| "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" | |
|---|---|
| Community episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Anthony Russo |
| Written by | Chris Kula |
| Production code | 309 |
| Original air date | December 1, 2011 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" is the ninth episode of the third season of the U.S. television sitcom Community. It originally aired on December 1, 2011, on NBC.
In the episode, Jeff takes foosball lessons from Shirley to take on a group of rowdy students. The game brings back childhood memories for both of them, and they discover a previously unknown connected past. Meanwhile, Annie accidentally breaks Abed's limited-edition The Dark Knight DVD and stages a break-in to their apartment to hide it. Abed suits up as Batman himself to find the purported burglars.
The episode was written by Chris Kula and directed by Anthony Russo. It received positive critical reviews.
While the group are hanging out in the student lounge on Friday, a group of German students annoys Jeff (Joel McHale) with their rowdiness while playing foosball. He confronts them and they promise to stop playing if he can score a point on them. He tries but fails, and the German students mock him.
Later in the night, Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) encounters Jeff practicing foosball at the student lounge. She impresses him by showing him some moves, and he solicits her training. Although initially reluctant due to the "dark nature" of the game, Shirley agrees to it. They practice the next day, during which Shirley brings out her ultra-competitive streak. The German trio show up again and agree to a game with Jeff and Shirley on Monday with the losers never getting to use the foosball table again.
Over dinner, Shirley recalls an incident from her childhood in which she (then known as "Big Cheddar") trashed a boy (derisively called "Tinkletown") at foosball and made him pee his pants by jabbing him with the foosball bar in the crotch. Jeff reveals that he was Tinkletown and storms out. Later, Shirley asks Jeff to the student lounge to talk. They end up playing a furious, anime-styled game of foosball, releasing their emotions and opening up to each other.
Meanwhile, when Annie (Alison Brie) is cleaning the apartment, she accidentally steps on Abed's (Danny Pudi) limited-edition The Dark Knight DVD, breaking it. She plans to secretly replace it, but Troy (Donald Glover) warns against it, asking her to confess. When Abed returns, Annie stages a break-in, making Abed believe that the DVD was stolen. A policeman arrives at the scene but finds no signs of forced entry and concedes that if stolen the DVD will be impossible to recover. Abed concludes that the break-in was an inside job carried out by the landlord, Rick, since Rick has the keys and dressed as the Joker for Halloween.
Abed suits up as Batman and rappels down through the window to Rick's room. Troy and Annie follow him. Abed confronts Rick about a stolen item, to which Rick replies "in the closet." Troy and Annie open Rick's closet and find it full of stolen women's shoes. Annie also plants the broken DVD there, framing Rick for stealing it. The policeman arrives again to sort out the mess. Back at the apartment, Abed, as Batman, forgives Annie for the mishap but warns her not to tell Abed as he won't be so forgiving.
On Monday, Jeff and Shirley face off with the Germans at foosball. However, they perform a trick to make the ball land right in the middle of the foosball table where bar mounted figures can't reach. While the Germans frantically try to kick the ball, Jeff and Shirley simply walk off together. The final scene depicts them walking hand-in-hand as children again, signifying that the feud between them has ended.
The bumper scene depicts one of Leonard's YouTube frozen pizza reviews, which includes a Chuck Lorre-style vanity card.
"Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" was written by Chris Kula, his first writing credit for the series. It was directed by Anthony Russo, his 14th directing credit.
The animation sequence was made by Titmouse, Inc. It was directed by Grif Kimmins, animated by Parker Simmons and produced by Ben Kalina. [1]
Nick Kroll guest-starred as Juergen, the leader of the German foosball group. [2]
The episode was originally titled "Indoor Sports with Christian Bale". [3]
The episode featured a rare pairing between Jeff and Shirley for the main storyline. Whereas Britta has developed more into Jeff's conscience, Shirley is the spiritual opposite of Jeff. [4] The Jeff/Shirley storyline is also a television trope where two characters find out that they knew each other as children. This device has been used in television series such as Mad About You , The Simpsons , and Fringe. [4]
In the second storyline, when Annie tries to secretly replace Abed's broken DVD, Troy reminds her: "Do you know how many sitcoms have tried the secretly replace an item thing? Abed does." [5] Abed reprises his impression of Christian Bale as Batman. [4] Annie, usually the voice of reason, undergoes a role reversal as the troublemaker. [6]
The main storyline shows that while Jeff and Shirley are opposite in many ways, both have morphed into their present personas under very similar circumstances. [4] When they were children, Shirley was a mean foosball player; Jeff used the game to fill his loneliness and inability to connect with people. [7] Shirley behaves as a pious woman to erase memories of her past as a bully, while Jeff's too-cool-to-care attitude developed after being a victim of bullying during his childhood. [4] Despite Shirley feeling bad about bullying Jeff and his bitterness about it, the episode demonstrates that the process of growing up is often about giving up on painful experiences and realizing an ability to rise above them with the help of friends and family. [7]
Meanwhile, in the second storyline, Abed initially used the Batman persona as a way to deal with a painful situation. [7] In the end, he, Troy and Annie resolve the situation maturely and take a collective leap into adulthood. [6]
In its original American broadcast on December 1, 2011, the episode was viewed by approximately 3.74 million people, with a Nielsen rating/share of 1.7/5 in the 18–49 demographic. [8]
"Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" received generally positive reviews from critics. Nick Kroll's guest appearance drew near universal acclaim. [4] [5] [9]
Alan Sepinwall of HitFix said the Jeff/Shirley storyline "wound up being much more successful than the [Annie/Abed storyline]... in rare combinations like we got tonight, we can see that Joel McHale and Yvette Nicole Brown work very well together." As for the Annie/Abed storyline, he said "it didn't seem much different, or better, than the many, many, many other sitcoms that have done the 'secretly replace a priceless broken item' thing before it. Not unfunny, but a whole lot flimsier than what 'Community' is capable of so much of the time." [4]
Ology's Emily Cheever said "'Foosball And Nocturnal Vigilantism' was one of the best episodes of Community, nay television, I've ever seen... Community has the reputation that it's hard to get new viewers due to its irreverence and self-referential humor. It's hard to always appreciate the benefits of Community when you don't know what's going on. But this episode filled my living room with belly laughs from start to finish." [9] Kelsea Stahler of Hollywood.com said the episode was "simple and sweet... Tonight’s episode shows that while Community is certainly adept at going off the wall, when you take away the crazy ideas, it still retains a base of genuine humor and solid, emotional human relationships." [5]
Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A−', saying "Community has always been known as a clever show, and that’s because what the show throws at you upfront is that cool cleverness, that sense that it’s just too awesome for words. But when you start to dig down a bit, you see that what it also is achingly sincere." [7] Leigh Raines of TV Fanatic gave "Foosball" a 4.5/5 rating, saying it was "full of love and awesome quotes." [10] Robert Canning of IGN said "[Community] clearly has the feel of an already great series truly hitting its stride. Fingers crossed that NBC has been watching these episodes and is starting to think the same thing." [11]
"Asian Population Studies" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Community, and the 37th episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on NBC on January 20, 2011.
"Social Psychology" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on October 8, 2009. The episode shows Jeff bonding with Shirley through mockery of Britta's new romantic interest, Vaughn. Annie gets Abed to participate in a psychology experiment organized by Dr Ian Duncan. It received 4.87 million viewers in the United States and mixed critical reviews.
"Home Economics" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on November 5, 2009. The episode revolves around Jeff's living situation now that he no longer has the money he earned as a big-shot lawyer and the emotional aftermath of Britta and Vaughn's breakup. It garnered 5.45 million viewers on its premiere and received positive critical reception.
"The Politics of Human Sexuality" is the eleventh episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It originally aired in the United States on NBC on December 3, 2009.
"Anthropology 101" is the second season premiere of the American television series Community. It was originally broadcast on September 23, 2010 on NBC.
"Accounting for Lawyers" is the second episode of the second season of Community. It originally aired on September 30, 2010 on NBC. In the episode, Jeff meets up with an old friend and colleague from his law firm, Alan, a spineless unprincipled character. He temporarily abandons the group to join Alan and other former colleagues at an office party, which he is invited to by Alan who wants to use him to get promoted. The study group suspects that Alan was the one who got Jeff disbarred, and set out to find the truth at the party.
"Mixology Certification" is the tenth episode of the second season of Community. It was originally broadcast on December 2, 2010 on NBC.
"Critical Film Studies" is the nineteenth episode of the second season of Community. It was originally aired on March 24, 2011 on NBC.
"For a Few Paintballs More" is the twenty-fourth episode and part two of the two-part finale of the second season of Community. The episode originally aired on May 12, 2011, on NBC. The episode is a continuation of "A Fistful of Paintballs", and picks up from the middle of the paintball game that commenced in part one. The study group realize that the game was a scheme by school rivals City College to destroy Greendale's campus. They band together with other Greendale students to face the City College paintball players to try to save their campus and win the $100,000 prize money for the school.
"Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Community, and the 43rd episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on NBC on March 17, 2011. The episode focuses on Shirley's pregnancy, while Abed and Troy make friends with a student from the Balkans.
"Remedial Chaos Theory" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American television series Community. The episode was written by Chris McKenna and directed by Jeff Melman. It originally aired on October 13, 2011 on NBC. It follows a community college study group at a housewarming party for members Troy and Abed. When Jeff throws a die to determine who will go to collect the pizza delivery from downstairs, seven different timelines unfold, showing each member of the group leaving to collect it depending on the outcome of the die—including the canonical timeline, in which Abed catches it before it lands. The episode was intended to be the third episode of the season, but was delayed by a week due to filming, editing and visual effects overrunning. As a result, "Competitive Ecology", due to be fourth, was aired third.
"Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" is the fifth episode of the third season of the U.S. television series Community. It first aired on October 27, 2011 on NBC and is the series' 2011 Halloween episode.
"Studies in Modern Movement" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American sitcom Community. It was originally broadcast on November 10, 2011, on NBC.
"Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the American television series Community. It originally aired on March 15, 2012 on NBC, with the series returning after a three-month hiatus. In the episode, Shirley's ex-husband Andre whom she has reconciled with proposes to her again. While planning her wedding, she also considers a business proposition from Pierce. The rest of the study group help Shirley plan the wedding, while Troy and Abed attempt to suppress their weirdness and act normal at the rehearsal to no avail.
"Digital Exploration of Interior Design" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American television series Community. It originally aired on March 29, 2012, on NBC. The episode was written by Chris McKenna and directed by Dan Eckman.
"Introduction to Statistics" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community, airing on NBC on October 29, 2009. Annie hosts a Dia de los Muertos party, the success of which depends on Jeff attending. At the party, Pierce gets high, causing trouble for the other characters. Jeff pursues their statistics professor, Professor Michelle Slater. Finally, Shirley is distressed due to her ex-husband's behavior.
"Basic Human Anatomy" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the NBC sitcom Community, which originally aired on April 25, 2013.
"Heroic Origins" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the fourth season of the NBC sitcom Community, which originally aired on May 2, 2013.
"Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television" is the series finale of the sitcom Community, serving as the thirteenth episode of its sixth season. It was written by series creator Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna, and directed by Rob Schrab. It is the 110th episode overall and was initially released on Yahoo! Screen in the United States on June 2, 2015.
"Alternative History of the German Invasion" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of Community, which originally aired on February 28, 2013 on NBC. The episode was Ben Wexler's first writing credit for the series and it was directed by Steven Tsuchida. It features the study group engaged in conflict with a group of German students who begin to use their study table, as the members all attend a history course. Meanwhile, Chang returns as Kevin, claiming to have memory loss which he describes as "Changnesia".
