Better. Much, much better. Episodes like "Accounting for Lawyers" are probably why Community creator Dan Harmon stuck a dull knife into the heart of Greendale's love triangle during the season premiere. He doesn't need a love story to make us care about these characters; he just needs a Rob Corddry and a room full of lawyers.
It took all of 60 seconds for "Accounting for Lawyers" to be better than "Anthropology 101," since that's how long it took Corddry to appear on screen. Hiring the Hot Tub Time Machine star to play a duplicitous lawyer friend from Jeff's past ("he's from your origins," says an awed Abed) is the type of casting that Community does best. He's an obvious choice, but he fits in with the show better than, say, Betty White did. (Sorry, Internet!)
Corddry's presence wasn't only welcome, but important: His Allen (the Tango to Jeff's Sundance) reminded Jeff what he missed about being a lawyer, causing predictable and co-dependent tensions among the group. Fantastic! And...hey, wait a minute: Remember when Jeff was a lawyer?
Community has done almost too good a job of making itself an ensemble comedy, but it was Jeff who initially brought us into this world. Likability and the strength of the supporting cast aside, it would be wise for the show to keep him as the focal point. And now with the love triangle (awkwardly) pushed aside, the battle for Jeff's soul is the best chance Harmon and his writing staff have at creating stakes. After all, he is the only character on Community with anything resembling depth -- why not take advantage of that?
"Accounting for Lawyers" did that in bushels, thankfully, but it also managed to be just plain funny. Whether Annie's boobs (not the monkey) were being used as a plot device ("You guys made it!" Corddry said to Alison Brie's chest) or Pierce was delighting in the "bad ass" idea of hunting people for sport, the episode hit its laugh marks on multiple occasions. That everything wrapped up in a saccharin moment where Jeff realized he does care about his current friends and not his lawyer past was more than acceptable, if only because it could be fleeting -- as Jeff's former boss (Drew Carey) said, just because he can't practice law doesn't mean he can't consult. Will the lure of the dark side win Jeff's soul forever? Of course not! But to paraphrase Abed, the stakes have never been higher.
(I would be remiss if I allowed this recap to finish without a mention of how great Joel McHale was throughout the episode. He nailed Jeff's turmoil and yearning, while also providing his usual deadpan snark and scowl. Kudos, sir.)
I won't bore you with more complaints about Ken Jeong -- he's awful, the end -- so instead I'll leave you with this: Annie, Troy and Abed having difficulties with chloroform. Spoiler alert: Donald Glover is a crazy genius.