My absolute favorite episode of the season. Just everything I could ask for.
Community
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It was literally the perfect Community episode.
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Good lord, someone give Gillian Jacobs the TV equivalent of the Oscar. Holy crap!
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Good lord, someone give Gillian Jacobs the TV equivalent of the Oscar. Holy crap!
An… Emmy?
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The Dean as Jeff was incredible. Best episode since Virtual Systems Analysis IMO.
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For some reason, my biggest laugh was just the way Abed immediately and eerily sat up when Troy woke him up. Exactly how I'd picture Abed getting up in the morning.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Seriously, though, I'm officially past the argument that this show can't continue at a level of at least the third season. Hell, give the writers a full season guaranteed together and it might be pretty damned good.
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Give the writers a season 5 that's not produced in a bubble at the very least.
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If a 5th season was to happen, I'd really would wish for Jim Rash to join the writing team.
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Yes yes yes. LOVED this episode. So, so good. In every way.
Handsome man save me from the monsters.
Avatar credits to rcerione
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The moment when both the Britta/Abed-Troy and Jeff/Troy-Abed conversations turned was as good as anything the series has done. And it was another reminder that Abed used to be the one that actually understood the other characters better than they expected.
Only issue I had was the Freaky Friday-style swapback they did right before Troy was going to dump Britta.
Also, not a Dean fan, but his Winger impression was the best of the three.
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Yeah I really, really love the role that Abed got to play here. I'm glad that nothing about the breakup was cheap or easy. Just… So perfect. All the previous over-Abedness has been completely forgiven and forgotten. This episode really re-solidifed Troy & Abed's friendship and established that it hasn't been diluted in any way.
Possibly my only gripe, which is an extremely minor one anyway, is that Pierce had basically nothing to do with anything. Kinda feels like he's an extra nowadays.
Handsome man save me from the monsters.
Avatar credits to rcerione
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I recall reading that they wrote Pierce this season assuming Chevy wouldn't be on board, and thus could easily be replaced with Kevin/Chang.
Was the Mexican restaurant "Troy" and Britta went to actually called Senor Kevin?!
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Was the Mexican restaurant "Troy" and Britta went to actually called Senor Kevin?!
Yea, it was already established last season during the Dreamatorium episode.
And I've been saying it all along but the new show runners should get a crack at another season now that they've started to settle in. The writers had a lot of ideas to pack in and not a lot of space for them.
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Last night episode got a series low 1.0 (or 2.40) million views.
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It was actually a tick above its previous 1.0 in total viewers. Do note that EVERYTHING ELSE ON BROADCAST was at or very close to season/series lows thanks to the NFL draft. The single anomaly is Scandal scoring a series high 2.8, but ABC skews female on Thursdays, so it's understandable.
I'm sure it'll bounce back up somewhere down the line, but being marooned without a lead-out is not good either. (I'd like to think that Community and Parks and Rec draw very similar audiences.)
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Holy crap that episode was fantastic. Better than Herstory and Puppets, which I didn't think was possible. Yes, I'm really damn thankful they ended the relationship, but it was still very heartfelt. Amazing acting from pretty much everyone, especially Danny and Donald.
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I think the best part is that both Jeff and Britta did not believe in the bit, but slowly came into the bit. It was one of those awesome moments where not only the character who's supposed to learn a lesson learned something, but the people surrounding them learned a something new.
I get off how good that last episode was. Like That was a Season 1 episode if I ever saw one.
Also, I think this Season will be liked more over multiple viewings. I think things like BrittaxTroy, and some other bits will be more well liked after knowing what the end plan is.
But I refuse to believe going the Darkest Time Line route for the Finale will be a good idea.
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That was a fantastic episode. Jim Rash certainly didn't disappoint.
First time I actually laughed out loud this season during this episode. Normally it is just a smile or a chuckle.
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The Dean as Jeff was incredible.
This. So much this.
Annie's involuntary reactions to this elicited the biggest laughs Community has drawn from me in a long time. -
Now this was the high concept episode i was waiting for. It makes that puppet stuff they did last week bad. They didn't need fancy visuals or songs just a solid concept executed perfectly with the entire cast (minus pierce who while i like i don't miss). I'm still not as confident in a 5th season as the rest of you though but i hope they can keep the writing up to to this standard.
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If I was Jim Rash I would write an episode where Annie fawns over me too.
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"I've been told I look like a Kennedy."
"Nope, still a random statement, and just as useless."I'm not gonna lie, when I first saw the whole Troy-Abed body switching thing…..I thought this episode was gonna be really dumb. Like a bit being taken too far to the point of annoyance.
But I was pleasantly surprised! It delved into Troy's insecurites, and there was just....so many good emotional moments. I mean, I wasn't really a fan of the pairing to begin with, but the break-up was.....sad.
The Dean as Jeff was completely amazing, too. Jeff's reactions were priceless. -
This season has been pretty good at announcing an episode, and then surprising us with how they do the concept. Though, your milage may vary.
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Handsome man save me from the monsters.
Avatar credits to rcerione
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"Little Annie Aderall. Was an outcast in high school."
BTW I've always wondered, how did Simmons get to know about that?
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man, i don't get how she was soo unpopular in high school, cuz she is still soo freakin hot, even as a so called "nerdy" girl. I don't think there is a way to make allison brie any less attractive :wub:
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Man, I think she's more attractive in high school. But I've always admire the messy long hair and the type of outfit she's wearing.
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There's just no way to make Brie unattractive. Even as Samara in "Paranormal Parentage" she was cute. It just not possible.
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Reddit has been picking this apart, a few people are upset shot's not fat, because of a throw-away line of "She as heavier in high school."
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Reddit has been picking this apart, a few people are upset shot's not fat, because of a throw-away line of "She as heavier in high school."
I'm a little upset with that too. There was the whole plot point where Jeff's friend Alan didn't recognize her because she lost a lot of weight since then. Although I guess its possible she put it on after her breakdown. Will investigate further.
Still, I was looking forward to Brie in a fatsuit lol.
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Yeah they can just say she gained the weight when she dropped out of school she got depressed and gained weight. I never pictured her fat either, just a little chubby
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Yeah. This episode is going to piss off a whole lot of people.
Hang in there, Kierkegaard.
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Yeah. This episode is going to piss off a whole lot of people.
I'm already fuming. Only thing I've liked so far was that Shirley was rocking the Michelle look. That was clever. Everything else not so much.
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Hoo boy.
I'm actually fine with this, but this episode seems designed to piss off the Harmonites.
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"This better not awaken anything in me.."
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Okay, that Pierce bit got a laugh out of me.
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@Nex:
"This better not awaken anything in me.."
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
That was my biggest laugh in the episode. Direct callback to the dalmatian line.
I enjoyed the episode, though the froyo scene was pretty ham-handed. Had Good Jeff, Good Abed, and some good callbacks that worked (and a lot that didn't). In terms of the larger continuity, only issue I had was that the "destiny" storyline interferes with the whole "random group of people becoming family" thing, which I will acknowledge is a strong and legitimate complaint. But the whole issue of interfering with the individual backstories somewhat…eh, don't care.
Hang in there, Kierkegaard. -
In terms of the larger continuity, only issue I had was that the "destiny" storyline interferes with the whole "random group of people becoming family" thing, which I will acknowledge is a strong and legitimate complaint.
This didn't bother me as much because Abed actually pointed it out.
And I could care less about all the backstory tweaking, this episode was a blast. It was funny and I was interested to see where it was going.
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Oh, by the way, I lay claim to hating the finale more than anyone else in advance. Dibs.
Carry on.
Hang in there, Kierkegaard. -
That was my biggest laugh in the episode. Direct callback to the dalmatian line.
But the thing is, that's when all of this was supposed to have been awoken in him. He was never in weird outfits before then. It was all an escalation of the dalmatian stuff.
I'm not a fan of the "all of our heroes were always destined to meet" storyline. If it's set up from the beginning, sure I can get behind it. But this episode was like the writer's new all the stuff I would hate and crammed it into one episode. It's so obviously not what Harmon would have wanted or done. I guess Ganz didn't have as much control as I was hoping for.
Next week's episode looks terrible. And why do people keep forgetting that Chang tried to kill them all?
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@Nex:
I'm not a fan of the "all of our heroes were always destined to meet" storyline. If it's set up from the beginning, sure I can get behind it. But this episode was like the writer's new all the stuff I would hate and crammed it into one episode. It's so obviously not what Harmon would have wanted or done. I guess Ganz didn't have as much control as I was hoping for.
Oh, come on, now this is just a copout. Your basic logic chain is "I love Megan Ganz!"->"I did not love this episode!"->"She must not have had anything to do with this!" I'm inclined to think she probably had a lot to do with this episode. It's got more in common with Remedial Chaos Theory than a lot of the other eps.
I do agree that this isn't what Harmon would have wanted or done, but it's not his show any more. He was fired. This isn't being run as a trust in his name. Ganz understands that. The other writers understand that. They need to keep in line with some of the original intent, sure, but it's their playground now.
And next week's episode looks terrible. And why do people keep forgetting that Chang tried to kill them all?
Even in the main run, how many important and critical moments did everyone forget? Hell, there's a whole gag about that with the zombie episode. Hey, remember when Abed and Troy pretty much irreparably damaged their relationship in the Civil War episode? Yeah, that lasted less than an episode.
Hang in there, Kierkegaard. -
Oh, come on, now this is just a copout. Your basic logic chain is "I love Megan Ganz!"->"I did not love this episode!"->"She must not have had anything to do with this!" I'm inclined to think she probably had a lot to do with this episode. It's got more in common with Remedial Chaos Theory than a lot of the other eps.
I do agree that this isn't what Harmon would have wanted or done, but it's not his show any more. He was fired. This isn't being run as a trust in his name. Ganz understands that. The other writers understand that. They need to keep in line with some of the original intent, sure, but it's their playground now.
Ganz has stated that she isn't exactly happy where this season of Community ended up, and looking at all of her efforts coming into this season, and "Paranormal Parentage," it's clear that the issue is not with her. It's with the new showrunners. I had just hoped that the surviving crew would have been able to steer the show in a more Community direction. Instead of a "Community" direction. Those are sarcastic quotes…
Even in the main run, how many important and critical moments did everyone forget? Hell, there's a whole gag about that with the zombie episode. Hey, remember when Abed and Troy pretty much irreparably damaged their relationship in the Civil War episode? Yeah, that lasted less than an episode.
The Zombie thing was forgotten because it could not happen, but even then it was referenced in season 3, and the events of the night were a major plot point for the remainder of season 2. And Abed and Troy's whole relation changed after that episode. It was subtly, like them switching roles in "Basic Lupine Urology" but the changes were there. Nothing that happened ever came close to Chang trying to murder everyone. Even Jeff has swept it under the rug at this point, and it seems like no one will ever learn that Chang is still at fault. Sure, they can forgive him, but have it be real, instead of faked.
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Everyone legitimately thinks or would rather believe that Chang has forgotten about trying to kill them. That was established in the Changnesia episode, whether you buy it or not. Ken Jeong was under contract for this season and they had 13 episodes to get him back in Greendale.
Also, Troy and Abed in no way irreparably damaged their relationship. They said some terrible, true things to each other and feelings were hurt, but ultimately decided they would rather hit each other with pillows for eternity than stop hanging out. I don't know why people expected things to be strained between the two after that. Has no one else had a nasty fight with their best friend?
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Everyone legitimately thinks or would rather believe that Chang has forgotten about trying to kill them. That was established in the Changnesia episode, whether you buy it or not. Ken Jeong was under contract for this season and they had 13 episodes to get him back in Greendale.
I'm all for Chang being back. I'm all for Changnesia. I liked that episode quite a bit. I'm not for it all being swept under the rug, which is what's happening. Abed gave him the official bill of forgiveness this episode, and no one knows he was playing them all.
It feels so weird to be ranting about Communtiy. Every thing feels out of balance in the unviverse.
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@Nex:
Ganz has stated that she isn't exactly happy where this season of Community ended up, and looking at all of her efforts coming into this season, and "Paranormal Parentage," it's clear that the issue is not with her. It's with the new showrunners. I had just hoped that the surviving crew would have been able to steer the show in a more Community direction. Instead of a "Community" direction. Those are sarcastic quotes…
Breathe, Nex, breathe. I could find a half dozen quotes in this thread where you've been mostly satisfied with the direction of the season. By and large, it's been better than expected, especially after the first half. It'll be OK.
Well, except for the finale. That might end everything.
And Abed and Troy's whole relation changed after that episode. It was subtly, like them switching roles in "Basic Lupine Urology" but the changes were there.
In my opinion, only because you were looking for them. I hated the Civil War episode because Abed and Troy were so cruel to each other, and even if there were "subtle" changes…you don't recover that quickly.
In the end, this is a sitcom. It's a particularly clever sitcom, but it's always had the "twenty-two minute problem/solution" arc and then collective amnesia. Yes, I know of the Dan Harmon Plot Circle, but by the end of the third season, Jeff was still struggling with being a dick, Abed was still offputting and awkward, Annie was a goody-goody, etc. It's how it works.
Nothing that happened ever came close to Chang trying to murder everyone. Even Jeff has swept it under the rug at this point, and it seems like no one will ever learn that Chang is still at fault. Sure, they can forgive him, but have it be real, instead of faked.
Nothing except…well...zombies.
Sorry, I still have issues with the zombie episode.
I do find it refreshing that I'm now defending the show from your attacks. ROLE REVERSAL
Love you, Nex.
Hang in there, Kierkegaard. -
@Nex:
I'm all for Chang being back. I'm all for Changnesia. I liked that episode quite a bit. I'm not for it all being swept under the rug, which is what's happening. Abed gave him the official bill of forgiveness this episode, and no one knows he was playing them all.
It feels so weird to be ranting about Communtiy. Every thing feels out of balance in the unviverse.
I'm not saying they didn't sweep it under the rug. I'm saying they had thirteen episodes to show what Chang has been up to, what his connection to Dean Spreck was, why he wanted to come back, why anyone in the right mind would let him come back, and then give him something to do once he returned. They did the bare minimum here and devoted only one episode to it. They devoted about as much time as they should have to Chang. This wasn't enough time to make his return that believable, like you said, but with the 13 episode limit they didn't really have a choice. Chang is not the focus of the show and they shouldn't have used anymore time on him then they did. They did a decent job tying up all the loose ends for what they were expecting to be the final season (even though it probably won't be).
I still believe the biggest problem with this season (which I've really enjoyed overall) is the half order of episodes it got.
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Breathe, Nex, breathe. I could find a half dozen quotes in this thread where you've been mostly satisfied with the direction of the season. By and large, it's been better than expected, especially after the first half. It'll be OK.
Well, except for the finale. That might end everything.
There have been a few episodes I legitimately liked: "Paranormal Parentage," "Herstory of Dance," and "Basic Human Anatomy" all jump to mind as stand outs. But I've also been in denial, because this is my favorite show. Ever. The first three season I consider to be the best to ever grace the television screen. Yes, I am mostly alone in that view, but my love of this show that great. So I've been desperately trying to retain my sunny outlook on the show. It's still good (tonight's was the first episode I have ever truly disliked of any season of Community) but everything is below par.
For me the episode that did me in was "Introduction to Knots." I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday (technically a close second to Halloween) mainly due to the season, and I have always thought that Community's Christmas episodes stood out among the attempts other shows make during the season. They've always been bleak and dark, but also joyous and hopeful in the end. They've always spoke to that idea that even the darkest and coldest nights are still bright and warm during Christmas. "Knots" failed to do so though.
And then there was this episode. But I've already gone into detail enough about that.
I've watched every episode from Community's first three seasons at least 5 times, more going back to season 2 and then even more to 1, as I had more time to spend with those episodes. The difference is, this season, outside of the three episodes I have names, I have felt no need to go back and watch any of the episodes. Hell, I don't even always make sure I catch it when it's on anymore.
In my opinion, only because you were looking for them. I hated the Civil War episode because Abed and Troy were so cruel to each other, and even if there were "subtle" changes…you don't recover that quickly.
My best friend and I have gotten into 2 fights where we went nuclear. One time we had someone there to help reconstruction a la Jeff, the other time we had to do it alone. It took us some time after each: a month from the first (us alone) and then a month after that we blew up again. This time, with the help of my fiance, we were put back together. That was four years ago. Right after we started college together. I don't see it ever happening again. Both times served to only strengthen our friendship. He is going to be my best man come my wedding in October, and I'm not sure if he and I would still be side to side today if we didn't have those fights.
In the end, this is a sitcom. It's a particularly clever sitcom, but it's always had the "twenty-two minute problem/solution" arc and then collective amnesia. Yes, I know of the Dan Harmon Plot Circle, but by the end of the third season, Jeff was still struggling with being a dick, Abed was still offputting and awkward, Annie was a goody-goody, etc. It's how it works.
To be fair, his plot circles for TV always stated that in the end, nothing was allowed to change, as otherwise you would not have your show anymore. My issue is, by the end of season three, Jeff had obviously changed. He threw away his career for Shirley. Mitosis. It was repeated throughout the finale, and it was the core idea of not just season three, but the whole series.
And then season 4 pretended like it never happened. Outside of the whole Abed trying to saw off Jeff's arm.
I do find it refreshing that I'm now defending the show from your attacks. ROLE REVERSAL
Love you, Nex.
It's certainly backwards.
Here's an offering a continual peace:
[hide]
[/hide]Love you too, Tatermoog.
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The Sidelining of Pierce was most evident in this ep. I did enjoy this ep, and feel people are nitpicking certain complaints (I always felt Dean's "awakening" line referred to something more specific when it was first used, this one was a nice callback to that)
I'm most disappointed that Chang was actually talking to City College's Dean like I was hoping it wouldn't be. The proposed "maybe he's not talking to anyone" hint from the producers a week or so ago was more intriguing.
Really REALLY REALLY dreading next week's ep by how it looks from the teaser.
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Oh, by the way, I lay claim to hating the finale more than anyone else in advance. Dibs.
Carry on.
Do not take this away from me.
Because words cannot describe how bad the finale looks.
Overall, I enjoyed this episode. I liked little nods here and there. And while it completely ruins the original set up of the show; something about Chang bringing the all together is kind of nice.
P.S. I didn't get to watch live, I'm moving and some friends took me to the Derby Fair as a good-bye thing. And the recorder malfunction and I could only hear the background audio for the middle third. So like I couldn't hear them at the table or at the party; but I could hear the background people chanting and going "Oh no, Troy!"
