Community: Season 2, Episode 18 "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy" Review

 "I'm tired of confiscating saws."

-Jeff Winger

"Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy" picks up with Annie (Alison Brie) throwing a baby shower for Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and doing her best to make both Andre (Malcolm Jamal Warner) and Chang (Ken Jeong) feel included.  Shirley thanks Annie, but makes it clear that no matter who the biological father is, the baby will be raised by Shirley and Andre.  Chang says that if the baby is his, he at least wants to be an uncle to the child.

Later, Shirley asks Jeff (Joel McHale) to help get Chang to sign a forfeiture of parental rights document since Chang is currently living with Jeff.  He reluctantly agrees, but when he tries to get Chang to sign it, Chang becomes emotional because he thinks this might be his last chance to be a father.  Jeff tells him he isn't fit to be a father because he doesn't have a job or a place of his own.  Chang misinterprets Jeff's words and believes that if he gets his life together, Shirley will let him be part of the baby's life.  Jeff sees an opportunity to get rid of Chang and encourages him.

The next day, Jeff tells Shirley and Andre he wasn't able to get Chang to sign the document.  Chang arrives to tell them he is going to be the best father he can be.  Shirley realizes what Jeff has done and chews him out.

Andre tries to get through to Chang by telling him he can't just act like Dad of the Year; he has to back it up with actions.  Chang, once again, misinterprets what he is told.  Jeff gets home to find two young boys being taught Spanish by Chang.  Chang tells Jeff that he picked up Shirley's kids from school.  Jeff tells him that this is kidnapping and he tells the kids he will take them home.  He orders Chang to call Shirley, beg for forgiveness, and move out.  As Jeff goes to get his car, the kids ask Chang who Shirley is.

After the kids leave with Jeff, Chang calls the police and Jeff gets stuck in jail overnight before the situation is sorted out.  Shirley managed to get the real mother of the kids to press charges against Chang, but not Jeff.  Jeff and Shirley start to plot a way to get Chang the maximum sentence, but Andre talks them out of by telling them that punishing Chang will not make their lives any less chaotic and to take the good with the bad.

While I'll this is going on, Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) become friends with a student named Lukka (Enver Gjokaj), who they like to play video games with.  They forbid Britta (Gillian Jacobs) from dating him because every time she starts dating a guy they like, when the break up, she tells them awful things about the exes that they can't unhear.  However, Britta drops by Abed's door room in the middle of a gaming session and she and Lukka hit it off. 

Later, Britta and Lukka are making out and Britta asks him to keep this a secret.  Lukka reveals he is good at keeping quiet because he is from the Balkans and fought in a war there.  Lukka tells he he misses being part of the ethnic cleansing and killing all of his enemies.

The next day, Britta tries to warn Troy and Abed about Lukka, but they don't want to hear what she has to say about him.  She interrupts their game again to ask why Lukka is so good at shooter games.  This falls on deaf ears when Lukka notices Abed's copy of Kickpuncher III and asks to borrow it.  Abed tells him he has a no lending policy and would end a friendship with someone if they took a movie without permission.  Britta senses an opportunity and steals Kickpuncher III while the guys are gaming.  However, Abed has a camera set up in his room and catches Britta in the act.  When they confront her, Britta tells them Lukka is a war criminal.  They don't believe her, but when they ask Lukka, he confirms it.

Troy and Abed apologize to Britta and promise to go easier on her.  Britta agrees not to tell them any unsavory details about the guys she dates unless they are war criminals.

The episode ends with the study group hanging out, but all of them are on their various devices ant not talking to each other.

What Works:

I find this episode to be mostly unmemorable, but the stuff that does stick out is the darker humor.  Every line of dialogue about Lukka and the atrocities he's committed is hilarious.  These work on a show like Community because of the performers and how they deliver their lines.  Not everyone could make a line about wearing babies as hats work, but Donald Glover does.  I've never found war crimes quite as funny as I do in this episode.

The other standout scene is when Jeff comes home to find Chang teaching Spanish to two young boys.  First off, it's hilarious that Chang went straight to kidnapping in trying to show he can be a good father, but when we learn they aren't even Shirley's kids...beautiful.  And Jeff doesn't realize this either.  Has he never met Shirley's kids?  Maybe not onscreen, but you'd think they would have met at some point.  And then Chang gets Jeff arrested for kidnapping.  That scene is gold from start to finish.

Britta, Troy, and Abed have a great dynamic in this episode.  It's great watching Abed actually get heated and irritated with Britta flirting with Lukka.  They have amazing reactions throughout the entire episode. 

What Sucks:

If you asked me to name every single episode of Community (not by title, by what what happens in the episode), if I were to forget one episode, I think it would be this one.  Even some of the not so great episodes in season 4 stand out more because the show doesn't have many not so great episodes.  This one kinda just exists.  There are funny moments, don't get me wrong, but the whole thing feels like the writers had an off day.  That's fine.  It happens and the episode is still good, it's just not very memorable to me.

Most of the Shirley, Andre, Jeff, and Chang stuff isn't super interesting.  The scene with Chang kidnapping two random kids is great, but the rest of it doesn't catch my interest or make me laugh much.

I also don't love the resolution to the conflict with Chang.  Andre talks Shirley and Jeff out of going after Chang so hard and they come to the conclusion that life will still be crazy without Chang, so why bother, basically.  First of all, the dude is clearly not well and kidnapped two kids.  He needs treatment or something.  And yes, life would still be crazy even without Chang, but I think having him out of the picture for a while would make all of their lives easier...and he deserves it!

Finally, the end tag is pretty uninspired.  It's just the study group using their phones or tablets or whatever.  There really isn't anything more to it.  It's easily in the conversation for worst end tag of the entire show.

Funniest Moment:

For me, the funniest moment is when Britta comes up with a plan to steal Kickpuncher III and blame Lukka.  "May...be...we...do..."

Heavenly Human Being:

The Heavenly Human Being Award goes to the MVP of the episode.  For "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy," it was tough choice.  Everyone was a real mixed bag of good and bad in this episode.  I ultimately landed on Annie for trying her best to throw a nice baby shower in an awkward situation.  This is her 7th win overall, which ties her for 2nd with Jeff.

Verdict:

"Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy" may be the least remarkable episode of Community.  That doesn't mean it's bad!  Community is a great show with tons of amazing episodes, and a handful of not so good ones.  This one just doesn't stick with me.  The darker humor is very funny and there are some good performances, but the Chang, Shirley, Andre, and Jeff storyline doesn't do it for me and the end tag is one of the weakest in the entire show.  Still, an unremarkable episode of such a great show is worth your time.

 7/10: Good