Community: Season 1, Episode 7 "Introduction to Statistics" Review

 "Are you trying to get formidable with me?"

-Jeff Winger

"Introduction to Statistics" picks up with Annie (Alison Brie) announcing to the Spanish class that she is throwing a Día de los Muertos party that evening and anyone who goes will get extra credit, while Señor Chang (Ken Jeong) has to go and won't be getting paid.  Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) is very excited for her first college party and has even removed her wedding ring.  Jeff (Joel McHale) on the other hand wants to avoid the party and focus on seducing his statistics professor, Michelle Slater (Lauren Stamile).

When Jeff asks Professor Slater out, she admits he is her type, but she doesn't date students.  Annie runs into Jeff and asks him to attend her party, since he's the cool guy and his presence will maker her party cool.  Jeff is convinced when Annie starts to cry.

At the party, Pierce (Chevy Chase), who has become very insecure about his age and the amount of pills he needs to take, runs into Star-Burns (Dino Stamatopoulos) in the bathroom, who convinces Pierce to trade some pills with him.  Pierce soon finds himself on a bad trip.

When Chang decides to leave Annie's party for the Greendale staff party, Jeff convinces Chang to let him tag along so Jeff has another chance at Professor Slater.  When Annie attempts to start the Dance of the Dead, it becomes apparent that Jeff isn't there and some people talk about leaving the party early to go home and watch the news.

Jeff's attempts to flirt with Professor Slater fail as she doesn't want gossip to spread about her and Jeff.  Britta (Gillian Jacobs), Abed (Danny Pudi), and Troy (Donald Glover) arrive to get Jeff to come back to Annie's party to make her feel better and deal with the tripping Pierce.  Everyone at the party sees Shirley vandalize Professor Slater's car and then Pierce crashes the party.  Jeff sends all of them away.

Britta finds Shirley putting a hose into Slater's office.  Shirley tries to paint Slater as a man-stealer who took Jeff away from Britta, but she explains that she didn't decide to take off her wedding ring.  Her ex-husband asked for it back to give to his new girlfriend and she was taking her hurt out on Slater.  As they leave Slater's office, Britta breaks one of her trophies.

Chang gives Jeff some advice to try on Slater.  Jeff goes to her and straight up asks her and even begs her to sleep with him while complimenting how beautiful she is.  Slater agrees as long as he promises not to tell anybody.  Jeff agrees, but as they pass the library, Troy stops them and tells them Pierce is trying to kill himself.  Jeff reluctantly says goodnight to Slater and goes to help Pierce, who has built a collapsible structure of desks and chairs to crush himself with.  Jeff goes inside and talks to Pierce about aging and how much zest and passion Pierce has for life.  This makes Pierce feel better, but he accidentally trigger the start of his structure's collapse.  Abed, dressed as Batman, saves them both.  The rest of the group manages to enjoy the party, while Abed keeps watch from a rooftop.

The episode ends with Troy and Abed hanging out after the party.  Troy practices his Batman voice and tells Abed that if he woke up as a donut, he would immediately eat himself.

What Works:

Halloween is my favorite holiday, so when movies and shows have a Halloween flair to them, it's an easy way to win me over.  I love all of the different costumes the group wears, with Britta's squirrel costume being my favorite.  Plus Annie's party has some really cool decorations.

Pierce's trip is pretty hysterical.  We get come great physical acting from Chevy Chase.  I love when he freaks out when he sees the hawk on his arm.  Plus Annie dancing alongside the skeletons is absolutely hilarious.

Professor Slater is a good addition to the show.  She actually feels like a real person throughout her run on Community as opposed to the rest of the cast, who are very cartoonish, which isn't a bad thing.  Slater is just a refreshing and different addition to the ensemble.  Her reactions to Jeff are very funny, especially when she agrees to sleep with him.

Yvette Nicole Brown really gets to show off her range here.  She gets to act unhinged in a few scenes when she rants about Slater and attacks her car and office, but then she gets to tell Britta about how hurt she was by her ex-husband asking for the ring back.  It's some really great shading for Shirley and why she's at Greendale.

Finally, we get Abed as Batman for the first time.  Danny Pudi's performance is perfect and he has some of the best dialogue of the episode.

What Sucks:

I got nothing for you except that this episode doesn't really hold a candle to the next two Halloween episodes.

Funniest Moment:

For me, the funniest moment of the episode is when Annie breaks down crying to get Jeff to come to her party.  Specifically when she says that she was so unpopular in high school that the crossing guard used to try and lure her into traffic.  

Heavenly Human Being: 

The Heavenly Human Being Award goes to the MVP of the episode.  For "Introduction to Statistics," this Award goes to Abed Nadir for saving Jeff and Pierce from the collapsing structure.  This is his 3rd time winning this Award, which extends his lead.

Verdict:

"Introduction to Statistics" is a great early episode of Community.  It has some fun Halloween silliness, great performances from Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, and Chevy Chase in particular, and I like the addition of Professor Slater.  It's not as good as the next two Halloween episodes, but it still has absolutely got it going on.

 9/10: Great