Jmunney's Blog

“Cooperative Polygraphy” is an epic episode of Community, insofar as it is chock full of references to past episodes.  Many thanks to other Community fans on the Internet for pointing out the ones I did not pick up on right away.  A LOT of people noted that part of the freeze-frame epilogue from “The Art of Discourse” came true, as Britta became the (presumably proud) owner of a used iPod nano.  (Others noted that if this means this episode takes place in 2014, then that 3-year-gap that has been cited existing between Seasons 4 and 5 is making less and less sense.)  The reveal that Annie drugged the whole group in preparation for the Anthropology final is especially hilarious if that is in reference to the final from “Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts,” the most farcical moment from a patently farcical class.  Going even deeper, Troy’s attempt to inhale Pierce’s life vapor perhaps fulfills his wish to “eat a ghost,” which he made in “The Psychology of Letting Go” – the episode that introduced the post-death rituals of Pierce’s religion.

But the episodes that “Cooperative Polygraphy” responds to the most are “Cooperative Calligraphy,” “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking,” and “Intro to Felt Surrogacy.”  “Calligraphy” is the obvious antecedent here, what with the rhyming titles and shared study room setting.  But “Polygraphy” is more low-key (or less high-key, as it were).  It doesn’t call attention to itself as a bottle episode, unlike the former “Cooperative” episode.  For my money, a pure bottle episode is one that not only takes place in one location, but also one in which the characters are trapped.  In “Polygraphy,” the study group was bound by circumstance to remain in the study room, but not to the degree that they were in “Calligraphy” – one character leaves and then comes back, after all.  The tensions do run high in “Polygraphy” (as they typically do typical Community), but not to the ripping-off-clothes degree of “Calligraphy,” perhaps the most tension-filled episode of the series.

“Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking” is the closest narrative parallel, as that Season 2 classic also saw Pierce playing head games with the specter of his death hanging over.  Between these two, there is a clear progression of significant difference.  Pierce’s premature bequeathals were mostly meant to punish his friends.  His actual bequeathals were genuine and thoughtful, though preceded by head games that he still could not resist.  Pierce never became the kindest friend to any of these people, but he did become a friend whose friendship ultimately could never be in doubt.

The closest thematic parallel is “Intro to Felt Surrogacy,” an episode I enjoyed more than most fans; I even declared it the best of the season – though I have since backed off that opinion.  The major problem with “Felt Surrogacy” was its sense of incompleteness.  Because the study group’s secrets from that episode were all revealed in the final act, there was no chance to resolve the problems presented by them or come to terms with them in any meaningful way.  It feels like Dan Harmon had a similar reaction upon watching this Season 4 episode.

I do not know what Harmon’s exact thought process about Season 4 has been, but I know he has not dismissed it outright, and watching “Cooperative Polygraphy” makes me feel like I kind of do know what he was thinking in this case, because it episode basically directly solves the problem of “Felt Surrogacy.”  The revelation of secrets is the whole narrative thrust of “Polygraphy.”  Community demonstrates the wisdom of caution by showing friends that even when they are perfectly comfortable in their friendship, it is important to consider that there still might be secrets lurking that could deeply hurt their friends.  This is not to say that they might as well end their friendships, but rather, something along the lines of, perfect is the enemy of the good.  That is, if you have already accepted your friends with all their imperfections, you should be able to also accept any previously unknown imperfections.

And oh my God, Troy is leaving.  The circumstances that are drawing him away are random, but also ultimately perfectly appropriate.  Once again, I must extend credit to the rest of the Community fandom for providing examples of how Troy does indeed have the heart of a hero: he was the one who took charge in “For a Few Paintballs More,” and he risked his life by going back among the infected in “Epidemiology.”  Troy’s life did not look as bad as everyone else’s in “Repilot,” so he would be spinning his wheels more than anyone else if he were to remain at Greendale.  No doubt there will be something missing in the heart of the show after the next episode, but at least there will be a way to check up on him occasionally, now that we know about Abed’s tracking devices.

By my estimation, the best analogue to “Basic Intergluteal Numismatics” is “Basic Lupine Urology” – an intricately well-done, but unnecessary, homage.  (Also, the titles follow the same format: with BLU, it’s “ha-ha, fancy way of saying ‘Dick Wolf'” and with BIN, – it’s “ha-ha, fancy way of saying ‘dropping coins into butts.'”)  I responded better to “Intergluteal,” not necessarily because it was better, but because I am more familiar with David Fincher’s filmography than I am with Law & Order.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen an episode of L&O straight through, whereas I have seen every Fincher-directed film besides Alien Cubed and Panic Room, and I’ve liked them all (well, Benjamin Button was okay, but kind of weird – but I don’t think it was referenced here anyway).  There were some touches on TV crime procedurals as well, a genre I did not think I was that big a fan of, but I guess I am watching the right ones, because I appreciated the nods to Hannibal (right down to Duncan’s Lecter-esque wardrobe) as well as Abed pointing out the overdone trope of a “special” investigator with the ability to recreate the crime in his head (even though that trope is done perfectly on Hannibal).  Typically, Abed will jump at any chance to recreate fictional tropes in real life, so it was an entertaining change of pace to see him start to act out the Dean’s patronizing request, but ultimately point out how disgusted he was by it, by means of just leaving the room.

Generally, I prefer it when Community‘s homages arise naturally out of the plot machinations and the character dynamics, as opposed to being imposed from the outside.  Now, if it is the latter, I can enjoy it if it is well-done, though it probably will not quite be at the top tier of episodes.  And so it goes for “Intergluteal.”  The dark green tint was fine either way, and I was perfectly happy with it because I loved seeing an episode of Community that looked like Se7en.  Annie and Jeff have teamed up together plenty of times before, so it was certainly believable that they would do so again, and the fact that they so easily slipped into roles typical of Fincher-ian investigators – a mix between the opposing styles of Se7en and the sexual tension of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – was more a function of the editing than either of the two of them acting out of character.  And it certainly was not atypical of Abed to give Troy warm beverages and blankets, just like how trauma victims are treated in movies.  Troy committing to the trauma victim bit may have been silly, but it is also something he would do.  Then there was the Dean snapping at Rhonda to trace the call – my pick for biggest laugh of the night (give or take Jeff’s moment with Leonard) – which is something the Dean would absolutely do: emulating a trope in a way that doesn’t quite work.  So, really, it wasn’t so much that this homage felt imposed from above, as much as this whole episode just came out of nowhere.  It was hard to get your bearings regarding what it was trying to do, but that also seemed to be the point – so I guess what I’m saying is, the the justification for this homage was the homage itself.

One element that did not come out of nowhere but felt oddly unattached to continuity was the Jeff and Annie of it all.  I was actually surprised to see these two team up again right after last episode, considering this show has rarely been sure exactly how it wants to treat these two.  It wasn’t exactly sure here, either, though it did seem to start to be saying something, but that something got cut off (like everything else at the end of this episode).  When there has been a mystery to be solved at Greendale in the past – “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design,” “Basic Lupine Urology” – Jeff and Annie have always teamed up for the investigation, so it made sense that they would do so again.  And it made sense that they have now teamed up often enough that people would start noticing and point it out.  I’m not sure why the Dean referred to it as creepy, though.  I’m not even sure what exactly was “this creepiness” was referring to.  Their age difference wasn’t brought up; it seemed more like the point was that it was weird that the two of them apparently feel the need to justify their spending time together by getting involved with a caper.

The state of their relationship seems to be that they are fine with referring to themselves as just friends.  They are still attracted to each other, but not necessarily enough that they feel a burning desire to act on it.  But that doesn’t quite add up, because in Season 4, their attraction still was clearly present.  There was never really a decisive moment when they said to each other or themselves that they were just friends.  How much time passed between the end of Season 4 and the start of Season 5, again?  Long enough for all the changes in the group dynamic to make sense?  Okay, that sounds about right.  (Looking over comments from around the Internet, it seems like the tension may have been played up and called attention to for the sake of emulating the sexual tension in TV and movie mystery-solving duos – I’ve already mentioned Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and of course there’s Mulder and Scully, and also probably The Killing [which I’ve never watched].)

Oh, and Pierce died.  This may have struck some as rushed, or not dealt with properly.  The latter should not be too much of a concern, because the next episode will be dealing with it directly.  As for the former, unexpected deaths tend to feel like that.  Did it feel oddly shoehorned into an homage episode, which was also – homage or no homage – exceedingly silly?  Yes.  Was that necessarily a bad thing?  It may have rubbed some the wrong way; for me, it was weird, but in a way that I thought weirdly fit with the weirdness of the whole episode.  The case was closed, but never fully solved, because there are more important things to focus on, but there is still a lingering feeling of “Could it be…”

Oh, and I’ve barely been able to talk about the return of Ian Duncan.  It felt a little strange to have to explain his return, instead of just letting him be there.  Ultimately, though, by episode’s end, he was essentially just there, back in the Greendale swing of things.  His interactions with Britta were charmingly creepy.  There might have been a bit of overkill with the fake Britishisms, but his delivery was spot-on (“Oh, American high-five” was probably my favorite of the bunch).  The scene with him and Annie in his office also delivered the tension, and apparently it was a perfect homage to a scene in Zodiac that I don’t remember all the details of, but people who have seen Zodiac more recently than I have sound confident that it hit the mark.

I know I liked this episode, but