Community: "Digital Exploration of Interior Design" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

The strife between Abed and Troy continued this week, as corporate integration was taking to a new and highly amusing level on Community. "Digital Exploration of Interior Design" pushed Troy and Abed to the front of the series as their storyline took hold as the major arc of the moment. Nobody likes to see relationships fall apart, but watching this friendship battle through a rough patch has the potential of being quite entertaining.

The episode took a natural progression from last week's ending, where Abed and Troy had their first major disagreement and Dark Abed returned via the Dreamatorium. The pair were still friends, but there was tension in the air. The rift grew wider when Vice Dean Laybourne got involved, deliberately putting the pair at odds over the pillow and blankets forts. I like this storyline. It brings back John Goodman as the Vice Dean and his desire to get Troy enrolled at his air condition repair school, and it adds a necessary new dynamic to the relationship between Troy and Abed. Plus it opens up the storyline to all sorts of pop culture references with dueling factions, starting with the dramatic sequence of Abed and Troy holding back their "armies" while neither ready to end the conflict. Abed's "To be continued," excited me for the possibilities to come. Perhaps this will all end in some sort of, oh, I don't know… paintball battle?

- NBC

Meanwhile, Subway opened its doors at Greendale, instead of Shirley and Pierce's sandwich shop. The gang as a whole were not fans, but Britta especially voice her contempt for the corporate takeover of the school cafeteria. This was all analogous to the product integration happening in all corners of entertainment. Subway especially likes to get its product into TV programs, most notably as a sponsor (and frequent guest star) on Chuck. But product integration isn't easy. I recently saw an out-of-character conversation between two TV police detectives about how tasty Subway sandwiches can be, with one dieting character reminding us, "if it worked for Jared, it will work for me."

Community wasn't going to take that route. Instead, they brilliant made Subway a person-- though a very legal process that allows a person to represent the collective humanity of a business. With this twist, the corporation-hating Britta suddenly found herself swooning for the man known as Subway, allowing for dialogue like, "I love you, Subway!" And it all culminated with Britta literally making love to Subway. Eat fresh.

The remainder of the episode was just a bit of filler, with Jeff once again dealing with his self-centered personality. Nothing too new here, but the storyline did allow for a few great moments from the always-entertaining Garret: "I'm out of breath because I walked here very briskly!" But the storyline being laid out for Troy and Abed has me excited for what may lie ahead for the rest of the season.

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