't mean it should have to. I would love to see more stuff like "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design" that eschews sitcom conventions for something surprising and wholly delightful. "Competitive Ecology" was fun, but it was too easy.

But it did introduce some conflict and changing dynamics: Troy and Abed realized they hang out together too much, and despite Troy calling Britta "the opposite of Batman" a couple of weeks back, the two of them found themselves wondering "what it would be like if we were lab partners." Interesting.

Bonus points for the use of Todd. It was a joke that just kept on giving.

Troy & Abed Tag: The whole group fills out Britta's questionnaire for her Psych class, and she sees all of the forms as penises.