"Fist Full of Paintballs" Recap/Review - WITH GIFSPAM!
How amazing was Community Thursday night? So amazing, I already have over a dozen GIFs downloaded from it. It's the type of episode that makes critics applaud. It was purported to be a sequel to Modern Warfare, but it surpasses that episode with the dedication and seriousness it took in it's parody of the western.
It opened with Fat Neil chased by Mike Chilada (Anthony Michael Hall as that bully from "Comparative Religion") and his gang, when a lone figure swoops down from the ceiling and rescues him, taking Mike and his gang out. It is Annie, badass, the Ace of Hearts.
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She makes Fat Neil kick the guns to her, her trigger finger getting itchy at his every move. "We're friends, Annie. We played Dungeons and Dragons together," Fat Neil says, trying to get Annie to leave him a gun.
"That was a game." Annie sneers. "This is paintball."
( Source)
And so begins a roaring homage to the Spaghetti Western, complete with Ennio Morricone-esque music. Annie goes to the lab to eat her lonely can of beans, and remembers how it all began. It was the end of the year picnic, a peaceful event. Dean Pelton announced there would be a quick game of paintball with a small prize. Pistol Patty, mascot of the ice cream company that sponsored the event, announces what's at stake: "$100,000!" Annie is distracted out of her reverie by a noise she goes to check out, and when she turns back, Abed is eating her beans.
( Source)
Abed has a message: Jeff wants to speak to Annie. "And I want pants," she says coolly, and the camera pans to her shorts-wearing form. Jeff and Abed have found a safe haven in the library.
In the library, Chang and Jeff are trying to withstand a charge by the Math Club. Chang betrays Jeff, and Jeff, out of ammo, is about to be shot when Abed races in, pistols blazing like the fire in his eyes. Abed takes out the Math Club, but Chang escapes. Jeff and Annie then have a parley about the lack of ammunition. It seems Pierce has "more paint than a French kindergarten," and is holed up somewhere by the cafeteria. Jeff suggests they get Pierce's ammo by whatever means necessary, and Annie defends Pierce to Jeff, saying "he's a jerk because we exclude him, while Jeff insists "we exclude him because he's a jerk." Jeff flashes back to a game of cards played without Pierce. Pierce entered the study room to see them playing without him, and Annie gave him an apologetic shrug. Jeff and Annie continue to argue when we see Abed's roommate Pavel gunned down brutally by someone offscreen. The clang of spurs is heard. "Who wears spurs in paintball?" Annie asks. Abed, Annie and Jeff all reach for their guns as slowly, we see him enter: The Black Rider.
A firefight begins as Jeff and Abed run to the saftey of another corridor. Annie slo-mo runs to catch up.
( Source)
Thinking they're safe, they take a breath of air as Abed asks, "Does that guy even go to our school? He's really good looking, like network TV good looking. Did you see how big his guns are?" "Why don't you just marry him," Jeff responds. "I'm just saying paintball is tough this year," says Abed, as a figure comes from around the corner. "I agree," she says, guns held ready. It is Britta, the Queen of Spades.
( Source)
"Careful, Britta," Abed warns. "You can't hit all three of us." "She won't have to," interjects Shirley, coming through two swinging doors with guns aloft.
( Source)
She is soon joined by a figure hiding in the trashcan. "Hey, Troy!" Abed shouts with joy. "Abed!" Troy answers with a smile.
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"I thought you were dead!" Abed says to Troy. "I thought you were dead!" Troy repeats, still smiling. "Guys!" Britta urges. "Oh, right," says Troy, and he proceeds to arrest Jeff, Annie and Abed. Britta, Troy and Shirley are now deputies of Fort Hawthorne, and it seems there's a bounty on Jeff's head, complete with an unflattering wanted poster. "My forehead's not that big, right?" Jeff asks. "It's not small," answers Troy.
Annie, Jeff and Abed are led to Fort Hawthorne by the others. "So you just let Pierce boss you around?" Jeff asks.
"Actually, Pierce has been pretty decent in this game," attests Shirley. Pierce has set up a safe zone in the cafeteria where people can take a break from the game. They discuss the Black Rider as they walk, and Troy insists he doesn't name people when Annie brings up the fact that he doesn't ride anything. "I'm a deputy, Annie. I deputize."
They surrender their guns as they enter Fort Hawthorne, the cafeteria transformed into an old-time saloon, complete with poker game, Leonard playing the piano (a keyboard) and Garret and Vicki as saloon dancers.
( Source).
Pierce magnanimously welcomes them. "How is this even possible?" asks Annie. "It began with a dream," answers Pierce. "A dream and an impulse to hide in the men's room." It turns out Pierce made his "fortune" of paintballs by allowing people to use the bathroom for a price. Now, he is a wealthy landowner wealthy man, and can be generous to his study group. Jeff asks for his gun back, and is suddenly the object of several pointed weapons. "Only Hawthone personnel can carry weapons inside, Jeffrey," Pierce explains. He offers the study group dinner, and over a meal of Twinkies. He has a plan. "What if I told you I know where to find enough ammo to end this cowardly hiding out? Split the prize seven ways?" he tempts. He can't trust his goons to get it, but he does trust the others. After all, they're a study group, right? "That's pretty warm and fuzzy talk coming from you, Pierce" Britta insists. "Yeah, you've kind of acted like a villain this year," adds Abed. "I have?" Pierce questions, to everyone's affirmation. "Guys! Pierce is reaching out!" Annie urges. Jeff insists he's not hauling ammo back for the guy "who has Vicki dancing for Twinkies." Pierce gives a heartfelt defense of himself, telling of how he'll spend the summer counting down the days until next fall. "Let me do this for you," he says. "Let me bring us victory. Everyone looks at each other, consideringly, when we flash back to the card game.
Something in that card game triggers something in Jeff, and he agrees to go on the raid with Pierce. Pierce will give them enough ammo to raid the stockpile of bullets, and they'll split the prize seven ways. On their way to the weapons cache, Jeff and Annie take a moment to talk. "About Pierce? I feel bad," says Jeff "It's okay," insists Annie. "I just think -- the study group is my family, and if we start picking and choosing --" "Where do we stop?" Jeff interjects, understanding Annie's point. "You're a good kid," he continues, "and I just want to do my part to help you stay that way." And he pats her on the head in a sign of affection.
( Source)
Annie hears Chang's name, and sees the Cheerleaders Alliance sentencing Chang to "pretensies death," lined up like a firing squad. Annie takes them all out in one swift move. Jeff and Abed come in to watch. "Not cool, bitch," the head cheerleader says. "Yeah, so you told me at last year's tryouts," Annie counters, and bang! She hits the cheerleader again. Chang, blindfolded, runs out, and Annie goes after him, asking to borrow Jeff's gun. She finds herself in a deserted classroom, when someone comes up behind her.
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The Black Rider takes Annie's gun "Who are you?" she asks. "The bad guy," he answers coolly.
( Source)
"Stop trying to fluster me with your handsomeness!" Annie sneers. "You're creepy!" "Why does your chest get all flushed?" "That's a rash. I'm allergic to beans." "I'll shoot you in the foot, Honey," and he takes Annie's gun and fires. Nothing happens. The gun is empty -- or shooting blanks. He throws the gun down, goes to get another when Jeff and Abed appear, surrounding the Black Rider, who takes Annie as hostage. Abed and Jeff are in a Mexican standoff with the Black Rider. "I'll save you for last," he whispers to Annie. "You won't get the chance," she comments, and elbows him in the stomach, giving Jeff and Abed just enough of an edge to fire. A firefight ensues, Jeff and Abed shooting at the Rider in a flurry of shooting sound effects and paint.
The Black Rider ducks out a doorway. "You okay?" Jeff asks Annie. "I got a better look at him. He's not that good looking." "Did he shoot you?" Abed asks. "He tried," Annie answers, reaching for the gun the Black Rider left behind. She shoots at Jeff, just to demonstrate that the gun was loaded with blanks. Blanks Pierce gave them. Meanwhile, Troy, Britta and Shirley enter the Dean's office, only to hear someone moaning in the filing cabinet. Troy quietly opens the cabinet. "Don't shoot!" Dean Pelton urges, cramped in the small cabinet and covered in paint. They lower their guns. "Where's the paintball stuff from last year?" asks Troy. "I hid it, so the school doesn't get destroyed again. "Too late." Jeff, Annie and Abed enter the office. "We just ran into the Black Rider," Jeff tells the Dean. "Dean, if you want this game to end, we need firepower." The Dean gestures to his supply closet. Troy and Jeff go to open it, and they see it -- paint, glorious paint, and tons of it. The room is filled wall to wall with paintball supplies, guns, and ammo. "Okay, Black Rider," Jeff says. "Now let's see who's attractive!" "Dude, you got a problem!" replies Troy. Annie pushes them aside and grabs the big, tiger-striped gun Chang used last year. "Where are you going?" Jeff asks as Annie begins to leave in a hurry. "To have a conversation with Pierce."
( Source)
She leaves with a determined, angry walk. "She's pretty awesome today," Abed observes.
Annie enters Fort Hawthorne, only to find it devastated paint everywhere, the sign torn down, table upturned, deserted except for Vicki. "What happened?" Annie asks. "Black Rider," she replies. "He took out the whole Fort." "Why are you still here? Annie asks, observing Vicki continuing to dance. "I can't go back out there. This is the only life I know."
"Annie?" Pierce calls from the bathroom, hearing her voice. "You out there?" He comes out waving a white flag. "You get the ammo?" he asks, seeing her. "Yep," she answers, and proceeds to shoot threateningly at Pierce. "Why was Jeff's gun filled with blanks?" she demands. She chases him out of the enclaved area, where the rest of the gang are waiting -- and angry. "Okay once again, I'm the bad guy," Pirece asks. "Yes!" everyone agrees. "It's a game, Annie!" Pierce reasons. "Fine. It's a game." Annie concedes, and tosses her big gun to Abed. "Let's play." She grabs two pistols and kicks one to Pierce. "Put it in your holster." "Annie! You're my favorite! I don't want to beat you!" Pierce counters. "Put the gun in your holster," Annie demands, coolly, "and let's play the game."
"Right." Says Pierce. "So you can shoot me, and play without me. That's the group's favorite thing." "We're always nice to you, Pierce." "WRONG!" Pierce shouts. "Three days ago I walked in on you playing cards without me!" "We weren't playing cards, we were voting, and you weren't invited, because we were voting about you!" Annie tells him, apologetically. "We were taking a vote . . . on whether we'd let you into the group next year." Her bluster's gone. "Lucky for you, it had to be unanimous. There was one holdout. One red card."
<
Annie grabs her gun, points at Pierce, and urges him to pick up his gun. Resolute, Pierce does. Everyone steps aside as a Spanish trumpet sets the stage for a duel between Pierce and Annie.
The sound of spurs interrupts the duel.
"Black rider," Jeff shouts to him, "This is Jeff Winger. I know you've heard of me by now." "Nope." "He's lying," Jeff assures the group. Shouting back to the Black Rider, he explains, "look, if you're half the cool cowboy you pretend to be, you'd respect that we've got a situation playing out here and let us be until it's settled." "Sure thing," the Black Rider assures. He enters the cafeteria. "Once it's settled, he continues, "I'm taking out everybody in this room, starting with you, Mr. Insecure," he tells Jeff. Jeff stares back at him. "You think you're good-looking," Jeff challenges, "but you're not. You're average. You're just an average-looking guy with a big chin."
Two standoffs get set up for a showdown. Annie versus Pierce and Jeff versus the Black Rider. All have itchy trigger fingers. The music builds to a crescendo, and --
Pierce grabs his heart, a pained look on his face. "What's wrong?" the Black Rider asks Pierce, who is too strained to answer. "He's faking it," Britta reassures. "No, something's wrong with him," the Black Rider insists. "No, no, it's fake," Shirley affirms. "Last week he did it to get out of giving me a stick of gum."
( Source)
"He's old it could be real," the Black Rider says with concern. "It's real," gurgles Pierce. "The gurgling's a nice touch," Troy adds. "You guys are terrible people!" the Black Rider chastizes. "We warned you," Britta tries. "You all right, buddy? Want me to call 911?" The Black Rider leans down over a prostrate Pierce. Pierce grabs his gun and shoots the Black Rider straight in the heart. "Sucker!" he says, and takes a rifle from the Black Rider. "SON OF A BITCH!" shouts the Black Rider. "Seriously?" he looks over at the study group. "Told ya, dude," Troy says.
Mad with rage, Pierce begins to back out of the cafeteria through the kitchens. "I'm the best!" he shouts. "You're the worst!" Britta counters. "I'm out of the group," Pierce says, "You're out of mine! And I'm winning!
( Source)
"We've created a monster," Annie says. "Let's not give ourselves too much credit. Meanwhile, the Black Rider talks with someone on the phone. "I'm out," he says, "some old guy pretended to have a heart attack, and shot me in the gut. I don't care, that's your problem!" He hangs up. "This school sucks!" he says, and starts to leave. "Then why do you go here?" Annie challenges. "I wouldn't go to this toilet with my big sister's toe!" He answers. "I take a class online. I was paid to be here and win the game so my boss can keep his prize money." "You work for the ice cream company?" Annie asks. "Sweetie, this thing is so much bigger than you can even imagine."
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"I'm outta here. I got Coldplay tickets." The Black Rider prepares to leave. "Coldplay?" Annie asks, coming up to him. "Too late, Bean Allergy, you blew it."
Source)
Chang runs through the empty quad, still blindfolded. "Hello?" he shouts. "Anybody got an alliance I can join? I'm really loyal!" A window on the ice cream truck opens up, and a masked man with a machine gun nails Chang in the chest. The back of the truck opens to show a SWAT team of stormtroopers. "ON YOUR KNEES!" Pistol Patty the ice cream cone urges the SWAT team. "No Greendale student can be allowed to win this game! Initiate Plan B - Operation Total Invasion!"
And the screen goes black. To be continued next week in "For A Few Paintballs More."
Phew! That was a long recap! But now, here are my thoughts, if you want to goo straight to them:
This was a spectacular episode of Community. There's no denying that. Dan Harmon wanted to make a Spaghetti Western, and he made a homage to the Spaghetti Western that should go down in television history. This episode was better than "Modern Warfare" in lots of ways, but "Modern Warfare will be the episode remembered. Why is that? It's because "Modern Warfare" had no precedent. It came out of nowhere. We had no clue Community could reach such heights of meta comedy, but it did, using every action movie cliche out there. "A Fist Full of Paintballs" is much more of a production, and you can tell by the way they nabbed Josh Holloway as the guest star. He was perfectly cast as the Black Rider, because it was essentially a riff on Sawyer from Lost.
The season-long darkening of Pierce was finally brought to a head, as was Annie's season-long defense of him. The loading of Jeff's gun with blanks was the last straw for the usually accepting Annie, and the showdown between her and Pierce marked the end of her defending him to the group. This is a story of betrayal hidden in the depths of parody, and Annie's fury marks the end of childhood trusting for her. That's why this episode had to be so Annie-centric: It was Annie confronting the bitterness of adulthood and having her trust betrayed. This is a deeper plot than "Britta and Jeff have sex," and that is why this is the superior episode.
As far as critical response to the episode, it's been overall good. Todd VanDerWerff of the AV Club said, "directly taking on your most famous episode takes a certain kind of courage and skill, and Community takes aim at 'Modern Warfare' in two ways: It both ramps up the complexity and simplifies itself. The complexity comes from the character relationships and the storytelling, which are both more complicated in this episode than they were in 'Modern Warfare.'" This, I think, is why the episode is better than "Modern Warfare" - it streamlined the homage into a distinct genre instead of re-creating every action movie cliche out there, and had both Annie's season-long story and Pierce's season-long story dealt with in a way that really tied everything together. VanDerWerff complains that Community is "so obviously CONSTRUCTED every week, so obviously STRUCTURED," but that for me shows how serious the writers take this story. It's not a South Park-esque parody with no real consequences for the storyline, it deals with the aftermath of betrayal and goes for the production instead of the one-liner. Where Glee's characterizations are spotty at best, there's something believable in the fact that Annie can be transformed from demure overachiever to hardened badass in the matter of an episode; the badass was always there, it just never had an outlet before. Pierce as the villain has been played with all season long, so the culmination of that journey fits into the bigger picture we see, and the entire study group has a part in it.
Overall, this was Community at its very best: this time it knows what they were going for, and I think if "Fist Full of Paintballs would have been the signature episode had it aired first. As it is, "Modern Warfare" got there first, and "Fist Full of Paintballs" won't be remembered as it should be. But here it is, with everyone at the top of their game.
It opened with Fat Neil chased by Mike Chilada (Anthony Michael Hall as that bully from "Comparative Religion") and his gang, when a lone figure swoops down from the ceiling and rescues him, taking Mike and his gang out. It is Annie, badass, the Ace of Hearts.
( Source)
She makes Fat Neil kick the guns to her, her trigger finger getting itchy at his every move. "We're friends, Annie. We played Dungeons and Dragons together," Fat Neil says, trying to get Annie to leave him a gun.
"That was a game." Annie sneers. "This is paintball."
( Source)
And so begins a roaring homage to the Spaghetti Western, complete with Ennio Morricone-esque music. Annie goes to the lab to eat her lonely can of beans, and remembers how it all began. It was the end of the year picnic, a peaceful event. Dean Pelton announced there would be a quick game of paintball with a small prize. Pistol Patty, mascot of the ice cream company that sponsored the event, announces what's at stake: "$100,000!" Annie is distracted out of her reverie by a noise she goes to check out, and when she turns back, Abed is eating her beans.
( Source)
Abed has a message: Jeff wants to speak to Annie. "And I want pants," she says coolly, and the camera pans to her shorts-wearing form. Jeff and Abed have found a safe haven in the library.
In the library, Chang and Jeff are trying to withstand a charge by the Math Club. Chang betrays Jeff, and Jeff, out of ammo, is about to be shot when Abed races in, pistols blazing like the fire in his eyes. Abed takes out the Math Club, but Chang escapes. Jeff and Annie then have a parley about the lack of ammunition. It seems Pierce has "more paint than a French kindergarten," and is holed up somewhere by the cafeteria. Jeff suggests they get Pierce's ammo by whatever means necessary, and Annie defends Pierce to Jeff, saying "he's a jerk because we exclude him, while Jeff insists "we exclude him because he's a jerk." Jeff flashes back to a game of cards played without Pierce. Pierce entered the study room to see them playing without him, and Annie gave him an apologetic shrug. Jeff and Annie continue to argue when we see Abed's roommate Pavel gunned down brutally by someone offscreen. The clang of spurs is heard. "Who wears spurs in paintball?" Annie asks. Abed, Annie and Jeff all reach for their guns as slowly, we see him enter: The Black Rider.
A firefight begins as Jeff and Abed run to the saftey of another corridor. Annie slo-mo runs to catch up.
( Source)
Thinking they're safe, they take a breath of air as Abed asks, "Does that guy even go to our school? He's really good looking, like network TV good looking. Did you see how big his guns are?" "Why don't you just marry him," Jeff responds. "I'm just saying paintball is tough this year," says Abed, as a figure comes from around the corner. "I agree," she says, guns held ready. It is Britta, the Queen of Spades.
( Source)
"Careful, Britta," Abed warns. "You can't hit all three of us." "She won't have to," interjects Shirley, coming through two swinging doors with guns aloft.
( Source)
She is soon joined by a figure hiding in the trashcan. "Hey, Troy!" Abed shouts with joy. "Abed!" Troy answers with a smile.
( Source)
"I thought you were dead!" Abed says to Troy. "I thought you were dead!" Troy repeats, still smiling. "Guys!" Britta urges. "Oh, right," says Troy, and he proceeds to arrest Jeff, Annie and Abed. Britta, Troy and Shirley are now deputies of Fort Hawthorne, and it seems there's a bounty on Jeff's head, complete with an unflattering wanted poster. "My forehead's not that big, right?" Jeff asks. "It's not small," answers Troy.
Annie, Jeff and Abed are led to Fort Hawthorne by the others. "So you just let Pierce boss you around?" Jeff asks.
"Actually, Pierce has been pretty decent in this game," attests Shirley. Pierce has set up a safe zone in the cafeteria where people can take a break from the game. They discuss the Black Rider as they walk, and Troy insists he doesn't name people when Annie brings up the fact that he doesn't ride anything. "I'm a deputy, Annie. I deputize."
They surrender their guns as they enter Fort Hawthorne, the cafeteria transformed into an old-time saloon, complete with poker game, Leonard playing the piano (a keyboard) and Garret and Vicki as saloon dancers.
( Source).
Pierce magnanimously welcomes them. "How is this even possible?" asks Annie. "It began with a dream," answers Pierce. "A dream and an impulse to hide in the men's room." It turns out Pierce made his "fortune" of paintballs by allowing people to use the bathroom for a price. Now, he is a wealthy landowner wealthy man, and can be generous to his study group. Jeff asks for his gun back, and is suddenly the object of several pointed weapons. "Only Hawthone personnel can carry weapons inside, Jeffrey," Pierce explains. He offers the study group dinner, and over a meal of Twinkies. He has a plan. "What if I told you I know where to find enough ammo to end this cowardly hiding out? Split the prize seven ways?" he tempts. He can't trust his goons to get it, but he does trust the others. After all, they're a study group, right? "That's pretty warm and fuzzy talk coming from you, Pierce" Britta insists. "Yeah, you've kind of acted like a villain this year," adds Abed. "I have?" Pierce questions, to everyone's affirmation. "Guys! Pierce is reaching out!" Annie urges. Jeff insists he's not hauling ammo back for the guy "who has Vicki dancing for Twinkies." Pierce gives a heartfelt defense of himself, telling of how he'll spend the summer counting down the days until next fall. "Let me do this for you," he says. "Let me bring us victory. Everyone looks at each other, consideringly, when we flash back to the card game.
Something in that card game triggers something in Jeff, and he agrees to go on the raid with Pierce. Pierce will give them enough ammo to raid the stockpile of bullets, and they'll split the prize seven ways. On their way to the weapons cache, Jeff and Annie take a moment to talk. "About Pierce? I feel bad," says Jeff "It's okay," insists Annie. "I just think -- the study group is my family, and if we start picking and choosing --" "Where do we stop?" Jeff interjects, understanding Annie's point. "You're a good kid," he continues, "and I just want to do my part to help you stay that way." And he pats her on the head in a sign of affection.
( Source)
Annie hears Chang's name, and sees the Cheerleaders Alliance sentencing Chang to "pretensies death," lined up like a firing squad. Annie takes them all out in one swift move. Jeff and Abed come in to watch. "Not cool, bitch," the head cheerleader says. "Yeah, so you told me at last year's tryouts," Annie counters, and bang! She hits the cheerleader again. Chang, blindfolded, runs out, and Annie goes after him, asking to borrow Jeff's gun. She finds herself in a deserted classroom, when someone comes up behind her.
( Source)
The Black Rider takes Annie's gun "Who are you?" she asks. "The bad guy," he answers coolly.
( Source)
"Stop trying to fluster me with your handsomeness!" Annie sneers. "You're creepy!" "Why does your chest get all flushed?" "That's a rash. I'm allergic to beans." "I'll shoot you in the foot, Honey," and he takes Annie's gun and fires. Nothing happens. The gun is empty -- or shooting blanks. He throws the gun down, goes to get another when Jeff and Abed appear, surrounding the Black Rider, who takes Annie as hostage. Abed and Jeff are in a Mexican standoff with the Black Rider. "I'll save you for last," he whispers to Annie. "You won't get the chance," she comments, and elbows him in the stomach, giving Jeff and Abed just enough of an edge to fire. A firefight ensues, Jeff and Abed shooting at the Rider in a flurry of shooting sound effects and paint.
The Black Rider ducks out a doorway. "You okay?" Jeff asks Annie. "I got a better look at him. He's not that good looking." "Did he shoot you?" Abed asks. "He tried," Annie answers, reaching for the gun the Black Rider left behind. She shoots at Jeff, just to demonstrate that the gun was loaded with blanks. Blanks Pierce gave them. Meanwhile, Troy, Britta and Shirley enter the Dean's office, only to hear someone moaning in the filing cabinet. Troy quietly opens the cabinet. "Don't shoot!" Dean Pelton urges, cramped in the small cabinet and covered in paint. They lower their guns. "Where's the paintball stuff from last year?" asks Troy. "I hid it, so the school doesn't get destroyed again. "Too late." Jeff, Annie and Abed enter the office. "We just ran into the Black Rider," Jeff tells the Dean. "Dean, if you want this game to end, we need firepower." The Dean gestures to his supply closet. Troy and Jeff go to open it, and they see it -- paint, glorious paint, and tons of it. The room is filled wall to wall with paintball supplies, guns, and ammo. "Okay, Black Rider," Jeff says. "Now let's see who's attractive!" "Dude, you got a problem!" replies Troy. Annie pushes them aside and grabs the big, tiger-striped gun Chang used last year. "Where are you going?" Jeff asks as Annie begins to leave in a hurry. "To have a conversation with Pierce."
( Source)
She leaves with a determined, angry walk. "She's pretty awesome today," Abed observes.
Annie enters Fort Hawthorne, only to find it devastated paint everywhere, the sign torn down, table upturned, deserted except for Vicki. "What happened?" Annie asks. "Black Rider," she replies. "He took out the whole Fort." "Why are you still here? Annie asks, observing Vicki continuing to dance. "I can't go back out there. This is the only life I know."
"Annie?" Pierce calls from the bathroom, hearing her voice. "You out there?" He comes out waving a white flag. "You get the ammo?" he asks, seeing her. "Yep," she answers, and proceeds to shoot threateningly at Pierce. "Why was Jeff's gun filled with blanks?" she demands. She chases him out of the enclaved area, where the rest of the gang are waiting -- and angry. "Okay once again, I'm the bad guy," Pirece asks. "Yes!" everyone agrees. "It's a game, Annie!" Pierce reasons. "Fine. It's a game." Annie concedes, and tosses her big gun to Abed. "Let's play." She grabs two pistols and kicks one to Pierce. "Put it in your holster." "Annie! You're my favorite! I don't want to beat you!" Pierce counters. "Put the gun in your holster," Annie demands, coolly, "and let's play the game."
"Right." Says Pierce. "So you can shoot me, and play without me. That's the group's favorite thing." "We're always nice to you, Pierce." "WRONG!" Pierce shouts. "Three days ago I walked in on you playing cards without me!" "We weren't playing cards, we were voting, and you weren't invited, because we were voting about you!" Annie tells him, apologetically. "We were taking a vote . . . on whether we'd let you into the group next year." Her bluster's gone. "Lucky for you, it had to be unanimous. There was one holdout. One red card."
<
Annie grabs her gun, points at Pierce, and urges him to pick up his gun. Resolute, Pierce does. Everyone steps aside as a Spanish trumpet sets the stage for a duel between Pierce and Annie.
The sound of spurs interrupts the duel.
"Black rider," Jeff shouts to him, "This is Jeff Winger. I know you've heard of me by now." "Nope." "He's lying," Jeff assures the group. Shouting back to the Black Rider, he explains, "look, if you're half the cool cowboy you pretend to be, you'd respect that we've got a situation playing out here and let us be until it's settled." "Sure thing," the Black Rider assures. He enters the cafeteria. "Once it's settled, he continues, "I'm taking out everybody in this room, starting with you, Mr. Insecure," he tells Jeff. Jeff stares back at him. "You think you're good-looking," Jeff challenges, "but you're not. You're average. You're just an average-looking guy with a big chin."
Two standoffs get set up for a showdown. Annie versus Pierce and Jeff versus the Black Rider. All have itchy trigger fingers. The music builds to a crescendo, and --
Pierce grabs his heart, a pained look on his face. "What's wrong?" the Black Rider asks Pierce, who is too strained to answer. "He's faking it," Britta reassures. "No, something's wrong with him," the Black Rider insists. "No, no, it's fake," Shirley affirms. "Last week he did it to get out of giving me a stick of gum."
( Source)
"He's old it could be real," the Black Rider says with concern. "It's real," gurgles Pierce. "The gurgling's a nice touch," Troy adds. "You guys are terrible people!" the Black Rider chastizes. "We warned you," Britta tries. "You all right, buddy? Want me to call 911?" The Black Rider leans down over a prostrate Pierce. Pierce grabs his gun and shoots the Black Rider straight in the heart. "Sucker!" he says, and takes a rifle from the Black Rider. "SON OF A BITCH!" shouts the Black Rider. "Seriously?" he looks over at the study group. "Told ya, dude," Troy says.
Mad with rage, Pierce begins to back out of the cafeteria through the kitchens. "I'm the best!" he shouts. "You're the worst!" Britta counters. "I'm out of the group," Pierce says, "You're out of mine! And I'm winning!
( Source)
"We've created a monster," Annie says. "Let's not give ourselves too much credit. Meanwhile, the Black Rider talks with someone on the phone. "I'm out," he says, "some old guy pretended to have a heart attack, and shot me in the gut. I don't care, that's your problem!" He hangs up. "This school sucks!" he says, and starts to leave. "Then why do you go here?" Annie challenges. "I wouldn't go to this toilet with my big sister's toe!" He answers. "I take a class online. I was paid to be here and win the game so my boss can keep his prize money." "You work for the ice cream company?" Annie asks. "Sweetie, this thing is so much bigger than you can even imagine."
( Source)
"I'm outta here. I got Coldplay tickets." The Black Rider prepares to leave. "Coldplay?" Annie asks, coming up to him. "Too late, Bean Allergy, you blew it."
Source)
Chang runs through the empty quad, still blindfolded. "Hello?" he shouts. "Anybody got an alliance I can join? I'm really loyal!" A window on the ice cream truck opens up, and a masked man with a machine gun nails Chang in the chest. The back of the truck opens to show a SWAT team of stormtroopers. "ON YOUR KNEES!" Pistol Patty the ice cream cone urges the SWAT team. "No Greendale student can be allowed to win this game! Initiate Plan B - Operation Total Invasion!"
And the screen goes black. To be continued next week in "For A Few Paintballs More."
Phew! That was a long recap! But now, here are my thoughts, if you want to goo straight to them:
This was a spectacular episode of Community. There's no denying that. Dan Harmon wanted to make a Spaghetti Western, and he made a homage to the Spaghetti Western that should go down in television history. This episode was better than "Modern Warfare" in lots of ways, but "Modern Warfare will be the episode remembered. Why is that? It's because "Modern Warfare" had no precedent. It came out of nowhere. We had no clue Community could reach such heights of meta comedy, but it did, using every action movie cliche out there. "A Fist Full of Paintballs" is much more of a production, and you can tell by the way they nabbed Josh Holloway as the guest star. He was perfectly cast as the Black Rider, because it was essentially a riff on Sawyer from Lost.
The season-long darkening of Pierce was finally brought to a head, as was Annie's season-long defense of him. The loading of Jeff's gun with blanks was the last straw for the usually accepting Annie, and the showdown between her and Pierce marked the end of her defending him to the group. This is a story of betrayal hidden in the depths of parody, and Annie's fury marks the end of childhood trusting for her. That's why this episode had to be so Annie-centric: It was Annie confronting the bitterness of adulthood and having her trust betrayed. This is a deeper plot than "Britta and Jeff have sex," and that is why this is the superior episode.
As far as critical response to the episode, it's been overall good. Todd VanDerWerff of the AV Club said, "directly taking on your most famous episode takes a certain kind of courage and skill, and Community takes aim at 'Modern Warfare' in two ways: It both ramps up the complexity and simplifies itself. The complexity comes from the character relationships and the storytelling, which are both more complicated in this episode than they were in 'Modern Warfare.'" This, I think, is why the episode is better than "Modern Warfare" - it streamlined the homage into a distinct genre instead of re-creating every action movie cliche out there, and had both Annie's season-long story and Pierce's season-long story dealt with in a way that really tied everything together. VanDerWerff complains that Community is "so obviously CONSTRUCTED every week, so obviously STRUCTURED," but that for me shows how serious the writers take this story. It's not a South Park-esque parody with no real consequences for the storyline, it deals with the aftermath of betrayal and goes for the production instead of the one-liner. Where Glee's characterizations are spotty at best, there's something believable in the fact that Annie can be transformed from demure overachiever to hardened badass in the matter of an episode; the badass was always there, it just never had an outlet before. Pierce as the villain has been played with all season long, so the culmination of that journey fits into the bigger picture we see, and the entire study group has a part in it.
Overall, this was Community at its very best: this time it knows what they were going for, and I think if "Fist Full of Paintballs would have been the signature episode had it aired first. As it is, "Modern Warfare" got there first, and "Fist Full of Paintballs" won't be remembered as it should be. But here it is, with everyone at the top of their game.