Jmunney's Blog

I was a little concerned going into “Herstory of Dance,” not so much for the episode itself as much as how it would fit into the season.  We’re more than halfway through Season 4, and it doesn’t feel like much BIG has happened yet.  Some characters have important arcs they need to get through, and this could be the last season.  Britta protesting the Sadie Hawkins dance with her own dance didn’t sound like the type of synopsis that would resolve the lack of bigness.  But “Herstory” actually managed to move some of the big Season 4 arcs nicely along, as well as being a plenty enjoyable episode in and of itself.

Since it was introduced last season, the verb “to Britta” (“to make a small mistake”) has entered my regular vernacular. But it is a catchphrase that I’ve worried could be overused. Ever since Britta has known what it means, it just isn’t as sharp as it once was. Giving her a chance to reclaim “Britta’ing it” gave it fresh value. The fact that she actually succeeded – with a little help from Pierce (hey, remember just a few episodes ago when everyone was complaining how awful he was?) – made this perhaps her best episode ever. And she really deserved that moment of triumph. Confusing Susan B. Anthony with Sophie B. Hawkins was hilarious, especially considering Britta’s cat, but it’s not like it was that big a deal. As Pierce pointed out, Jeff really was being too hard on her. She has gone from the most worldly of the group to usually nothing more than the butt monkey. She deserved some dignity for standing up for herself and committing to the bit.

Abed also showed character growth this episode, growth that’s been percolating all season, particularly in “History 101” (accepting change) and “Conventions of Space and Time” (realizing he has people who care for him). In “Herstory,” he learned that while growth is valuable, he shouldn’t abandon his well-worn tropes if there’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity right under his nose. It helped that one of those opportunities, coat check girl Rachel, was played by the very cute Brie Larson, who looked very different than the last time I saw her, in 21 Jump St.. (Bonus points to the second check coat girl being played by Annie Mebane, the cutest Community writer on staff – and I’m not just saying that because she shares a name with the cutest Community character.) Sometimes people are lucky enough to meet someone who is absolutely perfect for them. Abed has had intriguing romantic prospects before – the girl who asked him out at the end of “Physical Education,” Special Agent Vohlers, Hilda – but none of them were quite so in tune with Abed as Rachel was. And I could tell that she was so perfect by how similar their shenanigans together were to those of Abed and Troy. Abed eventually realized how perfect this pairing was, and Shirley and Annie knew it, too. There was a danger of making Rachel too unbelievably quirky, but that was thankfully avoided, and this was made clear by the contrast to Kat (the girl Annie chose for Abed) the quirkiest girl ever. It simply will not stand if Brie Larson is not signed up for future episodes.

As for what was going on in the background of this episode, it felt like Donald Glover was given free rein to improvise, generally a good thing. For those of you wondering if he and Britta are indeed still a thing, keep in mind that he was helping her plan and run the dance. Changnesia still makes no sense, but damn if Ken Jeong didn’t somehow make the forgetful DJ shtick work. And Jeff’s reactions to the Dean touching are still gold.

“Herstory” was not my favorite of Season 4, but it was the one with the least badness (except for the lack of a tag – seriously, what was that about? [luckily, it’s online]). It made me the most confident I’ve been all season about the show’s future. The current crew seems to have finally gotten a handle on these characters and the pacing back in place just so. I’m perfectly pleased with this effort; I’m giving it a B+ now, but I can see myself thinking about it some more and bumping it to an A-. B+