COMMUNITY Recap: ‘Intro to Political Science’

When dealing with politics, especially in times such as these, you are bound to run up against some archetypes. The dreamer, the schemer, that rather ridiculous person in the corner who came to the debate armed only with a catch-phrase and virtually nothing else (“POP POP!”).

It is often much the same when dealing with sitcoms. It is a genre constructed around certain prototypes that have been proven to sell. And the same could be said about COMMUNITY, to a certain degree. Except…not really.

COMMUNITY is a show that has taken those archetypes and prototypes and all those different types and turned them on their heads, playing with them and mocking them and using them for their own nefarious purposes, all while trying desperately to do it in a fresh enough way to make us laugh and scratch our heads. Considering these similarities between sitcoms and politics, it would make sense that the show would aim to combine the two in last night’s episode.

In “Intro to Political Science,” the episode kicks off with a sight we haven’t seen in a while: the study group sitting around their study table, actually opening their books to (gasp!) study anthropology. Luckily they are saved from their own academia by a visit from Dean Pelton, who has come to announce the imminent arrival of “folksy yet progressive” Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden at Greendale Community College. In honor of the presence of such a lofty political figure, the school has decided it’s time to reinstate their student government — and they need to elect a school president in the next seventeen hours. As one would assume, mayhem and hilarity ensues.

Amongst the candidates: Annie, Jeff, Pierce (?!?), a girl in a yellow shirt, Starburns, a man who only opens his mouth to say his catchphrase “POP POP!” and Leonard.

Watching this show tackle the tone of political commentary in America today was, frankly, great. Troy and Abed hosted their own show as political correspondents on Greendale Campus Television (Greendale has their own television station? Of course they do, Abed goes there) where they got to offer their own strange quips and commentary about the ensuing election. And it’s good we had them, because things were about to get tense.

Annie, always the sincere do-gooder, decided to run so she could get rid of the black mold in the stairways and make Greendale a cleaner place. Jeff “Hot Wings” Winger decided to run because his lawyer ego had been hurt by one of Annie’s barbs. This, along with a lot of weirdness from the other candidates, went down during a series of public debates—moderated by Dean Pelton, wearing Inappropriate Outfit #18 (a stripper interpretation of “Uncle” Sam). Jeff, running purely for revenge, seems about ready to sweep Annie in the election; he ran on flash and “personal” connections with the audience, and you can apparently get a long way with charisma and a few days’ worth of stubble.

The tension between Annie and Jeff came to a head when Annie’s political skeleton-in-the-closet digging discovered an old video of a 19-year-old Jeff Winger auditioning for THE REAL WORLD: SEATTLE, complete with an altered rendition of George Michael’s “Faith.” Jeff’s feelings get hurt, and he and Annie both drop out of the race, leaving the election to Leonard and the “POP POP” guy. But when Dean Pelton opens the envelope to reveal the winner, the victor is…the show SOUTH PARK. Of course it is.

One of the greatest aspects of this episode for me was Abed’s storyline. Noticing early on that the school is being monitored by the Secret Service, Abed develops something of a clandestine “thing” with Special Agent Robin Vohlers. As Abed says, “I’m used to being the only observer.” And while I will always believe that his true soul mate is Troy (or me), their dorky chemistry was just too cute for me not to immediately want to see more of them. Abed’s been long overdue for a proper love interest (Troy excluded), and Robin Vohlers was just gawky and seemingly emotionally disconnected enough to work for him. She seemed genuinely sad when she couldn’t find anything pointing to Abed as a potential threat to America, meaning she’d have to move on to other assignment and stop shadowing him.

Abed throws her a bone, though, when he announces the recipe of napalm on Greendale TV. They end the episode with an “observation” date — Abed watching KICK-PUNCHER while Robin sits in a black van outside completing her surveillance duties. Abed suggests that maybe later Robin “observe” him having dinner. Is it really any surprise that Abed would have the weirdest romantic relationship on the show? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What did you guys think of last night’s episode? Are you rooting for Abed and Robin? What should they do with Pierce now that he’s supposedly gone through “rehab”? And where was Shirley????