Episode no. Season 1
Episode 24 Written by Tim Hobert | Directed by Gail Mancuso Production code 120 | |
Original air date May 13, 2010 (2010-05-13) | ||
"English as a Second Language" is the 24th episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on May 13, 2010.
Contents
The episode is the first in which Troy demonstrates his prodigious gifts with repairing machinery which would play a prominent part in the third season.
Plot
Señor Chang (Ken Jeong) reveals to Jeff (Joel McHale) that he does not have a teaching degree and asks him where he got his. The conversation is inadvertently recorded by Annie (Alison Brie), who records all classes for taking notes. When Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) finds out, Chang is replaced by another, much stricter professor who has the class take a much harder Spanish final. Meanwhile, Troy (Donald Glover) discovers he has a natural talent for fixing plumbing, and must ward off a persistent maintenance worker (Jerry Minor), who wants him to use his talent to become a plumber. As everyone faces the fact that they will have to retake Spanish, Jeff realizes that Annie was the one who turned in Chang, remembering that she records every class, and Chang's confession. As everyone shuns her, she tries to redeem herself by making things better with Chang, who finds that his life is better for it, and she helps everyone study for, and pass the final.
In the end tag, the study group finds out they all passed the Spanish finals. It is then revealed that Pierce (Chevy Chase) had slept with Dr. Escodera (Marlene Forte) to ensure that the Spanish finals would be easy enough for everyone to pass.
Reception
Around 4.49 million Americans watched "English as a Second Language".
Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A- commenting that after last week's episode, "Modern Warfare", "pretty much anything Community did would seem like a disappointment" but mostly avoided that by making major developments in the major plots and themes of the show.