Community Returns With Abed as Kickpuncher, and a Big Surprise

Unless something very strange and surprising happens when Community returns, this article contains spoilers. be warned, and turn back now if you want to enter into the March 15 episode with your mind as untouched as the virgin snow.TV Line

has previewed a series of images that appear to reveal a major plot beat from the midseason premiere of Community, coming in two weeks on NBC. In addition to seeing Chevy Chase's Pierce dressed as Gordon Gekko, Abed as Kickpuncher and Troy wearing the wig of pure ivory that used to crown Cornelius Hawthorne (Pierce's dad)'s racist head, there are a series of images that appear to show two of the characters getting engaged. Enough space yet? Let's give those who really wanted a taste but didn't want to be spoiled entirely a chance to back out now, before any of the images run. In spite of having spent much of the first season depicting Shirley's (off-camera) husband as an irredeemable cad who took advantage of his wife's trusting and forgiving nature to have a series of affairs and then steal her blind and take off with one of the women and her van, last season introduced viewers to Cosby Show icon Malcolm Jamal Warner as Andre Bennett. After a brief affair with his ex-wife saw Shirley get pregnant, he reappeared in her life and became (or at least appears so far to have become) the kind of husband Shirley deserves, winning over the group and the viewers with his charming personality and parade of Bill Cosby-esque sweaters. The relationship appeared to be standing on fairly firm ground, and apparently March 15's episode, titled "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts," will see the pair become re-engaged, possibly following a musical performance of some kind by Warner's character in the Greendale cafeteria. While it's difficult to begrudge Shirley and Andre their happiness--hers is the least developed personality of all the lead characters and it's arguable that her family and faith define her more than any other characteristics--it's equally hard to imagine the reunion being permanently happy unless Andre has made some serious changes since season one. Even if he has, Shirley only returned to college to fill the void in her life after he left--if the wedding happens, does it jeopardize her place in the group and on the show? Time will tell, but it seems likely Abed will have a gut feeling on March 15, sometime between 8 p.m. and 8:30. Click on the images below to see a larger version. [gallery link="file" orderby="title"]