Community: Season 1, Episode 6 "Football, Feminism and You" Review

 "Troy, why are you doing our politically conservative high school's shamefully outdated fight rap?"

-Annie Edison

The episode begins with Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) visiting the study group and trying to get Troy (Donald Glover) to join the Greendale football team, as he was a legendary quarterback in high school.  Troy declines.  Later, Jeff (Joel McHale) sees that the Dean has created promotional posters and flyers for Greendale using Jeff's face.  Jeff tells the Dean he thinks that material could hurt his future career.  The Dean agrees not to use the materials if Jeff convinces Troy to join the football team.

Jeff takes Troy away from a study session with Annie (Alison Brie), which makes her upset.  Jeff and Troy check out the Greendale football team and find the team to be lackluster at best, but Jeff convinces Troy to join the team anyway.  The Dean decides to announce the news at a pep rally that night.

Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) asks Britta (Gillian Jacobs) to go to the bathroom with her, but Britta declines, not realizing that she was supposed to go for some female bonding and support time.  Britta tries again later, but comes off as harsh and judgmental in the bathroom.  Shirley starts to avoid going to the bathroom with Britta.  She later confronts Shirley and reveals that she has always had a hard time connecting with other women.  Shirley tells Britta that needs to learn to be softer in the bathroom.

Annie confronts Jeff on what he has done when Troy starts acting like an arrogant jock again.  Jeff tells her that he knows Annie is desperately in love with Troy and that she just doesn't want to lose all her one-on-one study sessions with him.  Upset, Annie asks Shirley to join her in the bathroom, but Shirley sends Britta in her place.  Britta manages to help Annie feel better.

Feeling guilty, Jeff approaches Troy before the pep rally to tell him the truth.  Troy reveals that he purposely injured himself before a big football game in high school because he couldn't handle the pressure.  After seeing the team, Troy realized he could play football for fun with no pressure.  He encourages Jeff to accept where he is at in his life and try to enjoy it.  Annie arrives at the pep rally and she and Jeff both agree to support Troy in doing what makes him happy and they make up.

Meanwhile, Dean Pelton has changed the school team name to the Greendale Human Beings, but is having trouble creating a new mascot.  Pierce (Chevy Chase) offers to help and the two begin working on a design that won't offend or stereotype any human being.  They end up creating a gray monstrosity and bring the Greendale Human Being to the pep rally.

The episode ends with Troy and Abed (Danny Pudi) sneaking into the Administration office and using the intercom to make funny announcements.  A pair of security guards enter the office to stop them, but they all freeze in place when they realize the security guards look just like Troy and Abed.

What Works:

I think this is the Dean's breakout episode.  He's been in previous episodes and even had a large role in one of them, but this is the episode where he becomes his own character and Jim Rash is great.  I love the way the Dean goes about his business.  The way he tries to get Troy to join the football team and his subsequent blackmail of Jeff are both a lot of fun.

The Dean and Pierce ended up being a really good pairing here.  I love watching these two delusional weirdoes working together to come up with a new mascot design that doesn't offend anyone.  Rash and Chase work well together and their final mascot design is the stuff of nightmares.  I love it!

We get a brief look into a chemistry class led by Professor Baker (Charlotte Newhouse), who yells at her students when a phone goes off, but it turns out its her phone.  Then she needs to write down information, but doesn't have a pen.  She asks her students if anyone has a pen and no one responds, so she gets mad at them for not bringing a pen to class.  This whole scene is hilarious and it's something I wish we got more of on Community.  I love getting a look into the quirky classes and teachers of Greendale.  We get more of it over the course of the series, but I think it's an underused element of the location of the show.  

Donald Glover is fantastic here.  I love the scene with him and Jeff on the football field and then later he really puts Jeff in his place a little bit before the pep rally.  It's good stuff and great development for the character.  Plus his conservative fight raps are hilarious.

What Sucks:

The bathroom storyline is a bit of a mixed bag to me.  I think the performances are good from the cast, but the storyline just has never clicked for me.  Maybe it's because I'm a guy?  I don't know.  I'd be curious to hear what other people think.  Do you enjoy this subplot?  Is this what it's really like in women's bathrooms?

Funniest Moment:

For me, the funniest moment of the episode is when the Dean explains why he changed the school's mascot from the Grizzlies to the Human Beings.  "Some of these students have been called animals their whole lives."

Heavenly Human Being:

The Heavenly Human Being goes to the MVP of the episode.  This time, I'm giving this Award to Dean Pelton for successfully blackmailing Jeff, getting Troy to join the football team, and giving the school a new mascot.  This is his 1st time winning this Award.

Verdict:

"Football, Feminism and You" is an iconic episode of Community.  I've seen the scene with Jeff and Troy on the football field memed many times and this is also the episode that gives us the Greendale Human Being.  Everyone gives great performances, especially McHale, Glover, and Rash and I love watching the Dean and Pierce work on the mascot design.  I'm mixed on the bathroom storyline, but this episode has still got it going on.

 9/10: Great