Jmunney's Blog

In several of my reviews, I have discussed how an episode has worked or not worked in relation to the templates Community has set in previous episodes.  But it seems appropriate with “App Development and Condiments” to mix it up a little bit and frame my analysis in relation to another show.  This episode is the first one credited to former American Dad! writers Jordan Blum and Parker Deay.  (Their AD! credits include the Avatar-riffing “Virtual In-Stanity,” my choice for the best episode of that season.)  “AD&C” had the tone and structure of a typically excellent AD! episode, which begins unassumingly but then gradually, though ultimately completely, transforms into a new normal.  The best example of this is the best American Dad! episode of all time – “Rapture’s Delight” – and it is surely no coincidence that that episode was written by Chris McKenna and that McKenna is now back on the writing staff and an executive producer of Community.

Now, indeed, it is not like Community has not had plenty of episodes in which Greendale morphed into something else.  But “App Development” felt different than your Modern Warfare’s, or your 2-part Season 2 paintball finales, or your Pillows & Blankets’, or your Geothermal Escapism’s, and thus the extratextual comparison.  In American Dad!, the total restructuring of the show’s universe is essentially ignored in subsequent episodes, whereas in Community, it is made clear that the campus needs to be cleaned up.  This episode is still recognizably Greendale, but there is a jump that leaves the origin of some major elements unexplained.  Greendalians taking something new way too seriously didn’t need an explanation, but everyone dressing like they were in a dystopian future could have used one.  I suppose there was some foreshadowing in that regard with Abed explaining that 3’s and 2’s wore neutral colors to make it look like they didn’t care.  But, overall, there was a sense of “we’re not even going try to come up with a bizarre explanation, because we’re just THAT confident in this concept.”

“App Development” wants to talk about manipulation, and that theme is set up with the seemingly innocuous tiff of Jeff neglecting to invite Shirley to a group dinner that he knows she will not be able to attend anyway.  Shirley responds with typical passive-aggression, but Jeff, being just as much of a master manipulator, shoots her down immediately.  Then it is this battle of wills that runs through the dystopian version of Greendale.  I can get along with the idea that dystopias are failed utopias formed by leaders whose manipulation went unabated, but I am not sure a fight over common courtesy could legitimately lead to all that manipulation.

Of course, that is not what really caused the segregated school environment.  Instead, it was the on-site beta testing of the “MeowMeowBeenz” app that allows everyone to rate everyone basically on the basis of just how good a person they are, and Jeff and Shirley’s conflict just happened to be running through this testing ground.  It is clear to anyone who spends a good portion of their time on the Internet – which presumably includes most of Community’s audience – that “MeowMeowBeenz” is inspired by Reddit and comment systems that have the capacity to make the evaluation of people devolve into simple upvotes and downvotes.

Once again, though, I am not entirely sure that MeowMeowBeenz would lead to a Brave New World.  Sure, everyone on Greendale would take things too far, but there is a big jump from public shaming in the cafeteria to flowing white robes and futuristic, sterile dance parties.  (I do buy that Starburns would wear Sean Connery’s red leather diaper from Zardoz, but I would have believed that possibility before this episode.)  Ultimately, however, I don’t care too much about logic, because this homage to Logan’s Run and the like was just too awesome.  I initially kind of got a Season 4 vibe of, “concept episodes are just what we do, so we might as well do this concept,” but unlike Season 4, there was the appropriate amount of follow-through in realizing this concept.  (I don’t want to knock Season 4 too much, because homages are so ingrained in the DNA of Community at this point.  If the show is being honest with itself, then homages simply cannot be completely avoided.  I guess I’m a little wistful for the days when we could be truly surprised by the boldness of the homages.)

Among the great moments afforded by the dystopian milieu was the mere presence of Tim Heideceker and Eric Wareheim, who seem like the kind of people who would just spontaneously come into existence in a situation like this.  But the best moment had to be Jeff’s stand-up.  I’ve never seen Joel McHale perform live, but that was clearly the performance of someone who knows what to do with a microphone.  Comedy that makes fun of comedy is a well that never runs dry, and this standup routine specifically hit on overly esoteric comedy that is inexplicably successful.  In doing so, this scene further built up the world of this episode, establishing in no uncertain terms that 3’s “sure do love dem apples,” allowing for this dystopia to be much more lighthearted than the typical cinematic version.

Jeff and Shirley’s tension is resolved a little neatly, though there certainly was plenty of truth in the two of them realizing how alike they are.  I feel like they have made that realization before, but when you are as self-involved as these people sometimes tend to be, you may need to have that realization more than once.

There are some great character moments for just about everybody in this episode, with Abed loving the objectivity of this new order and Annie loving the very order of it all.  Meanwhile, Hickey is beautifully constipated in his frustration (so he just gives up and pretends it’s his birthday).

And I haven’t even talked about Britta and her own subplot.  As embarrassing as being forced to wear mustard on her face could have been, it was actually empowering for her.  Perhaps it is unfair that a soft image makes a difficult message go down easier, but there are certainly more painful ways of being softened than having a condiment smeared on one’s face.  And Britta could stand to learn that she could sound more elegant than she does when insisting that “we don’t have to worship a calculator.”  Also, Annie was right to admonish any invocation of Hitler, though giving Britta 2 MeowMeowBeenz for it was a bit harsh.

As much as I enjoyed this episode, and as much as I have enjoyed every episode lately, I am still wary about this season overall.  What I’m wondering is, Is Season 5 building towards anything?  Because all previous seasons had some guiding structure that was for the most part beneficial.  Season 1 had the backbone of Jeff and Britta’s will they/won’t they and the simple nature of everyone getting to know each other.  Season 2 had Abed losing touch with reality and Pierce becoming a villain.  Season 3 had Chang taking over the school (as controversial as that storyline was, it did provide structure) and everything in general becoming dark.  Season 4 had Jeff graduating and … a couple other things that were more or less dropped completely.  Now, in Season 5, everyone is back in Greendale, for an indefinite amount of time.  Jeff is teaching, and the implication is that he could be there for a while.  Everyone else is re-enrolled, and a timeline for their graduating for good has not been established.  Maybe this season is lacking a clear destination on purpose, which could be fine, but that hasn’t been what Community is all about up to this point.  It’s taking some re-calibration on my part as a viewer to get used to that, which could work out eventually, but right now, it’s weird being in limbo in which I love this season, but also I don’t?  Maybe it’s also a matter of high standards.

Other funny moments I didn’t get to:
-The MeowMeowBeenz sound effects were incredible.
-The Save Greendale Committee is working on adding grass to the soccer field.
-The way Abed saying “Ohhh” in response to Shirley being upset over not getting invited was much flatter than everyone else’s Ohhh’s.
-I loved the way Chang tapped Hickey’s arm during the MeowMeowBeenz pitch.
-“I should go Number 2 soon.”  (What was that line supposed to mean, by the way?  Did Bixel – played by Brian Posehn, who killed it – have an app that told him when to use the bathroom?)
-Garrett controlling Starburns is like “toast bossing crackers around.”
-“As long as you’re happy, I’m unsettled.”
-Britta: “You’re punishing me for being alive!” Leonard, with one of his all-time best retorts: “That’s the general idea, baby.”
-How about that tag?  Mitch Hurwitz, everybody!  I especially loved the way Annie said “Koogler.”

“In other ways than I thought, there is a distinct, chemical lack of chemistry between Jeff and Britta.” – That’s Mr. Dan Harmon in this interview published in IGN right before the start of this season.  So if this is how Community‘s showrunner sees this pair’s relationship, what was going on in this episode?

Let’s back up for a second and establish how we got here.  Professor Duncan has a thing for Britta – hinted at back in “Basic Intergluteal Numismatics” (and maybe in earlier seasons?) – because he suspects she may be one of the few women he actually has a chance with.  So, based on Jeff’s advice – with the two of them looking the most genuinely friendly they have ever looked – he announces that he is going to one of those events advertised in “one of the free papers for hippies on the quad.”  And this ultimately leads into a rivalrous romantic storyline, or rather, a rivalrous seduction storyline, and that is not exactly what I was hoping for, because a Britta-Duncan might be enjoyably goofy, but it is not exactly promising.  And as for Jeff-Britta, I agree with what Dan Harmon said, perhaps to an even greater extent.

Before I get to my final judgment on that element, let me focus on Britta’s reunion with Michael (pronounced “Mike-Hale”) and her other old activist friends.  This proved to be a much more satisfying peek into Britta’s past than we saw in last season’s “Heroic Origins.”  Where then all we got was a weird joke about vegetarianism, this time we actually got characters who were decently fleshed out for a one-episode appearance.  These people are clearly a lot like Britta, and it is also clear that they have had similar crises that we have seen Britta have about coming to terms with her activism and where her life is right now.  This is a well-pitched scene, because Britta is right to be offended by the implication that her opinion is less valid than those with a greater financial ability to help causes, but her friends are not exactly wrong in demonstrating the importance of a steady income and declining to “Banksy that mother.”

Britta’s existential crisis leads her into the arms of Duncan, who is all set to take advantage of her vulnerability, but ultimately he has the decency to decide that now is the best time.  Oddly enough, I think this selfless decision can be attributed in part to Jeff’s words to Duncan.  While Jeff wasn’t exactly selfless, he did show that he cared for Britta, and reminded Duncan that she is an actual person who isn’t anybody’s to own.  Also, Britta handling herself well in that situation is attributable to her being in a more secure emotional place than where she was at the beginning of the series.  This is really true of all the characters, and the point that this plot made is that even though life crises aren’t going away for anyone, they are more or less able to handle them on their own.

But what of Jeff’s feelings towards Britta in this episode, feelings that haven’t really been stirred significantly since Season 1 (even including when they were sleeping together in Season 2)?  At first, I thought he was just pretending to get all worked up over here for the sake of egging on Duncan, but that’s not what his eyes were saying.  Jeff claimed that he wanted to go after Britta again because he wants what everyone else wants, but I don’t think that was it, at least not exactly.  Seeing her in her element and at her best, he remembered what made him chase after her all those years ago in the first place.

As much as I think Jeff and Annie belong together, and as much as I think Jeff would realize that if he just thought about it, the fact is, they’re not together, at least not right now.  There is a girl in my own life who I think is perfect for me, but we’re not together either, and there’s nothing serious going on between us.  Sometimes I’m talking with other girls and I really hit it off with them and have intense fantasies about them, which feel great but also don’t feel exactly right, because that doesn’t seem to jibe with my belief that I’ve already found the perfect girl.  Jeff is in a similar position.  He may have stopped chasing after Britta, but when you’ve liked someone that much, your feelings never go away completely.  When Jeff saw Britta thriving in her element, he thought, “What if?”  By tomorrow, or maybe the next day, those feelings will have probably mellowed out.

Ultimately this was a storyline about a successful relationship, with that relationship being Jeff and Duncan.  Britta rightly points out to Duncan that she always forgets that he and Jeff have known each other longer than anyone else in their group of friends because they never really act like friends.  This sort of realization is a precarious, but important, moment when it comes to friendship.  Duncan and Jeff both confront what they mean to each other and decide that they actually do want to be friends.

Abed’s storyline is weird, because we have never really seen him this alone.  The loss of Troy has been profoundly felt, and the camerawork makes sure we know that.  (I wonder why he didn’t ask Rachel to the Kickpuncher premiere; I’m guessing that Brie Larson’s schedule has forced him to take that relationship slow for the time being.)  Anyway, this loneliness leads Abed to attempt bonding with Hickey before heading to the movie, which goes awry in a manner I’m not sure I buy completely (I don’t think Abed would be that careless with those foam ballistics) but which I’m willing to overlook.

Hickey overreacts to Abed’s mess by handcuffing him to a filing cabinet, which he claims is meant to teach him a lesson since everyone else is always coddling Abed.  While his friends do coddle him a bit, people go along with him because it is fun.  Traveling in time because Abed sees a hamburger understandably sounds awesome to a lot of people.  But apparently the real reason Hickey was so upset was creative frustration, which is an odd, but potentially fruitful, direction to go with a new character.  It has already been established how devoted Hickey is to “Jim the Duck,” but apparently he is also jealous, or something like that, about Abed’s effortlessness when it comes to creation.

This storyline had a solid tone and great emotional nuance, but it also had several moments in which Abed acted in ways slightly different than how I would expect him to act.  I guess part of that is because we have never really seen him interact with someone as antagonistically straightforward as Hickey.  But I am also thinking of his naming the main character of his screenplay “Police Justice.”  Abed may have trouble reading people, but his understanding of the world isn’t character-less.  Although, as established in “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,” he is bad with names, so maybe he couldn’t think of any good normal names, so he decided to just name him after what he represented.  I enjoyed a lot about this storyline, but it was also slightly insane so I am not entirely sure how I feel about it.

Chang has had several great moments this season, but it has been a while since he had his own storyline that worked as well as this episode’s did.  It is ultimately unclear if someone was joking around with Chang (perhaps, but not enough details to say for sure), or if the janitor or the crowd were actually ghosts (almost definitely not), or if Chang is going insane (probably at least partially true).  In any case, it looks like he did actually take a picture with the “Old Timey Photo Club.”  It is unfortunate that Key & Peele already had the funniest Shining homage ever only a few months ago, but there is room in the comedy world for more than one Shining homage, and this one worked well enough at what it was doing.

Funny moments I didn’t get to in the main body of the review:
-Duncan illustrating his point by referencing “those three movies [Dane Cook] was in about Dane Cook getting laid by accident” was a thing of beauty.  That’s Community at his best of deconstructing pop culture to illustrate a point about its characters.
-Chang’s fist pump in response to Annie mentioning that all the bones have been removed from the football field
-“Everyone likes music.  What are you, a fish?”
-Duncan’s trademark Britishisms: Rimples and Splikket – the (unintelligible to American ears) British Laurel and hardy; Duncan insisting that he is banging on the steering wheel because it is on the wrong side of the car