Today is my 50th straight day of watching and writing about different cartoons. I guess I’m ‘reviewing’ them, though I don’t know if that’s always an accurate term. If you wouldn’t mind liking or sharing this post, I’d really appreciate it.

Today’s selection breaks the mold a little bit. It’s not part of an animated series and the entire episode isn’t animated, but I doubt anyone but me actually cares so I’m letting it slide. I picked up the DVD set of Community season 5 the other day, so I’ve been burning through a rewatch and decided to cover the fully animated one, “G.I. Jeff” (Original airdate: April 3rd of 2014).

This episode of Community (Created and written by future Moon-Lord, Dan Harmon) is an aesthetically faithful spoof of classic 80s-style G.I. Joe. They even pulled some of the original voice actors including Bill Ratner as Flint, Mary McDonald-Lewis as Lady Jaye and Michael Bell as Duke. Bell is a prolific voice actor and has appeared in a bunch of the 'toons I’ve already covered including Aladdin, Family Guy, Gargoyles, Mighty Max, Bonkers, Darkwing Duck, and Tiny Toon Adventures.

The episode starts with the cast inexplicably defending the Taj Mahal from a Cobra attack. Wingman (Jeff) takes the fight a step too far by firing on an escaping Destro, killing him. This becomes the first ever fatality in an ongoing war between snake terrorists and paramilitary forces with a seemingly endless budget.

During the courtroom scene, you can see a comic book character created by Harmon and the episode’s director Rob Schrab named Scud: The Disposable Assassin . Schrab also voices Cobra Commander in the episode.

The other Joes find the use of deadly force to be unacceptable, scolding Wingman, Tight Ship (Annie), Buzzkill (Britta) and Three Kids (Shirley) for “mature situations” unbecoming a real Joe. The four are sent to G.I. Jail where they meet Fourth Wall (Abed). Fourth Wall informs the renegade Joes that a Cobra-controlled dig site contains secrets of a higher reality than their own.

The revelation about the higher plane of existence causes Wingman/Jeff to blackout and see live-action toy commercials featuring vehicles and figures featured prominently in the episode. The announcer does everything possibly to make it abundantly clear that things are, in fact, sold separately.

It’s obvious from the first act that this is all Jeff’s dream. There are occasional flashes of the outside world and characters expressing their concern for Jeff. What remains unclear until the end is what is happening to Jeff and why. The clues are subtle but there: They are in a childish world, adult actions are criminal, and any suggestions of a return to reality destabilize the dream.

While the renegade Joes contemplate a higher plane of existence in jail, Cobra Commander rallies the troops at Destro’s funeral. He vows revenge for his fallen friend.

Harmon himself makes an appearance in the episode as the character Sleep Apnea. He unsuccessfully hits on Tight Ship by explaining the triggers of his unfortunate condition.

A convenient hole is blown in the wall of the prison cell as Cobra makes an attack on Joe HQ. Wingman and Co. decide they need to make their escape and investigate Fourth Wall’s revelations. They do so with a coordinated rock-based attack.

They did an amazing job of making scenes look painted and old-school. They cut the perfect amount of corners to make it look genuine yet still end up with a better-animated product than the series they’re referencing.

The story slows down after they reach the dig site, which turns out to be the Greendale library where most episodes take place. Jeff reveals that he’s been lying about his age and fell into a coma after taking Koreatown youth pills with the scotch Pierce willed him earlier in the season.

Jeff expresses a desire to stay regressed in this fantasy world, but is shaken out of it when he is captured by Destro and Cobra Commander. They admit that they haven’t experienced boobs or booze, two things that are very important to adult Jeff.

Also, the Dean Pelton Cobra character shows up with a big, shiny penis gun that doesn’t match the guns of anyone else in the episode.

Jeff escapes the animated reality in his signature Wingman jetpack and the episode winds down like you’d expect. Hugs, revelations, etc.

The credits tag, usually the funniest moment in any Community episode, mocks the heavy-handed moral lessons found at the end of every G.I. Joe. Fourth Wall brilliantly summarizes the convoluted lesson Buzzkill is trying to impart with the words “Graffiti is bad, go play sports.”

This episode, along with Harmon’s podcast Harmontown, are what inspired me to start this blog. “GI Jeff” pays homage to a classic piece of animation while also pointing out everything crazy and terrible about it.

It also tells the story of a man with a potent inner-child using classic cartoons to hide from a significant age threshold and dissatisfaction with where he’s ended up in life. I, as an unemployed 29 year-old writing this blog, totally get where he’s coming from.

Thanks for reading! Go play sports.