Review: Community ‘Economics of Marine Biology’ – He’s Been Mixing

Although ‘Economics of Marine Biology’ has one too many plot lines for its own good, it was the first episode of the season I’ve truly enjoyed, for a number of reasons. Whereas earlier episodes have relied on broad characters and suffered from not really knowing to do with them, ‘Economics of Marine Biology’ hums along, putting Jeff and Pierce together for the best story line of the season, and finally making Greendale College a real character again. In other words, this is a Community I can watch more often.

There is one glaring flaw: Troy and Shirley’s P.E.E. class is virtually pointless, making Troy a victim of “we don’t know what to do with Shirley” this week. The ironies are a little too obvious – Troy getting picked last, the name of the class itself – and worst of all, there just isn’t anything really to laugh in it, especially after Kevin/Chang gets involved and it turns into an unnecessary 80’s montage parody.

I would’ve rather spent time with Troy and Abed starting Delta Cubes together – there was a lot more entertaining material to be gleaned from that story, and instead it felt tacked-on, showing up in the background of a couple scenes but never holding any real importance. Some might say the same applies to the entire operation planned by the Dean and Annie for Archie’s visit, but it’s the catalyst for the best material of the season, putting Pierce and Jeff together, and giving everyone a nice reminder of what Greendale stands for (plus it’s the first time Magnitude’s said something besides his catchphrase!).

The Jeff and Pierce material – while it does have to rush, being condensed by two other sub-plots – is the first time I’ve really felt that Community had its voice again. Pierce has been a lifeless character for most of the season (save for the Halloween episode), and it was great to see them realize the potential of Jeff and Pierce sharing a moment over their shitty fathers. It doesn’t come without its boob jokes and slight melodramatics (Pierce gets mad after he finds out Jeff had to hang out with him), but they don’t linger on it, and really strengthen a bond that’s been damaged by the constant hatred towards Pierce since the middle of season two. Remember, Pierce and Jeff’s relationship held a relative importance early on (presumably until his relationship with Harmon soured), and seeing that connection be important again was fantastic.

There were just a lot of little things that felt right about ‘Economics of Marine Biology’: Britta wasn’t psychologizing with every single line of dialogue, and they mostly backed away from the overt tones of Annie and Troy that were critical issues in earlier episodes. Much improved over previous weeks, ‘Economics of Marine Biology’ is hopefully a sign of things to come in the second half of the season.

Grade: B+

Other thoughts/observations:

– there’s another great Jeff scene when he tells Annie and the Dean they should all be a little easier on Pierce. It was nice to see Jeff stand up for Pierce for once – if it’s the last time anybody does anything for the character (being as he’s only in four more episodes this season), it’s a nice note to end on.

– “Get your damn hands off my Let’s.”

– It never goes well when a board member mixes: “Let’s get hookers, blow… and hookers!”

– Pierce is the only student ever to buy the extended pencil warranty.

– Annie’s in a forensics club – I always thought the idea of her working in a crime lab or at crime scenes was such a perfect match for her character.