OnionAhaiReborn Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 I loved the Chang portion. They kept it brief and absurd and the Shining 'old timey photo club' gag at the end was hilarious. The Abed/Hickey and Jeff/Duncan/Britta parts didn't work as well for me. With the Abed storyline my issue is with the kind of uneven characterization of Abed- I know they've done stuff before with him being a bit of a stubborn jerk, but it seemed like this one turned him into an unbelievably petulant prick-brat. "The character's name is Police Justice?" did crack me up, though. For the Jeff/Duncan/Britta part, while I adore Britta and pretty much everything she does, I just couldn't bring myself to care about Jeff and Duncan's friendship so that fell flat for me too. Duncan nobly decides to choose friendship over taking advantage of Britta didn't much work as a payoff for me, either. In any case, it's still Community so I enjoyed it. Just not my favorite of this season, although maybe I'll like it more on rewatch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEvilKing Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 For the Jeff/Duncan/Britta part, while I adore Britta and pretty much everything she does, I just couldn't bring myself to care about Jeff and Duncan's friendship so that fell flat for me too. Duncan nobly decides to choose friendship over taking advantage of Britta didn't much work as a payoff for me, either. I kind of didn't get that. It was Jeff who was being the bad friend, not Duncan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime L Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 It felt a lot like Mixology in its limited jokes, focus on disappointing realities and pervasive loneliness. But yeah the realizations didn't feel as well earned. Jeff deciding he's back into Britta because she said one non-vapid thing. Duncan choosing his friendship with Jeff over getting laid. The one thing that did make me laugh out loud was the Shining gag at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 I quite liked the Abed and Hickey stuff, on second thought. It wasn't as poignant or as sharply and lightly done as Mixology, (but Mixology may be my favorite episode. ("I really like talking about Farscape" is my favorite single line of Community.) It's a high bar,) but there was something to the way Abed just let things out here. Just letting insults, insights and emotions spew all over the room, like another wave of gooey foam, just because he could, with no thought to the consequences until Hickey didn't give him a choice any more and he had to face that he was being incredibly selfish. I hated the end, of course, with everyone finding not what they want but what they need and growing as people and all that crap, but then, I would. I can just put that aside as my particular allergy to any trace of sentiment and say that it was a rather brave episode otherwise, for Community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 I think the episode intentionally avoided being as dark or intense as Mixology. AVClub really liked it though I have to check back what made them give it an A. My sister pointed out that Abed sprayed the foam after he was rebuffed by Hickey, so maybe it wasn't as accidental as he claimed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reposado Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 oh boy. that was not good. somewhere the puppets are high-fiving each other.. Low on laughs this episode, I think. High on characters though, so I don't mind much. Some of the best episodes are like that. indeed. but this wasnt one of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime L Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 I think the episode intentionally avoided being as dark or intense as Mixology. AVClub really liked it though I have to check back what made them give it an A. I've come to realize I almost always thoroughly disagree with the AV Club reviewer for Community these days. He seems to value the show's relationships and emotional core above (and I'd argue sometimes to the exclusion of) everything else. I mean I enjoy the show's warmth but it's pretty far down the list of what I value in an episode, well after overall how funny it is, how clever it is and how ambitious it is. This episode was probably a C+ for me based on those measures. And reading through the comments on the AV Club site, feel like more people are in my boat than his. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 I usually find something interesting in AV Club reviews, but that was just tedious. I kinda wish he and the guy who reviews Big Bang would trade places or something - that one spent half of one TBBT review apologizing for finding some tepid shred of interest in the show he was reviewing, given that we all know it's so much worse than Community, and this review (of Community) seemed to spend all it's time arguing to non-existent critics. Whatever the ranking that people give the different elements of the show, I don't know that anyone actively dislikes a bit of emotional depth, just that it sometimes takes over the humor and can be (like Abed's Christmas) heavy handed bordering on pretentious. Nor have I ever heard Community accused of being cold. (I can't see it. I think Community can be very sarcastic, but right around the corner from that it's a giant stack of warm, buttery toast in tv form.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Walker Texas Ranger Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 I really liked this episode, so I have to disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Mac Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 oh boy. that was not good. somewhere the puppets are high-fiving each other.. indeed. but this wasnt one of them I can see where you're coming from, and I don't think this episode was that great. It was on the lower side of average. But then again, I honestly don't think this season has been that great overall. It still has some time to convince me otherwise, and I still enjoy watching it, but it's no where near S1-3 for me. And it's not just because of the leaving cast members, because I like their replacements well enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 that one spent half of one TBBT review apologizing for finding some tepid shred of interest in the show he was reviewing, given that we all know it's so much worse than Community Ah. A man of good taste, will have to check out his reviews. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reposado Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I can see where you're coming from, and I don't think this episode was that great. It was on the lower side of average. But then again, I honestly don't think this season has been that great overall. It still has some time to convince me otherwise, and I still enjoy watching it, but it's no where near S1-3 for me. And it's not just because of the leaving cast members, because I like their replacements well enough. i dont either. theres been good moments, especially the ass crack bandit episode, but overall its been closer to 4 in quality than anything earlier. but i think that might have been the worst ep of the five seasons for me. it just didnt offer anything. but i think a large for me is the lack of troy and pierce/and to the low usage of troy when he was there. duncan, chang, hickey, these are guys that need to be used sparingly. they should be more like garrett or leonard in screentime, imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime L Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I think season 5 has seen a return to a more self-assured storytelling. Maybe it's simply having the show's creator back but you don't feel like each episode is desperately trying to check of a set number of boxes the diehard Community fans expect. It's definitely possible to try too hard in this kind of thing. So for me the quiet competence underpinning every episode makes it miles better than Season 4. Seriously there's no lows this season anything like Thanksgiving at Shirley's house in the gas leak season. And it switched out two core members of the study group for two professors pretty damn smoothly. We're back to Community being like sex, even when it's bad it's good. What I think it's missing is the dizzying highs from seasons 1-3. The Ass-Crack Bandit episode was probably the closest. The Walton Goggins one was pretty damn good too. Still hope it can get there - I mean each of the first 3 seasons picked up momentum in the second half. But, yeah, it's gonna be a lot tougher without Troy. Like even Seinfeld would've only been so good without George Costanza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I think people are sticking seasons 1-3 on a bit of pedestral here. Not that they weren't great, but there was always a mix of concept episodes and character episodes (and ocassionaly some that tried to be both) and more low key eps that weren't super ambitious. I think the show would get tired fast if it was never anything but surreal flights of fancy. I know i've argued that Community sucks - a little - at character development, but I do think it has strong characterization (they just don't move much.) A lot of the humor is based on the eccentricity of these people as much as it is on the eccentricity of the this place, and occasionaly that needs shoring up. (Stuff like "I have no ego.") Ah. A man of good taste, will have to check out his reviews. ;-) I think you'll enjoy his super-grudging review of the episode where Penny tries to propose, (incidentally my favorite episode of this season) which is the one where Community came back in parallel, which he calls "traditional and safe and comfortable," after discussing how much better Community is for two paragraphs. I mean, of all episodes to label safe and comfortable, the most obviously bleak and subversive one that the show has ever done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reposado Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I think people are sticking seasons 1-3 on a bit of pedestral here. Not that they weren't great, but there was always a mix of concept episodes and character episodes (and ocassionaly some that tried to be both) and more low key eps that weren't super ambitious. I think the show would get tired fast if it was never anything but surreal flights of fancy. there were, but the low key episodes were still typically good if not great, at least in 2-3, and they were always at least somewhat funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Gotta say S5 might end up being my favorite. Something about the underlying current in the show really has made this season very enjoyable. I think you'll enjoy his super-grudging review of the episode where Penny tries to propose, (incidentally my favorite episode of this season) which is the one where Community came back in parallel, which he calls "traditional and safe and comfortable," after discussing how much better Community is for two paragraphs. I mean, of all episodes to label safe and comfortable, the most obviously bleak and subversive one that the show has ever done? I suspect many people might say it was one of the only subversive episodes they've done. And I'm sure Penny will make it as an actress of some sort by the show's end. Best saved for the BBT thread but I've realize how the show truly is the reheated McDonald's of television. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Dammit sci, you know a statement like that is a thrown guantlet made of catnip for me! I'm trying to get a life here, you know. I will deal with you, sir, when I'm not on a bus. (In other news, I learned how to post from my phone today.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Walker Texas Ranger Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 According to one of the comments, most of the plotlines of that episode were stolen from an episode of Friends. That said, it's hard not to use a plotline from Friends or the Simpsons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 According to one of the comments, most of the plotlines of that episode were stolen from an episode of Friends. That said, it's hard not to use a plotline from Friends or the Simpsons. You talking BBT or Community? (IIRC it's BBT. I've heard how the show just hijacks old plotlines before.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I suspect many people might say it was one of the only subversive episodes they've done. I argue differently. (Admittedly, because I'm pulling an all-nighter and this helps me keep working, but also, principle!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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