Image Credit: Lewis Jacobs/NBCBy the beard of Gary Gygax, I really enjoyed last night’s Community. It always seems to be the episodes that take a small conceit and blow it up into something crazy and wonderful that work the best for me. Paintball becomes all-out war, a lost pen sets off a bottle episode that teaches us the phrase “bottle episode,” and a game of Dungeons & Dragons becomes a magical quest of sorcery and sarcasm. Which is really what D&D‘s all about anyway. (Not that I played it, I wasn’t a nerd. Plus, I was too busy with all my super-awesome cool-kid stuff like, um, Magic the Gathering and preparing for the Mathlympics.)
To me, though, the most interesting thing about last night’s episode was what they did with Pierce. After a season and a half, everyone else in the study group has settled comfortably into their form-fitted character slot: Jeff is the wiseass with the devil-may-care attitude that eventually turns into a begrudgingly devil-does-care attitude; Britta is Jeff’s foil and the annoyingly self-righteous crusader; Annie is the good-girl-gone-bad or the bad-girl-gone-good depending on how you look at it; Troy is the earnest puppy; Shirley the den mother; Abed the pop culture Rain Man and occasional Christ figure.
Pierce was always the odd one out, character-wise. I mean, he’s got plenty of traits and tics: Old, cranky, oblivious, casually racist, aggressively racist, mind-bogglingly racist, etc., but he’s always seemed to be more on the periphery, tossing in a joke or an ethnic stereotype when the occasion called for it, but not all that much else. The last two episodes, however, seem to be reshaping him into something new. Last week he manipulated Annie, let his ego take over the play, and convinced a room full of children that drugs were awesome. And this week’s episode pushes him even further in the realm of outright villainy. In D&D terms, he rolled an 18 in total assness.
Sitting on his throne of evil (and file boxes) Pierce was basically the Sauron of the episode, taking over the game meant to boost Fat Neil’s self-esteem and dishing out more nasty comments than Don Rickles playing the dozens. And what’s more, he’s totally unapologetic at the end. Which makes me wonder: Is Pierce essentially becoming the show’s Cartman, a hilariously terrible person that we love to hate and love even more to see get his comeuppance? I think I could go with that. Pierce is always funniest at his meanest, and making him the go-to villain would at least give him something to do.
What do you think? Do you like Pierce as the bad guy? Is he the chaotic evil to Jeff’s chaotic neutral and Abed’s neutral good? Are you a total geek if you understood that last sentence? (Yup. Embrace it.)
A Pierce episode is coming up, so I wonder if they’ll address this very question.
I loved tonight’s episode. Britta and Abed killed it haha!
Abed: “My name was Kyle.”
Britta “Kyle….”
Jeff: You know he isn’t real.
Britta: “You wouldn’t understand!”
I prefer Chang as the villian.
I was hoping for more Chang tonight. I can’t believe they killed him off so fast and that they didn’t find a way to bring him back!
I miss Chang! I feel like he is barely in the episodes anymore. I can’t believe they put him in all that makeup and then killed him right away!
That makeup was a jolt! I hadn’t seen any of the pictures the cast tweeted of him so was caught off guard by his appearance. But I thought it was hilarious and totally Chang-appropriate. I like that he’s essentially worming his way into the group.
Chang must go.
Yes. He is funny. But there is no room for him. It’s the show saying “Hey, we got Ken Jeong! He’s funny! Let’s use him!” But for what, they’re not sure, so they force him in.
Give him another show. And take Rashida Jones from “Park & Rec” with him.
I loved Chang last night. Ken Jeong knows how to commit to a role. I got the distinct feeling that getting all decked out in the black make-up and white hair was Ken’s idea and not actually in the script. Remember that in the Hangover he was the one who chose to be naked in that one scene.
The makeup startled me. I wasn’t sure he was really in there.
At least the music when he died was appropriately epic.
I love Chang! He’s totally like the little extra zing to scenes. Love that he kind of pops up out of nowhere all the time. And LOVE LOVE LOVED him as drugs in last weeks episodes.
More Chang!
Chang for the better?
Spare Chang?
Chang you can believe in?
A Chang is as good as a rest?
I Do NOT want Chang part of the group.
I love Pierce, so I’m always happy when they use him more. I’m not sure if evil Pierce is my favorite though. I loved his never-say-die attitude in the boat episode, and his carefree spirit when he joined Vaughn’s band. (Britta’s a B!) That being said, I really did enjoy his vindictiveness tonight since it’s obviously because he so badly wants to be part of the group. I think it was totally fitting for his character to lash out when he thought he was being cut out. I don’t think they have to peg Pierce as any particular figure in the group, I’m enjoying seeing the different facets of his character and how everyone else deals with him. I like that the writers can have Pierce act out so much that he’s on the verge of being kicked out of the group, but you still know at the end of the day they’ll pull through for him like when Jeff was his emergency contact.
“1. Don’t mess with me. 2. Invite me to your crap”
I love Chevy, so I’m always excited when they find opportunities to use him more. Even though I don’t want him to stay the villain I thought it made sense that he would lose it when he felt threatened by Fat Neil. I like that Pierce can’t be pegged as any one thing.
Well, I wouldn’t want him to always be absolutely evil, but I really did enjoy him in these past two episodes. I think it’s kinda fun if they do something like this with him every now and then.
Seriously though, what an awesome episode. When Pierce ordered that Fat Neil’s character become as fat as Fat Neil, I totally lost it.
On another note, would you rather have a tail or really big ears? With a tail, everyone would know when you’re happy, and with big ears, you could hear stuff from really far away.
With giant ears, you could wear backpacks as earrings!
LOL I forgot about that. Then your hands can be free!
Well, the other study group officially voted giant ears, so…
But backpacks already free up your hands.
Is it wrong that I kind of want to play Dungeons and Dragons now? I never understood what it was before!
While I’ve enjoyed the past two episodes with “bad” Pierce, I hope he doesn’t become the group’s villain. Yes he can be a jerk, but he’s had his sweet moments with the group too.
Tracy, I agree! I’ve loved some of Pierce’s sweeter moments like when he told Jeff about how he never gives up in the boat episode, or when he used Jeff as his emergency contact.
How about in this year’s Christmas episode where he confessed he didn’t want to go home because it was lonely?
Tracy, You are wrong to want to play D&D. It is weird, and nobody wins. Like Jeff said, “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic, because everything about this is silly.” Funny eep though. Loved it!
I’ve been trying to explain D&D to my 17 year daughter for a while now. How all the RPGs go back to this game – in fact, those people sitting around with a die and a book are those who created the video game industry – they just took the player’s imagination out of it – not a bad thing but more of a passive participation. I can still remember listening to others talk about this game and then go to watch and just sitting around planning their journey. As an English major, I found it all fascinating and it really explains a lot about who I am today.
This was a perfect episode. Truly epic and if you haven’t re-watched it, I encourage everyone to.
I like what is happening to Chang and Pierce – people change and evolve as we get to know them. The subtle changes in Chang are wonderful – he is reinventing himself to fit in. His elf was great. Just like all the kids who go to anime/manga/comic cons in costume – he was there to play. He always takes things a step too far. He has always been unpredictable and even more so now.
Pierce: I grew up watching him as the bumbling fool on SNL so it is refreshing to see him as the old cranky man trying to fit in but not really knowing, or caring, how to go about it. In the eyes of his group, this makes him the villain. Still it was his actions that saved Neil, not the rest of the group. Neil’s comment that he would be around was priceless.
I slowly started to understand that last sentence, so I wouldn’t say I’m a TOTAL geek, but I am close to it
I don’t really want pierce to become an evil character, but I enjoy the evil side when it comes out. I think he is just really sporadic, so he is totally evil on occasion.
Like Tracy said, he has his sweet moments (I am thinking of Teddy Pierce right now
), so I wouldn’t want him to just be ‘evil’.
Sorry about all the smiley faces, I need to stop using them so much, darn it!
I don’t see any smiley face? I think you might be having the same problem I’m having. I post, but then come back and find out it’s gone! I’m not sure what is up with EW.com but this has happened to me a couple times.
That was for Amelia above, but is anyone else having this problem?
Hi Ann and Amelia,
Not seeing the problem – I can see Ann’s posts but only the last one of Amelia’s posts about the smiley faces.
This episode wasn’t a favorite for me, though it did definitely have some great moments. (Abed as the dwarf waiter!) I personally like Pierce better and think he’s funnier when he’s more clueless about his evil-ness than being so purposeful about it. I love the throw away comments, when he’s being completely offensive and has no idea. Tonight he was just mean. I agree with topoopon, I prefer Chang as the villain.
Fantastic Episode (more Chang would have made it sublime)! Pierce is the perfect anti-hero.
Tonight’s episode was genius, but I hope they turn Pierce around. He was just way too mean… it got difficult to watch.
Agree, difficult to watch. I am sure he likes the challenge and change of being bad (See Chuck) but he is best as a goofy guy with bad comments and cant understand why anyone is upset about them. I hope they do not let him go too much to the dark side, I will hate his character at that point. But Chevy will ALWAYS be Fletch. WIsh they could incorporate one episode and let his old self shine.
Chang was always the villan before, but I think, in reality, no one can be the villan all the time. So it makes sense to mix it up.
Could someone with any actual D and D playing knowledge please tell me if that was a reasonably accurate portrayal of the game
Reasonably accurate is correct. Of course there are minor nitpicks, but overall it was an extremely well-executed depiction of a game with a lot of people who have never played before. It was used for humour, yes, but not in the mocking way that I’ve grow accustomed to seeing. Well played (in more ways than one
)
Umm… not really. The show was way too simplistic and basic. And while only “nerds” play D&D, nerds have now inherited the world.
Actually, D&D is lots of fun, a great social and puzzle solving game. You learn a lot plus you stimulate your imagination.
Like Olivya says, the game is more complex than what they showed, but they got the gist of it right. Instead of a board, you use character sheets with attributes that can be cross-referenced with dice rolls whenever an element of chance is involved (battles, spells, etc.). Aside from that, the game is a free-flowing story, with the campaign acting as the framework. You usually don’t play one “game” in a single day, though. A campaign can go on as long as the characters and Dungeon Master want.
I hate Pierce the last two episodes just shows he has no redeeming features. If they decide to make him the villain of the show well I’m down with that at least it would be clear we are meant to hate him. Plus Chang or Neil can become proper study group members as they try to take down Pierce.
He’s been way way way over the top the last few episodes. I can handle him being a little ignorant and ornery, but he’s been manipulative and mean. It’s hard to give a damn about him and I really just want him off the show because his presence last night put a damper on a really goo episode.
Pierce was so awful this episode it almost ruined the episode for me. Why would he still be part of the group if he becomes that evil all the time? On the other hand, Annie’s gestures as Hector the Well Endowed seduced Abed the Maiden was about the funniest thing I’ve seen.
I really hope that they are going somewhere with the recent ramping up of Pierce’s negatives, because I am starting to hate the character — not love to hate, just hate.
Same here.
Ditto. He needs a redeeming character moment, STAT.
I agree… I loved Annie’s gestures as Hector the Well Endowed when seducing the Maiden. I loved how all the group was sitting there stunned except Troy who was taking notes. Fantastic!
What IS the appropriate amount of cuddle time after imaginary sex?
When she was showing how many fingers she would use and mouthed “four?” — that was too awesome. And I’d say 15-20 Minutes of snuggling should be good.
Thank you Ames. I just noted your advice on the back of my character sheet.
I did love Annie in this episode, and Troy too, but honestly this show just gets farther and farther away from what made me like it in the first place. Pierce was just mean — not funny mean, just straight-up mean. While the episode had its nerdy and funny moments that I enjoyed (Troy to Britta: “You’re like the AT&T of people!”), it’s really gotten weird and depressing lately.
I like the “depressing” episodes. The birthday celebration at the bar is one of my favorites for that reason.
Would have to agree, no words needed and the expressions on all the other character’s faces made that the funniest moment of the episode for me. Loved it all, brillant writting/direction and acting.