['Community' - "Mixology Certification'] Age-based milestones are basically arbitrary. There are probably some people out there who are significantly more mature at 21 than they were at 22, but for most of us, the Drinking Age is important -- more because society says it important, and not because of any personal growth. Troy turned 21 in tonight's 'Community,' and he learned that being a ...

['Community' - "Conspiracy Theories and Soft Defenses"] Twist endings can be a lot of fun when done well, but as more and more movies and shows try to shock their audiences out of complacency with a well-timed "Aha!" moment, good twists become harder to come by. People start to expect the surprise, and nothing kills a reveal faster than a prepared observer; after all, there are only so many ...

['Community' - 'Cooperative Calligraphy'] It's called a "bottle episode" because it simulates the sensation of being trapped. In, y'know, a bottle. Because most shows operate on less than ideal budgets, showrunners are always looking for ways to cut costs that don't harm production values; given its regular indulgence in movie parodies and guest stars, 'Community' can't be the cheapest show to ...

['Community' - 'Aerodynamics of Gender'] Abed doesn't have a filter. He doesn't know what not to say around strangers, or even around close friends; intellectually he realizes that some sentences can be hurtful, but he didn't learn the lesson that most of us learn early on in life, that complete honesty is the best way to end up alone. That makes him more than a little sad. It also makes him ...

['Community' - "Epidemiology"] 'Community' is one of the few shows on TV right now that walks the line between realism and absurdity without ever really going over to either side completely. On the one hand, it's a series about a group of losers, outcasts and social malcontents who attend classes together and hang out. On the other hand, it's a confection of pop-culture in-jokes, movie ...

['Community' - 'Messianic Myths and Ancient People'] Tonight's 'Community,' 'Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples,' focused largely on Shirley and Pierce, the two characters who are probably the least relatable in the ensemble for the show's target audience. Shirley is devoutly religious, more than a little naive, a working mother, and she hates "meta" humor. Pierce is old and kinda racist. Both ...

['Community' - 'Basic Rocket Science'] Hey, remember last week when I mentioned how, if 'Community' skewed too far towards the broad kind of comedy that Senor Change represented, it could lose its way? Yeah, about that ... Chang is barely in "Basic Rocket Science," and it'd be absurd to say the show has lost its way, but this was a problematic episode, because it put a willingness to go for ...

["Community" - "The Psychology Of Letting Go"] Being friends with someone, or dating someone, or being in any kind of long-term relationship with someone, means that eventually you're going to have to realize all that crazy stuff about them is never going to change. There's a compromise in dealing with others that isn't always as easy as we'd like it to be: Just because your ways are sensible ...

['Community' - 'Accounting for Lawyers'] When you go to college, you get to leave your past behind. It's a new place, with new faces, and no one to remember all the indignities and insults of grade school. At college, you can decide who you are, and no one can contradict you. But what happens if your past shows up on campus, and you find you're happy to meet it? Jeff Winger isn't some ...

['Community' - 'Anthropology 101'] Welcome back! How did you spend your summer vacation? When we last left our friends at Greendale, Troy was moving in with Pierce for the summer after learning a lesson from Abed about the value of moderation; Jeff and Annie were making out, despite her being 18, and him being, well, quite a lot older than that; and Britta had humiliated herself in front of ...