Community, “Intro to Recycled Cinema” (CREDIT: Yahoo! Screen)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2015.
Greendale is starting to feel a bit like purgatory. It is not impossible to escape from (Troy is sailing around the world, Shirley moved on to assist a butcher, even Pierce got to die), but the remaining members of the Greendale 7 are here longer than they originally meant to be. And most of them do not appear visibly conflicted over their lack of definitive academic endpoints. Greendale was never going to give Abed the artistic freedom he desired in the move to capitalize on Chang’s newfound fame, and it was unreasonable for him to expect it to. But it is a comfortable place, and it may be time for Abed to find a way out and not be so comfortable anymore.
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2015.
Just one episode ago saw the Greendale crew at its nastiest. That conflict was not resolved so much as brushed aside. So it was quite the contrast to have the very next episode focused so strongly about everyone working to like each other. But maybe that need to be liked explained why everyone was so upset about the airing of the hurtful secrets. Or maybe everyone just learned a lesson about vulnerability really quickly. Either way, “Advanced Safety Features” showed these people more convinced than ever about the value of vulnerability.
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2015.
“Community” does not usually take too much inspiration from real world headlines in the vein of a “Law & Order”-style procedural. It instead tends to ape and play around with pop culture. But recent hacking scandals have converged with media such that for “Community” it is right at home, almost a little too close to home. This is a show produced by Sony, the victim of one of the largest-scale hacks ever. A community college does not have the same reach as a worldwide media conglomerate, but it still has a significant virtual ecosystem that can be exploited, and so it was with Greendale.
Community, “Laws of Robotics and Party Rights” (CREDIT: Yahoo! Screen)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2015.
Jeff Winger has mostly accepted that he has a big heart, and he has made peace with the fact that he is at Greendale indefinitely. But there is a difference between accepting your station and actually doing the work of getting through that station. Jeff may have learned to open his heart up just a little bit during his time at school, but when it comes to work, he still prefers going to great lengths to take the easy way out. It would take something unusual to knock him out of this routine. A convict attending his Law class via telepresence robot proved to be just the right unexpected development to touch several of his nerves and really set him off.
Community, “Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing” (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in March 2015.
“Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing” took the most advantage of Season 6’s lack of running time restrictions thus far, clocking in just under 31 minutes. This made sense, insofar as there were three plots and only two of them were even tangentially related. The structure of a typical modern network sitcom episode is generally not long enough to fully conclude the normal amount of three storylines. “Community” was not being indulgent here so much as it was just finding the necessary legroom. But even though each plot had enough space, it was not clear why Chang’s performance as Mr. Miyagi, the Dean joining the school board, and protecting a bird’s nest as IT work all needed to be in the same episode.
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in March 2015.
The Audacity of Hope
In its earlier seasons, “Community” distinguished itself among typical sitcoms with its determined focus on character development. The study group was various forms of broken, and Greendale was positioned as a place for them to work out their issues and become better people. The show followed through on this determination in a way that was deeply satisfying. Six seasons in, “Community” is still concerned about allowing its characters to grow, but it is also intent on emphasizing what works best, and that can mean maintaining the status quo. “Basic Crisis Room Decorum” found itself squarely within these crosscurrents. Major developments were looming, but they felt like conflicts that had played out many times before. Ultimately, though, this episode succeeded by getting deeper into the emotional truth of these situations than ever before.
These reviews were originally posted on Starpulse in March 2015.
“Ladders”
“Weird, passionate, and gross”
“Community” season premieres have usually made sure to cover what has happened behind-the-scenes since we last visited Greendale. In Season 4’s “History 101” and Season 5’s “Repilot,” that meant winkingly commenting on all the personnel changes that had occurred. With an actual cancellation and a subsequent move to online streaming, “Community” would now seemingly have the most to say about its recent transitions leading up to the Season 6 premiere. But “Ladders” pretty much jumped right in exactly where Season 5 left off. An exact time frame was not specified, but with this episode opening with the Dean thanking the Human Beings who saved Greendale, it could not have been too long after “Basic Sandwich,” when that actual saving took place.
Let’s just get this out of the way first: “Advanced Introduction to Finality” did not make paintball cool again. Granted, when Abed makes this proclamation, it is not meant to be completely sincere. This particular paintball outing is supposed to look amateur, as Jeff’s imagination is not as thorough as someone like Abed. Still, it could have been more entertaining. There is a way to portray something half-assed without doing a half-assed job at it, and this wasn’t it.
The poor action sequences are disappointing, especially considering how strong “Community” has been in that area otherwise. But the rest of this episode does have plenty worth recommending. Unusual for Season 4, “AItF” had a firm grasp of the themes it wanted to explore. It did, however, have an overabundance of matters to take care of, which was typical of that year. Although, in this case, it felt more like it was due to excitement about wanting to say so much rather than a lack of focus.
Like many other Community fans, I was quite pleased with the last episode, “Herstory of Dance,” regarding Abed’s storyline with potential love interest coat check girl Rachel, as played by Brie Larson. I thought that Abed and Rachel hit it off so well that Rachel simply must return in future episodes, and judging by reactions I’ve read online in Communitycommentthreads, I am far from the only one who thinks this. The folks behind Community have historically been receptive to fan reaction and have accordingly developed some elements (playing up the Jeff-Annie relationship is probably the biggest example). Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case this season, not because the writers have become any less receptive, but because the whole season was produced in a “bubble,” i.e., every episode was produced before any of them aired. So I am writing all this in the hope that thewriters will see the fan support for this new character and respond accordingly, but alas it will not matter unless there is a Season 5. I still have hope that Community will be renewed, thus this post might not necessarily be for naught. It could even be possible that the writers knew Rachel would be well-received and that she is set to appear in one or more of the five episodes remaining in Season 4. Information regarding that possibility is scant; based on an AMA Brie Larson did on Reddit, it seems that she only filmed “an episode.” But based on the way the episode ended, it doesn’t seem like we’ve seen the last of Rachel.
And that is the crux of why I hope we see more of Brie Larson on Community. Often robotic Abed isn’t usually the most romantic character on the show, but there have actually been a fair number of ladies into him. By my count, there has been one significant romantic possibility for Abed one per season: the girl who asked him out at the end of “Physical Education,” Secret Service Agent Robin Vohlers in “Intro to Political Science,” and Hilda in “Digital Estate Planning.” But none of those possibilities ended as promisingly as Rachel. We never knew too much about the girl in “Phys. Ed.” (not even her name), so it wasn’t that big a deal that we never found out what happened with her. Agent Vohlers was practically a female version of Abed, but she made it clear that her Secret Service duties would make a relationship too difficult. And Hilda, well Hilda’s a video game character. Maybe Abed actually has been keeping things going with her, but that shouldn’t preclude the possibility of a flesh-and-blood girl also working out. Rachel may not be as similar to Abed as Agent Vohlers, but with her love of TV and deep knowledge of TV tropes, she is similar in perhaps the most important way. That she got along with Abed as much as and in much the same way that Abed gets along with Troy made it clear how complementary she is to Abed. “Herstory of Dance” ended with Rachel and Abed both knowing how much they have enjoyed each other’s company and deciding to go on a date. Based on how well they hit it off at the dance, my guess is that the date will also go well, so it simply will not stand if from here on out Rachel is simply forgotten or written off with a throwaway line.
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