In this episode:

Like last week’s episode, the study group is fragmented into separate storylines, each involving a few of the main characters. Jeff agrees to “represent” Britta in a satirical tribunal after she is caught cheating by their creepy Spanish teacher.

Jeff overly “friendly” flirting with his crush persists throughout their storyline, and unsurprisingly, he saves his damsel in distress from being expelled. Funnier than Jeff’s ridiculous insanity defense are the facial expressions of Professor Vaughn, Señor Chang and Dean Pelton as Jeff delivers his emotional “closing argument.”

Meanwhile, Troy regrets teaching Abed how to “mess” with a friend. Abed takes pranking to the extreme, buying a green screen and hiring another actor to convince Troy he’s an alien.

Annie recruits Pierce to write the school song; he is, after all, responsible for the award-winning Hawthorne Wipes jingle. The episode ends with the storylines somehow weaving together in the quad as Pierce unknowingly steals and completely ruins an old pop song way past its expiration date (much like Chevy Chase’s character).

What we liked:

The college humor scattered throughout the episode that not only makes fun of community college, but also elite institutions of higher learning, like Northwestern. Jeff explains to the college’s dean that he is as crazy as Britta for creating a dangerous fire hazard (surround-sound wired through an Olympic-sized pool) simply to compete with Yale. John Oliver and Ken Jeong duke it out over their respective titles of professor and teacher.

Troy: “The only difference between Señor Chang and Stalin is that I know who Señor Chang is.”

What we didn’t like:

No Shirley!

Everyone already knows Abed is strange — no need trying to convince Troy, or anyone else, that he’s an alien.

Overall, we miss the lack of cohesiveness the ensemble cast provided in the first few episodes. Each personality is at his or her best when part of the overall group. Community needs some larger story arches that connect the characters to each other, and overall to the audience.