Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations
- Episode aired Mar 7, 2013
- TV-PG
- 22m
While Jeff and Britta spend Thanksgiving with Jeff's newly-discovered father and brother, the rest of the Study Group tries to escape from Shirley's dysfunctional family Thanksgiving celebra... Read allWhile Jeff and Britta spend Thanksgiving with Jeff's newly-discovered father and brother, the rest of the Study Group tries to escape from Shirley's dysfunctional family Thanksgiving celebration.While Jeff and Britta spend Thanksgiving with Jeff's newly-discovered father and brother, the rest of the Study Group tries to escape from Shirley's dysfunctional family Thanksgiving celebration.
- Willy
- (as Adam DeVine)
- Mr. Bennett
- (as William C. Mitchell)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Dean's cowboy outfit is an almost exact replica of the one Jeff wore to the faculty Halloween party in S01E07 Introduction to Statistics (2009). prompting Jeff to ask "is that..." before the Dean interrupts him.
- GoofsWhen Jeff tells his father how he turns out, he says that in seventh grade he made himself a scar with scissors, which he shows. Before this, he never had this scar.
- Quotes
Britta Perry: You came back!
Jeff Winger: [to William] I'm sorry. You should take some credit for who I've become.
William Winger: Okay.
Jeff Winger: So let me tell you how I turned out, just so you're crystal clear on your impact. I am not well-adjusted. More often than not, I am barely keeping it together. I'm constantly texting, and there's no one at the other end. I'm just a grown man who can't even look his own friends in the eye for too long because I'm afraid that they'll see that I am broken. So you get credit for that.
William Winger: Oh, come on, now...
Jeff Winger: One time, when I was in seventh grade, I told everyone at school that I had appendicitis. I wanted someone to worry about me. But when Beth Brannon asked to see the scar, I didn't wanna get found out, so I took Mom's scissors, and I made one. It hurt like hell, but it was worth it, because I got 17 cards. And I still keep them in a box underneath my bed 22 years later, because it proves that someone, at some point, cared about me. You wanna see the scar? So you get credit for that too. This is me.
William Winger: Look, Jeff, I, uh...
[eyes shift back and forth, then widen, groans loudly, drops champagne flutes, clutching his chest and bends over]
Willy: Daddy!
Jeff Winger: Are you *faking* a heart attack?
William Winger: [sheepishly] Kind of a Hail Mary.
Jeff Winger: Happy Thanksgiving, dad.
- SoundtracksGreendale is Where I Belong
Performed by Ludwig Göransson
It's been clear what this episode's purpose was gonna be since we knew the title. Jeff's reunion with his father, while interesting and engaging in its own right, makes for a plot line that just doesn't produce the laughs one would expect from Community. While Willy Jr. and Britta's excitement about practicing Therapy are fun, the conversations between Jeff and his father are a perfect showcase of why combining comedy and drama is hard to do in a 20-minute show. The other story line involves the rest of the group "trapped" at Shirley's Thanksgiving dinner. This is also where the best thing about the episode comes into play - Abed's voice over. His consistent and self-ironic narration is delightful. The only problem here is that the other characters hardly get to show their strengths and so Abed ends up being responsible for easily half of the laughs.
All in all, while a satisfying, entertaining and relevant episode, "Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations" is held back a bit by the same thing as the prior season 4 outings - it just feels like it could and should be better.
- salve-line
- Mar 8, 2013