Community

[Mr Sausage]

Saccharine ending aside, I kind of liked this episode.

[Andre Jurieu]

I was kind of ticked that they replaced Nick Kroll and his awesomely ridiculous German accent, but otherwise I thought that this episode worked well. Every time I thought I would lose interest in the episode, they surprised me with something funny popping up. Not sure if it's just me, but the natural cadence of the show seems to be returning with each passing episode.

It's not like Harmon didn't enjoy his saccharine endings, but his felt slightly more sincere, probably because they were more insular in their result, seemingly functioning mostly as a method of reinforcing the bonds within the group.

Also, with or without Harmon, Donald Glover continues to kill it every week.

[knives]

Yeah, if one were to take out the Winger speeches this would have been a pretty excellent episode. Certainly it was very funny with some truly great Dean stuff. Supposedly it was supposed to be the second episode of the season.

[Mr Sausage]

Not sure if it's just me, but the natural cadence of the show seems to be returning with each passing episode.

Well, last week's episode was one of the worst, but this one had the old Community timing back. The one-liners were perfectly delivered. I had the same reaction as you: every time I was on the verge of giving up on the episode, it pulled out something funny. And it did this consistently enough that I wound up liking it.

I also liked the way the show dived progressively deeper into the closed-system of the group's world (until they end up in some isolated basement, the crashing of each of their chairs striking an absurd note of high tragedy, a feeling none of the actual events in the story merited) until the bubble is suddenly popped and we get a glimpse at how all of their self-enclosed adventures negatively affect the rest of the school, leading to a Jeff epiphany. It felt like a typical Community structure. Helping was the fact that instead of a bunch of wacky things going on, it's a bunch of banal things given an absurd importance. That was always something Community did so well, but which they'd lost sight of these last two seasons. This series was always at its best when something like losing a pen, having a campus paintball game, playing Dungeons and Dragons one evening, or indeed not being able to book the study room, is treated with the seriousness of a some tv drama like Law and Order.

[YnEoS]

While this episode was definitely closer to the old community than what we've seen so far, there are still certain things about the new season that rub me the wrong way. The one that stands out the most is Pierce, who used to be my favorite character on the show. Now it seems like he isn't even on the show anymore, and he just gets a few awkward lines/gags just to remind us that he's still around.

[willoneill]

Your point is fair, but can we really blame that on a change in showrunners, or is that just NBC playing out the string with Chevy Chase and his contract?

[Mr Sausage]

While this episode was definitely closer to the old community than what we've seen so far, there are still certain things about the new season that rub me the wrong way. The one that stands out the most is Pierce, who used to be my favorite character on the show. Now it seems like he isn't even on the show anymore, and he just gets a few awkward lines/gags just to remind us that he's still around.

There was at least one scene (the cafeteria scene) where you can tell he was filmed on his own and edited in later.

[YnEoS]

Your point is fair, but can we really blame that on a change in showrunners, or is that just NBC playing out the string with Chevy Chase and his contract?

Wasn't aiming to blame this specifically on the showrunners, just listing it as a gripe with season 4 overall.

Certain other small aspects of the show still rub me the wrong way, but I have trouble verbalizing exactly why. I might hazard to guess that the show seems to be a bit more casually fantastical. I know some really out there stuff tended to happen in the previous seasons, but it seemed Dan Harmon at least built up to them, or had character react to appropriately to how unusual it was. Now things like having a History of Icecream Class or being able to spontaneously throw a huge Octoberfest party on a whim seem to be things everyone just accepts as normal.

[Matt]

There's kind of an odd chicken/egg argument going on in my head when I watch Chase's scenes in this season. Are they so awkward, brief, and disappointing because he had already decided he wanted off the show, or did he want to leave the show because his scenes had become so awkward, brief, and disappointing? Given his role this season, I can totally understand Chase's frustrations with the writing of his character (not that that excuses the ways he made his frustrations known before and after he left the show).

[Jeff]

There's kind of an odd chicken/egg argument going on in my head when I watch Chase's scenes in this season. Are they so awkward, brief, and disappointing because he had already decided he wanted off the show, or did he want to leave the show because his scenes had become so awkward, brief, and disappointing?

I think it's the former. I don't think he wanted to do this season at all and the other cast members didn't want to work with him. If you watch the episode from this season that all takes place at Pierce's house, you will notice Chase was never actually on set with the rest of the cast. They use a rather unconvincing double, shot from behind, for group shots. There are a few clunky green screen composites, and all conversations cut back and forth between shots of Pierce and the others.

It's pretty clear that the 11 episodes that he shot this season were done under duress by all parties.

[The Narrator Returns]

Wow, by far the best episode of the season so far. I wasn't huge on the Shawshank plot (although it got better as it went along), but I was really moved by the Jeff plot. Between Regional Holiday Music, this, and Introduction to Finality, Steve Basilone and Annie Mebane already have one hell of a track record.

[Mr Sausage]

Easily the best of the season, which isn't saying much considering there's only been five episodes so far and three of them were dreadful. But this was a solid episode: no missteps, no veering on the edge of being unwatchable, just solid Community. Given the bump in quality in the last two episodes, I'm hoping that the first few were the result of the new management getting the feel for things and that the show is about to start running smoothly.

[knives]

That would be a nice assumption if it weren't for these episodes being aired out of order. The first good episode was actually the second made.

[Roger Ryan]

This new "Thanksgiving" episode was well-paced and had good performances...just no laughs. The attempt to deepen the pathos started around 12 minutes in and carried through the rest of the show; the humor felt like it was added as an afterthought.

[Mr Sausage]

That would be a nice assumption if it weren't for these episodes being aired out of order. The first good episode was actually the second made.

Well, damn.

[Reverend Drewcifer]

I have had this weird notion that season 4 is being secretly written/overseen by Dan Harmon while exiled on the island of Patmos, in some extra-meta effort to see how we react when he is, on paper at least, removed from the show.

Of course, the quality of this season's writing does not support this notion. Frowny face.

Anticipation vs. reward for Season 4 is like springing down the stairs on Christmas morning, hoping to get that Transformer you've been begging Mom & Dad for all year, seeing a present beneath the tree wrapped in Transformers wrapping paper, opening it...only to find a Go-Bot.

[The Narrator Returns]

Well, that was a pretty good episode, and it went a long way to wiping away the memories of S3 Chang. And then the tag happened.

[Mr Sausage]

Funniest episode of the season, easily. So many great throwaway lines, and Annie and Troy were hysterical. Things are really looking good for this season.

[Roger Ryan]

I guess we all have different expectations. For me, the episode felt contrived (even for this show) and had few genuine laughs. I suppose it didn't help that it was followed by a truly hilarious PARKS & RECREATION episode.

[Reverend Drewcifer]

The courting of "the whale" was a perfect opportunity for a Pierce-centric episode, with him facing up to the fact that Greendale only wanted him for his money. It could have gone a long way to fleshing out his character. Instead, we get a barber shop with no real payoff, not even Moe Green in the background or something of the sort. The Troy-Shirley PEE storyline should have been scrapped, and Troy repurposed to fit into the Abed frat story. Funny how after 4 years this college-bound show never touched upon frats. Altogether an episode of missed opportunities and false emotional beats. Darn.

[Matt]

Well, realistically, do community colleges generally even have fraternities and sororities?

[Mr Sausage]

The courting of "the whale" was a perfect opportunity for a Pierce-centric episode, with him facing up to the fact that Greendale only wanted him for his money. It could have gone a long way to fleshing out his character. Instead, we get a barber shop with no real payoff, not even Moe Green in the background or something of the sort. The Troy-Shirley PEE storyline should have been scrapped, and Troy repurposed to fit into the Abed frat story. Funny how after 4 years this college-bound show never touched upon frats. Altogether an episode of missed opportunities and false emotional beats. Darn.

And yet I still liked the episode. Thought it was very watchable. That stuff with the chips was vintage Community weirdness.

[Roger Ryan]

I thought last night's episode had a fresh central idea with quite a few laughs. Abed's fraternity riff wasn't developed enough, but the PEE stuff amused me. Overall, the new season is okay and not the disaster I feared. We'll see where it goes...

[The Narrator Returns]

That was... strange. I am not sure what to make of it.

[Matt]

I am sure. I hated it.