Investigative Journalism

(This is the thirteenth part in an ongoing series, in which I am writing brief reviews of each and every episode of Dan Harmon's beloved cult- comedy "Community." Originally conceived as a response to NBC's cancellation of the series before it was revived for its final season on Yahoo.)

Honestly, this is one of those episodes that just throws me for a loop as I sit here ticking out a review. Because it's thoroughly entertaining in its own right. But also thoroughly uninteresting to slog through upon revisiting the show.

Don't take that to mean it's a bad episode. Just that it's probably one of the lesser Season One outings.

It's an episode that's only really memorable thanks to a few gags and a few surprising guest-roles. Most notably of course being a supporting role played by none other than Jack Black. (Who had previously worked with creator Dan Harmon on the criminally underrated pilot "Heat Vision and Jack"... check it out!) Black's boisterous charm is infectious in the episode, even if his character Buddy can be a bit overbearing on the proceedings.

Returning from Winter Break, the study group finds that Buddy has more-or-less inserted himself into their tight-knit group. Opinions very and the characters have to decide whether or not to make Buddy a permanent member. At the same time, Jeff (Joel McHale) is made editor of the school newspaper and Annie (Alison Brie) investigates some interesting finds about the school.

Honestly, for me the big issue is that while perfectly funny on its own right, I couldn't remember a darned thing about this episode before re-watching it, outside of course for Black's guest-role. And upon re-watching it the other day... I already have more-or- less forgotten much of the episode. It's filler through-and- through.

Thankfully though, even filler is good when it comes to "Community" and I would still recommend the episode to hardcore fans. But if you're just casually viewing a few episodes here and there for fun and aren't serious about seeing every one... it's one you can skip.

A decent 7 out of 10.