Spoilers for "Community" coming up just as soon as I rest gently on your pecs... This was a really strong night for all four of NBC's comedies, and this week I think "Community" was my favorite of the bunch. I'm always more kindly disposed to comedies with multiple storylines if they find a way to tie them all together (see the best episodes of both "Seinfeld" and "30 Rock"), and the climactic sequence here - with Abed and Troy's duet of "Somewhere Out There"(*) accompanying both Shirley's presentation and the Senor/Senora Chang dance reunion - was both hilarious and oddly touching.
(*) In case you didn't get the reference, or why Abed called his rat "Fyvel," go watch the original performance from "An American Tail."
Beyond that, "Environmental Science" was just a nice showcase for virtually everyone in the cast, including Ken Jeong. Jeong was added after the pilot (no doubt due to his performance in "The Hangover"), and there have been times where he's either felt shoehorned into episodes, or else working in a style that's just a little too broad for the room. But he melded very well with Joel McHale, and the opening classroom scene - from pulling Annie, desk and all, out into the hall to lengthening the paper in response to Britta's ass-kissing - was the best of those since Chang's debut scene in episode two.
Pierce got to be right several times (and briefly usurp Jeff's role in the group), Shirley got to give everyone a sandwich, Abed got to question other people's level of reality, and Troy got to squeal like a little girl - a lot.
Strong, funny, very satisfying episode.
What did everybody else think?
