Review: Community - ‘Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons’

Normally, I would rejoice when a show decides to make Dungeons and Dragons the chief focus of an episode. When Community first did it, way back in season… was it 2?... I was a very happy man. But while that episode turned out fine, this week’s installment, ‘Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons’ was much less than it could have been. A rocky start, rushed development and no real conclusion all led to this being probably the weakest episode in season 5.

As the story starts out, Professor Hickey is complaining about the problem he’s having with his son, Hank. Due to difficulties, he’s not being permitted to attend his grandson’s birthday. So, in an effort to reconcile the two offended parties, the Community group decides to hold a game of Dungeons and Dragons (which happens to be Hickey’s son’s main hobby).

Abed sets up a game that will focus on bringing the estranged father and son combo back together again, but Hank is a D&D pro. He realizes what’s happening and throws a wrench in the works by resisting the predetermined path that Abed has arranged. This leads to chaos, with the gamers being split apart and turned against each other. Each piece of the group takes sides in the Senior Hickey vs. Junior Hickey struggle.

While there are some great jokes and gimmicks this episode, there are more flaws than good points. Firstly, the show rushes right into the main plot. The set-up goes by in the blink of an eye and leaves little time to get invested in what’s going on. So then we spend the next five minutes trying to become interested. It’s about this point that the story speeds up, so the funny stuff comes out. But it’s really too little, too late. Even the occasional gem (such as watching Hickey grill a pair of goblins for information) can’t save the episode from its chaotic writing.

In the end, it feels like ‘Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons’ was something out of season 4, as if Dan Harmon had little to do with it. It felt strained and even the pop-media references were done in such a way that they felt almost out of place. Still amusing, but not spectacular.

Two weeks from now (next week is devoid of a new episode) we get ‘G.I. Jeff’, an animated episode that promises some wacky Community antics in the fullest gimmick-based way of things. Since these sorts of creative episodes rarely fail, I have high hopes. For some info on what to expect, head to this site.

Photo Credits -

Community courtesy of geekosystem.com