Community - Season 4

While I have mostly enjoyed Community Season 4, I have been consistently critical of its tendency to do too much in any give episode.  The pacing and the editing have been noticeably off compared to the first three seasons.  In “Basic Human Anatomy,” however, each subplot sprang from the same source, intersected nicely, and dovetailed for a satisfying finish.  So what does that leave me to criticize?  There is really only one major aspect of this episode that I can think of to criticize, but it is not necessarily that important, and I am coming around to thinking that there may be a way to explain it and/or that it doesn’t really matter if there’s a logical explanation.

One thing I will not be criticizing is the logic of this episode’s premise, in which Troy and Abed swap bodies in the hopes of recreating the scenario of Freaky Friday and its ilk.  I have been wary of some of the concept episodes of Community when I knew the premises ahead of time, because I worried that the homage would not be integrated in a way that made sense within the show’s universe, because the good homage episodes have been memorable because they were so good at that integration.  A body-swapping concept may at first glance seem like it would not work on a show that does not really have any sci-fi or fantasy, but that is exactly why I was not worried.  I was sure that Community‘s writing staff (led by Oscar-winning screenwriter Jim Rash on this one) would know not to have Troy and Abed actually switch bodies.  They were just committing to a bit, and they know each other so well, and they’ve logged so many hours in the Dreamatorium that they knew exactly what to do with hardly any setup.

It turns out – and there is a nice, foreboding sense of inevitability leading up to this moment – that Troy has realized he needs to break up with Britta and the best way he can think to do it is by going high concept.  Tritta has seemingly been neglected for much of this season, and while one might think that would dull the emotional impact of their breakup, it actually lent this moment an appropriate feeling of melancholy.  Considering the lack of evidence this season, Troy and Britta just have not had as many sparks since becoming official.  That lack may have seemed to indicate neglect on the part of the writers, but this episode made it feel like it was all part of a bigger plan.  Would it have been worth it to have a moment in an earlier episode of Troy expressing doubts about this relationship (maybe one of the conversations of him confiding to Abed referenced in TroyAbed and Britta’s date)?  Perhaps, but if anything, that is a knock on the season overall, not on this particular episode.  “Basic Human Anatomy,” in and of itself, gets the emotional beats so right.  Danny Pudi plays TroyAbed a little broad at first, but once on the date with Britta, he gets into Troy’s sensitive soul.  Gillian Jacobs plays the dawning realization of what is going on smoothly, and the hug at the end is so sweet.  (Too bad these kids haven’t fully realized that friendship is  a strong – perhaps the strongest – basis for a good romantic relationship.)  Donald Glover gets a chance to show off his logical side as AbedTroy, but interestingly enough, that side is what he is using to work through his most difficult emotions.  And Joel McHale, even with a sore throat, gets the chance to dispense some real wisdom – not just Jeff Winger Wisdom – by praising the value of commitment – even commitment to a stupid bit – and the importance of being a man in the biggest moments of one’s life.

Meanwhile, Annie and Shirley’s quest to uncover the truth to how Leonard has ascended to valedictorian position crisscrosses with the other body-swapping part of the episode.  Jim Rash’s commitment to his performance as JeffDean is uncanny: he captures the cadence and body language of Jeff Winger in scary fashion.  Annie’s attraction to DeanJeff was more overwhelming than I would have recommended, but it did make sense that she would be attracted to him, just as she has been attracted to similar masculine icons, like Jeff himself, Abed as Don Draper, Abed as Han Solo, and Abed as Jeff in “Virtual Systems Analysis.”  The exposure of the truth about Leonard was small-scale, and it was resolved with appropriately relative else.  Can’t argue with a subplot like that.  Pierce was little-seen in this episode, but the fact that he was able to complete their history banner project by himself in 25 minutes, tops, offered an excellent example of how working alone is often more productive than working in large groups.

The one thing that bothered me about this episode was that it was supposed to have taken place one year after “Virtual Systems Analysis,” as it was the one-year anniversary of Troy and Britta’s first date, at Señor Kevin’s as seen in “VSA.”  “VSA” did air approximately one year before “Basic Human Anatomy” (April 19, 2012, to be exact).  But because this season’s premiere was delayed, its episodes have been airing later than they are taking place.  This episode was the first one after Christmas.  But let’s also keep in mind that the second half of season 3 was delayed, so “VSA” maybe was not supposed to take place in April.  I find it hard to believe that it was taking place in January, but February seems possible.  The thing that is really hard to figure, though, is why everyone is talking about the events of last episode as though they just happened, when there must have been a jump into the next semester.  At least there is a precedent to the Greendale Seven apparently taking two-semester classes each year (without ever specifically indicating that is what they are).  Also, whatever happened to Jeff trying to graduate a semester early?  Did he just decide to not do that anymore and forget to tell the audience?  I guess that will be dealt with in the last two episodes.

With characters getting into other characters, and the callbacks to Troy and Britta’s beginnings and Señor Kevin’s, “Basic Human Anatomy” worked as a sequel to “Virtual Systems Analysis.”  It did not reach the level of that classic, but I will say that I did not love “VSA” as much as I love it now the first time I watched it, so maybe I will similarly warm up to “Anatomy” eventually.

The tag was great, a classic fake-out routine.  At first, I was disappointed, thinking, “Outtakes?  I want a real tag!”  Then it turned out to be a real tag with pretend outtakes, and it was glorious. A-