| "Mixology Certification" | |
|---|---|
| Community episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 10 |
| Directed by | Jay Chandrasekhar |
| Written by | Andy Bobrow |
| Production code | 209 |
| Original air date | December 2, 2010 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Mixology Certification" is the tenth episode of the second season of Community. It was originally broadcast on December 2, 2010 on NBC.
In the episode, the study group celebrates Troy's 21st birthday, the legal drinking age, at a bar. Jeff and Britta try to guide Troy into the new phase of his life. However, the night out slowly becomes silly and depressing due to alcohol consumption, and Troy is forced to become the adult for the night.
The episode was written by Andy Bobrow and directed by Jay Chandrasekhar of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. It received positive reviews from critics.
After realizing that tomorrow is his 21st (and not his 20th) birthday, Troy (Donald Glover) and the group decide to celebrate at a bar. Jeff (Joel McHale) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) argue about which bars are cool, but settle on one called The Ballroom. Britta gives Annie (Alison Brie), who is underage, a fake ID in the name of Caroline Decker from Corpus Christi, Texas. Paranoid about being caught, Annie memorizes Caroline's personal information and affects a Southern American accent.
At the bar, it quickly becomes apparent that Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) is an old regular of The Ballroom. The bar has numerous photos of her completely drunk pasted on the walls among those of other regulars. She spends the night nervously trying to take the photos down before anyone in the group sees them. Pierce (Chevy Chase) arrives on his own in his wheelchair, but gets stuck at the door and grumpily refuses any help while running down the chair's battery and stranding himself.
Troy is excited to learn about drinking from the "adults." Jeff and Britta continue to argue, now about what should be Troy's first legal drink. Annie stays in character as Caroline, whom she imagines to be a drifter and free spirit, and tells the bartender (Tig Notaro) about her "friend" Annie, who plans everything out in her life but doesn't even know who she is. Abed (Danny Pudi) meets a fellow science fiction geek, Robert (Paul F. Tompkins), who buys him a drink but is quickly overwhelmed by Abed's passion for science fiction. Robert finally asks Abed outright if he would like to have sex. Abed declines and confesses that he understood Robert's intentions for some time but just wanted to talk about science fiction, and Robert leaves in disgust.
Britta finds one of the photos of Shirley, and she and Jeff and Troy make fun of her. Shirley confesses to having had "a few bad years" and leaves in shame, but grudgingly helps Pierce, who is still blocking the door.
Troy orders his first drink on his own, ignoring Jeff and Britta's advice that his choice, a 7 and 7, is uncool. He notices Annie flush with (alcohol-induced) self-doubt, Abed moping about his exchange with Robert, and Jeff and Britta still arguing (now drunkenly). He abandons his drink and responsibly drives the group home in Jeff's car (which he's wanted to drive for some time). Britta and Jeff gradually realize that the places they had been arguing about are actually the same bar, which makes Troy angry, as he had been looking to his older friends for life advice and now realizes they're just as clueless as he is.
As he drops Annie off, Troy movingly gives her a self-assuring talk. When he returns, Abed tattles on Jeff and Britta for making out, and Troy chides him like a parent. Jeff is proud of Troy for his sensible decision making throughout the evening and reminds him that he is now truly a man.
The epilogue shows Abed helping Troy into 157 T-shirts at once.
The episode was written by Andy Bobrow, his second writing credit of the show. It was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, his first directing credit of the series.
"Mixology Certification" was a departure from the usual array of pop culture references. [1] Among the real world topics the episode touched on was Troy's Jehovah's Witness faith, which forbids birthday celebrations. Instead, Abed and Annie buy a cake which reads: "Hello during a random dessert. The month and day of which coincide numerically with your expulsion from a uterus" to avoid mentioning "birthday." [2] Annie researches Troy's Chinese zodiac and thinks he is a Horse (1990), even though he insists he is a Snake (1989), leading him to realize he was held back a year in school. [3] At the bar, Abed plays the Asteroids arcade game. He spends the evening chatting with a guy at the bar about the 1984 film The Last Starfighter and the 1999 TV series Farscape . [1] For his first alcoholic beverage upon reaching the legal drinking age, Troy orders a 7 and 7. [3]
In its original American broadcast on December 2, 2010, "Mixology Certification" was viewed by an estimated 4.55 million people, with a Nielsen rating of 1.9 in the 18–49 demographic. [4]
The episode received positive reviews from critics.
Kelsea Stahler of Hollywood.com wrote that the episode gave viewers "something a little more meaningful". She added, "Normally, I'd be annoyed about a sitcom trying to teach me something about life, but Community has such a humble, but authoritative way of teaching us as viewers that I can't help but appreciate." [3] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix called the episode "dark but surprisingly sweet." [5] Emily VanDerWerff said it was one of her favorite episodes, though she "expect[s] lots of people to just hate it because of how thoroughly it wears its heart on its sleeve." She gave the episode an A of an A to F scale. [1]
Jeffrey Kirkpatrick called the episode "average" and gave it a 2.5/5 rating. [2]
In TV.com's ranking of all 110 episodes of the series, they placed the episode second overall, and wrote "another wonderful example of the bittersweet emotional beats the show could hit when it wanted to ... just a basic sitcom premise, imbued with a slew of great little moments." [6]
"Spanish 101" is the second episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on September 24, 2009. The episode features Jeff and Pierce working on a Spanish project as Annie and Shirley organize a protest. Receiving 5.39 million viewers upon its premiere, the episode was met with mostly positive critical reception. The end tag—the first of the series—shows Troy and Abed performing a nonsense rap in Spanish, an early interaction between the pair which was praised by reviewers.
"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.
"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.
"Debate 109" is the ninth episode of the first season of Community. It originally aired in the United States on NBC on November 12, 2009. In the episode, Jeff teams up with Annie to take on City College in a debate, while Pierce tries to help Britta quit smoking using hypnotherapy. Meanwhile, the study group attempts to figure out if Abed's student films are predicting their futures. The episode received mostly positive reviews, with many critics singling out Abed's subplot for praise.
"Romantic Expressionism" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of the U.S. television series Community. It was originally aired on February 4, 2010, on NBC.
"Communication Studies" is the sixteenth episode of the first season of the U.S. television sitcom Community. It originally aired on February 11, 2010, on NBC.
"Pascal's Triangle Revisited" is the twenty-fifth and final episode of the first season of Community. It originally aired in the United States on NBC on May 20, 2010. In the episode, the group gets ready to say goodbye for the summer at the end-of-year dance. Britta and Professor Slater compete over their affections for Jeff, while Annie considers leaving Greendale and Troy looks for a new place to live. The episode received generally positive reviews, with critics both praising and criticizing the final twist.
"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.
"The Psychology of Letting Go" is the third episode of the second season of Community. It was originally broadcast on October 7, 2010 on NBC.
"Aerodynamics of Gender" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Community, and the 32nd episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on NBC on November 4, 2010. The two plotlines concern the women's discovery that Abed has an undiscovered talent at insulting people's appearance, and Troy and Jeff finding a secret garden with a trampoline.
"Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of Community. The episode originally aired on February 17, 2011 on NBC. In the episode, Pierce pretends to be dying after a drug overdose and takes psychological revenge on the rest of the study group for not taking him seriously. He stages a documentary with Abed and plays on the rest of the study group's sympathies by giving them gifts and promises that torments them with their insecurities.
"Intro to Political Science" is the seventeenth episode of the second season of Community. It was originally aired on February 24, 2011, 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.
"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 and 56th overall episode of the American sitcom Community. It was originally broadcast on November 10, 2011, on NBC.
"Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American television sitcom Community. It originally aired on December 1, 2011, on NBC.
"Origins of Vampire Mythology" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the American television series Community. It originally aired on April 12, 2012, on NBC. In the episode, Britta must resist the temptation to meet up with her ex-boyfriend Blade, and Jeff tries to figure out how Blade is able to attract women.
"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.