Community: Season 1, Episode 14 "Interpretive Dance" Review

 "Can I just ask as a divorced, black housewife, what part of being a single, white slacker makes you people so jaded?"

-Shirley Bennett

"Interpretive Dance" picks up with Britta (Gillian Jacobs) noticing a long, brown hair on Jeff's (Joel McHale) jacket and the study group teases him about it.  Jeff eventually reveals that he's been regularly seeing someone, but refuses to say who.  It turns out it's Professor Slater (Lauren Stamile) because Jeff is no longer her student.  The two prepare to get it on in her office, but are interrupted by Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) who quickly kills the mood.

Later, Slater and Jeff kiss in the library, but the rest of the group see them.  Jeff comes clean about seeing Slater, but asks them to keep it quiet.  Unfortunately, Pierce (Chevy Chase) immediately starts tweeting about it and the Dean calls a meeting with Jeff and Slater as soon as he hears about it.  During the meeting, Slater says they are boyfriend and girlfriend, but Jeff says they are just really good friends, which causes Slater to leave.  Jeff goes to see her later and says he is scared of commitment, but is willing to try and she agrees.  They fill out paperwork with the Dean to make their relationship official.

Troy (Donald Glover) is secretly taking a dance class and is embarrassed about anybody finding out.  While leaving class, he runs into Britta, who is also taking a dance class and is embarrassed about it.  Britta suggests they should face their fear, tell the study group, and invite them to the upcoming recital.  Troy agrees, but when Britta tells the group, Troy doesn't say anything and decides to quit dance.

Britta is upset that Troy bailed on her, but Shirley thinks she is upset that Jeff is with Slater.  Britta believes that Jeff and Slater's relationship is based on the thill of the secrecy and that it won't last.  However, the at dance recital, Britta discovers that Jeff and Slater are official and came to the recital together.  When she sees them holding hands, she freezes up in the middle of the recital.  Troy jumps on stage to snap her out of it and the two of them perform a dance together.  Afterwards, everyone congratulates Troy and Britta.  Jeff gives Britta flowers and thanks her for teaching him how to have a girl for a friend, which made him think he might be ready for a girlfriend.

The episode ends with Troy, Abed (Danny Pudi), and Jeff doing a crossword puzzle that has the names of the study group as the answers, which none of them notice.

What Works:

"Interpretive Dance" has an absolutely hysterical opening scene.  It's a classic, study room scene with tons of comedy packed into it.  We get some great dialogue when the group wonders if Pierce is dead.  The last thing Troy and Britta both said to Pierce was "Suck it."  That's amazing.  Pierce's indignation and wanting people to wish he was dead to his face is also fantastic.  It's just an all-around great way to start the episode.

Jeff gets some more good character growth in this episode.  It's nice seeing him grow and eventually get a girlfriend.  McHale and Stamile have great chemistry and their scenes together are a lot of fun.  I also love how Abed treats Slater like his new stepmom.

The Dean makes everything so much more wonderfully awkward in his interactions with Jeff and Slater.  The fact that he has all of the hot students and staff ranked by how likely they are to cause fraternization is glorious.  And I would love to read the entirety of the Greendale student-teacher relationship form.

Chevy Chase is great at playing a mildly funny jackass.  Probably because he doesn't have to act much.  Regardless, his commentary during the dance recital is pretty great, especially when he starts actually enjoying the show.   

Community gets some of its best moments when it gives Donald Glover time to shine and he's one of the key characters of this episode.  He absolutely kills it during his scenes with Britta.  And it's not just the way he delivers lines, but his body movements add so much to the comedy.  How his hands move when he explains why God gave girls parts that jingle is just perfect and the way he twirls around another student when he claims he's not going to dance anymore is one of the highlights of the episode.

What Sucks:

I got nothing for you.

Funniest Moment:

For me, the funniest moment of the episode is when Troy says the last thing he said to Pierce was "Suck it," and Britta says "Me too."  Amazing.

Heavenly Human Being:

The Heavenly Human Being Award goes to the MVP of the episode.  For "Interpretive Dance," this Award goes to Jeff Winger for having legitimate character growth, defining his relationship with Slater, and being supportive and thankful to Britta.  Troy was another candidate for rescuing Britta when she froze on stage, but he did leave her hanging out to dry earlier in the episode, which wasn't great.  This is Jeff's 4th time winning this Award, which ties him for 1st place with Abed.

Verdict:

"Interpretive Dance" is a hilarious and iconic episode.  It hits the ground running with an amazing opening, has some steamy chemistry between Jeff and Slater, solid character development for Jeff, and wonderful performances from Glover, Chase, and Rash.  This episode has absolutely got it going on.

 10/10: Amazing