Community 4.11: Basic Human Anatomy

Posted By on April 26, 2013

Troy (Donald Glover, left) and Abed (Danny Pudi) see life through each others' eyes in "Basic Human Anatomy."

Troy (Donald Glover, left) and Abed (Danny Pudi) see life through each others’ eyes in “Basic Human Anatomy.”

The way “Basic Human Anatomy” turned out, one has to ask: Can Jim Rash write more episodes of Community, please?

In his first go-round for the show, the Academy Award-winner delivers a remarkable episode — as close an episode as we’ve gotten to a Dan Harmon-penned story, in fact, as the hook (Troy and Abed switch bodies) leads to a turning point that’s given the respect it deserves.

It helps Rash’s cause that he can draw on four years’ worth of chemistry between Donald Glover and Danny Pudi, who show how the boys can not only impersonate one another (Glover seems to get a little closer to Abed-ness, if you’re scoring at home) but maximize their mutual understanding, even if it looks stupid to Jeff.

Because as it turns out, the switch isn’t just for lulz’s sake; the duo is getting their Freaky Friday so that Abed can vocalize Troy’s wish to break up with Britta — on their one-year anniversary, no less. While there’s potential for this gambit to degenerate into a well-meaning jerk move like Abed’s two-timing stunt a few weeks back, Gillian Jacobs and Joel McHale are able to steer the plot closer to plausibility, since Jeff and Britta understand the method behind Troy and Abed’s mischief. And to their credit, both Abed-as-Troy and Troy himself come around. (Next question: will we get to revisit Abed’s connection with Rachel, and how will Troy react to being the single guy in that equation?)

Rash also allows Dean Pelton to get into the body-switching antics — at least, from his perspective, as he channels some of Jeff’s swag (a callback of sorts to Jeff Deaning himself in Season Three) and ends up charming Annie to a degree that frightens even her. The bright side, at least for her and for Shirley, is that it doesn’t take much for them to convince Jeff-Dean to disqualify Leonard for gaming his way to the lead in the race for Greendale valedictorian, setting up a showdown between the two besties. Pierce also gets to shine for having almost no screen time, as he completes the group assignment.

It’s a testament to the episode’s quality that, plot points aside, you can argue that this story should have been aired earlier in the season, so as to allay fans’ fears about the post-Harmon era — at least, initially. If Community does eke out another season of existence, in fact, Rash proved this week to be worth the extra cash it would probably take to give him more writing duties. It surely couldn’t hurt.

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One Response to “Community 4.11: Basic Human Anatomy”

  1. [...] is a pleasant trip through Days of References Past, sure, but it’s just not as funny as “Basic Human Anatomy”  or “Economics of Marine Biology,” which, for the record, were solid, laugh-wise, [...]

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About the Author

Arturo Garcia
Arturo's interests stretch beyond traditional geek circles, as evidenced by his body of work. Currently he's both the Managing Editor at Racialicious.com and an editor at the news site RawStory.com, on top of being published at Alternet, Think Progress, The Guardian and Global Comment. This year he also pulled off a rare bit of double-duty, covering both the San Diego Comic-Con and the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Follow him on Twitter as @aboynamedart.