1x05 Advanced Criminal Law

[7.5/10] Three stories in this one, let’s take them one by one.

The main story is Jeff “defending” Britta when she’s put on trial by Chang for cheating in Spanish class. It’s easily the best of them. For one thing, it features heaping helpings of the Dean at the height of his misguided school pride, as well as the endless sparring matches between Prof. Duncan and Senor Chang, both of which are great sources of comedy.

For another, it does some good work with Jeff and Britta. While I still don’t love their romance in the early going here, I like the idea the finish with Britta admitting she can feel worthless and Jeff admitting that he likes her and doesn’t want to just get into her pants. It’s a little much to call it heartwarming exactly, but there’s some real feeling injected into the insanity, and it makes the whole thing work.

The second story is (I think) the first big Troy and Abed story, which is momentous in and of itself. Troy uses sarcasm on an unwitting Abed, which Abed tries to turn around on Troy in a typically miscalibrated, over the top fashion. Like the A-story, it’s a nice bit of lunacy in and of itself, but also a subtle bit of growth for the of them, with Troy starting to see Abed as a friend and not just someone to mess with, and starting to get the difference.

The last and weakest is Annie commissioning Pierce to write the Greendale school song. It’s supposed to be the comic relief, but there’s not great comic chemistry with Allison Brie and Chevy Chase, and so the whole thing ends up kind of limp in the humor department.

Overall, the Pierce-Annie story is mild but minor; the Troy-Abed story is silly and fun but has a small bit of depth, and the A-story features the show at its early best, bringing the goofy laughs but also developing its characters in between the chuckles.