“Part man, part pillow, all carnage.” – Narrator
It’s common for Community to revisit certain episode-driving concepts to explore the extent of possible parodies. At this point in the series, they’ve produced three episodes spanning two paintball wars, two documentaries, and a behind-the-scenes movie about a movie about itself. Or something like that.
The epic conclusion to Troy and Abed’s fort-war was a happy mess of war-movie references and the semblance of the History Channel`s former glory. The fate of friendship hangs in the balance as Troy and Abed plot and politicize against each other, leaving the rest of the study group to either take sides or cover. While Britta fails photo-journaling the schism, and Annie tends to the wounded, Jeff selfishly takes the initiative to motivate both sides with speeches in order to delay going back to class.
The genuine Keith David narration certainly accentuates the gravity of the situation, taking us through the establishment of Pillowtown and Blanketsburg territories, Troy`s all-tomato (ultimatum), and the steady escalation of the conflict leading up to the final showdown in the cafetorium. Driven by the spirit of revolution, outside forces quickly enter the fray, most noticeably the Changlorious Bastards. It’s only a matter of time until their militaristic coup foreshadowed in midseason promotions.
Shirley and Pierce are their own forces to be reckoned with, taking opposing sides in the school-wide pillow fight. Part man, part pillow, and all carnage, Pierce temporarily channels Tony Stark to help Abed assemble a Pillowman war-suit, while Shirley slings sleep accessories for Troy, unleashing the inner competitiveness of “Big Cheddar.” They do all of this, of course, on behalf of Troy and Abed, who go so far as to declare that the loser move out of their apartment.
In fact, by the time the Dean arrives to announce that the representative from Guinness wouldn’t be showing up after all, Troy and Abed are beyond caring about their forts’ supremacy, and have realized that this is the last thing they will ever do together. Somehow determined to grow up by not growing up, Troy and Abed’s imaginations finally infect Jeff.
Though he was only involved in the battle to prolong not studying, Jeff knows how to resolve the conflict with imaginary friendship hats – except instead of pretending to pretend, Jeff actually immerses himself in the make-believe world that unites Troy and (Evil) Abed. Though balance is temporarily restored between the two best friends, a particularly nasty email exchange cannot be ignored, and will doubtless arise in upcoming episodes when the hats come back off.
It’s hard not to ignore the synchronicity between the festering fictional feud between Troy and Abed with the coinciding, real row between the show’s creator, Dan Harmon, and Chevy Chase. Granted, Community fans are all but conditioned to over-analyze coincidences like it’s the second-coming of Lost, but if anything they both work to increase awareness for the show, which has been met with a worthwhile weekly audience since its return.
Some stats and info about Community, “Blankets and Pillows”
TV SHOW – Community
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 3, Episode 14
AIRED ON – April 5th, 2012
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – NBC/Yahoo! Screen
GENRE – Comedy, College Shows
CREATED BY – Dan Harmon
CAST – Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong, Jim Rash
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.