Episode Review: COMMUNITY, "Pascal's Triangle Revisited"

I think that it was appropriate that one of the themes explored by tonight's Community was excess because "Pascal's Triangle Revisited" felt a little tacked on. Most of the episode really didn't work, and with the exception of the final scene, the first season would have been fine with out it, and last week's "English as a Second Language" could have been a decent wrap up.

I just felt the whole Jeff-Britta-Slater love triangle was kind of forced. The whole Jeff/Slater romance never made much sense, and her dumping of him was so out of nowhere (which they tried to make up for half-heartedly tonight) that made it feel like a throw away plot point. Also, Jeff and Britta have been shoved down our throats since day one, and I think it's clear that most fans are against the pairing. Then again, maybe I'm taking this stance since I'm on Team Annie.

Speaking of Team Annie, I was a little surprised about how many fans tweeted their shock and outrage about Jeff and Annie's kiss. It's like they never saw "Debate 109", "Romantic Expressionism", or "English as a Second Language". Any one with a minor understanding of TV storytelling knew the second Jeff walked out of the prom that he'd run into Annie and they'd finally give in to their sexual tension. Hell, I saw it coming as soon as Britta declared her love for him. If anything, the craziness surrounding the Jeff-Britta-Slater triangle only reinforced why Jeff and Annie make sense...it just feels right seeing them together. So what if he's twice her age?

The Troy & Abed B-plot was good because it was subtle. Their plot-line really drove home the point of how having too much of a good thing is bad, and it was relateable. I'm sure plenty of people found out the hard way that living with your best friend isn't always a good idea. While I would have liked to have more of these two during the episode, their story was a nice accent to the craziness of the A-plot.

In the end, the big kiss was an exclamation point to the run on sentence that was "Pascal's Triangle". It was able to provide a little bit of closer while opening up a Pandora's box that will impact Season 2. I still would've preferred if "ESL" was the season finale because it would've left the Jeff/Annie tension up in the air while wrapping up the season, but shows nowadays always need that big twist/cliffhanger. I do have to admit, I'm intrigued to see what happens next season...too bad it'll be going up against the buzzsaw that is The Big Bang Theory.