Community Season 4 Episode 13 Recap

Community

Season 4 Episode 13 Recap

Advanced Introduction to Finality

Wow, so this is it, the beginning of the end.  I got a little misty-eyed during this ep. I don’t want things to change, especially since they've been renewed. 

Jeff is finally graduating.  He’s offered a position at his old firm and he decides to take the job. The group plans a wedding-like graduation ceremony for him.  Later with Britta he says he’s worried about the group if he leaves, especially Abed.  Britta assures him Abed has made progress and hasn’t even brought up the darkest timeline.

The following day, Jeff pops in and discusses who gets the sodas by rolling for it. He tosses the die in the air and it lands on its side. Abed panics and leaves feeling this may have caused something. Later, while Dean Pelton has his back turned, a nearly naked Evil Jeff spawns in his office and runs out. As he is at his locker, Evil Annie appears with his mechanical arm. Evil Jeff plans to make Good Jeff take the job and leave his friends behind. Evil Jeff and Evil Annie set out to turn the group against Good Jeff. One by one, as he impersonates Good Jeff, he makes the group angry at him to where they don’t show up to the party. Abed is the only one to know that he has encountered Evil Jeff. Evil Jeff zaps Abed with a paintball warp gun and sends him to the darkest timeline.

Jeff shows up to his party where no one is there and he is confused when he see Annie in a tight, red, strapless dress.  She hands him his phone (the she stole earlier) and pushes him to call Mark and take his old job back. Jeff refuses. Evil Jeff shows up and attempts to send Good Jeff to the darkest timeline but at the last second, Chang jumps in front of the shot. Chang is never mentioned is this ep again.

In the darkest timeline, Abed finds Evil Abed or just regular Abed.  He dropped the evil and has focused on making his timeline brighter. Formerly Evil Abed equips Good Abed with warp paintball guns and sends him back to the good timeline.

Jeff finds the others and tries to explain that it’s Evil Jeff that insulted them. They don’t believe until Abed shows up with Evil Dean and zaps him to the darkest timeline as a demonstration.  The group arms themselves and hurries off to the cafeteria.

In the cafeteria, the Evil gang is already there looking for them. Evil Pierce gets tricked into zapping himself back to his timeline. Evil Britta clumsily does the same. The Shirleys, the Troys, and the Annies take on one another with the Good version winning in each scene. It comes down to Jeff versus Evil Jeff. With Abed’s telling Jeff that none of this is real, Jeff comes out to face Evil Jeff. Evil Jeff shoots and Good Jeff stops the bullet with his mind and then zaps Evil Jeff. Jeff plucks the paintball out of the air and is now back in the study room holding the die. He realizes it doesn’t matter who brings sodas or what as long as he celebrates with friends.

The next scene is Jeff’s graduation ceremony which is extremely similar to a wedding ceremony. The Greendale Human Being is standing next to Jeff, for some reason, and Dean is officiating. The ceremony is interrupted by Pierce who has decided that he wants to graduate first.

At the reception, Jeff thinks he may take a job at a local firm. If he does, he can pop in any time and visit the group. Man, that sounds so final. I haven’t really prepared myself to let go.

High Points

Dean Pelton had the best lines and delivery this episode. “Oooh, burn on Britta” “Catherine do not EVEN tell me you dropped that cake!” Those are just a couple of gems uttered by my favorite character. 

Predictions

Well since Chang is in the Darkest Timeline,  I think Evil Chang might come through and wreak havoc.

Any other predictions that I didn't think of?

Community Season 4 Episode 12 Recap

Community

Season 4 Episode 12 Recap

Heroic Origins

The season is getting better. I loved last episode but this recent ep was up to par as well. Again the gang, minus Pierce, is in their usual room studying for this history final. Pierce is not present due to a kidney donation. Jeff tries to keep the everyone focused but Abed cut in that he has been studying history……their history.

Without getting too specific and detailed, Abed basically proved that they have all crossed paths before going to Greendale. I’ll try to make it easy with a bullet list:

• Annie (nerdy pill popper) and Troy (super popular athlete) went to high school together (we all know this)
• Shirley was at the mall buying lingerie for Andre (their anniversary) on the very same day that Abed was there.
• Britta was at the courthouse with her anarchists group the “an-HER-chists” at the same time as Jeff. Jeff won the ever-important case for a stripper named Misty. Britta actually thanked Jeff for defending women’s rights. A few minutes later Britt’s group dissolves and leaves her alone.
• Back in the study room Shirley realizes that Misty is the stripper that cheated with Andre. If he hadn’t won the case Misty would be locked up for tax evasion and would not have met Andre. Abed excitedly cuts in “Jeff ends Shirley’s marriage”. An upset Shirley accuses Jeff of ruining her marriage. Jeff interjects that the win didn’t do him any favors. It was to “make” his career but made him a target instead.
• Back in time Jeff is celebrating with Misty and one of the partners of the law firm.  He dismissed Misty to have a word with Jeff and informs him that there is a rumor that he does not have his degree and cannot practice until it’s sorted.
  
• In present time Shirley and Jeff exchange words. Troy voices that he thinks it’s cool they are connected and he’s willing to forgive Annie for wrecking high school. Annie is surprised.
• Flashback to a high school party. Troy does a keg flip and fakes a career-ending injury. Why? Well earlier that night when Troy wins all high school superlatives, including Most Likely To Succeed, Annie cracks and hurls insults that wound Troy to the core. After her tirade she runs screaming right through a sliding glass door and jumps a fence. Two balloons pop right next to Magnitude and a simple yet effective catchphrase is born.
• In the study room Shirley wants to stop this as it shows how fragile happiness. She regrets leaving Andre at the restaurant, where he met Misty, to go pick up the kids. Abed suddenly realizes that he was at the mall with her kids.
• Flashback to Abed at the theater talking to Shirley’s kids. He goes off on a rant about how they are stupid for want to see a Star Wars prequel. They call Shirley to come get them because some strange man frightened them.
• Abed has to get court ordered therapy because Shirley chewed out the theater and the theater obtained a restraining order against Abed. As he and his dad walk into the therapist’s office we see Annie hiding and Abed mentioning to the doc “someone just stole your prescription pad”. Annie sneaks out into the hallway and runs into Britta liberating a monkey.
  
• In present time, Abed comes to the conclusion that he was the bad guy in the study group. Jeff says they’ve all made bad decisions, but the real villain is him.
• We flash back to the restaurant where Jeff pushes Misty to go back and talk to a married guy at the restaurant.
• Back in the room the group is unsettled and everyone, but Abed, leaves bummed out.
• Abed decides to get yogurt in the mall. As he sits there sadly, Jeff joins him. Then Shirley comes out of nowhere and asks to sit there as well. She forgives Jeff as he is not that guy anymore. Britta and Annie show up followed by Troy. Troy says this is the place where he first decided to go to Greendale. Everyone states that’s the place where they, too, decided to go to Greendale.
• We flash to the mall where Dean and Chang are passing out flyers for Greendale. Shirley upset that she can’t return her lingerie throws it to the ground. Dean walks by and picks it up and something stirs inside him. Chang goes and passes out flyers at the yogurt place. The whole gang is there at their own tables.  They look at Chang’s flyers and resolve to go to Greendale. Chevy Chase makes a brief appearance as the guy who broke the yogurt machine that day.
• In present time Abed suddenly realizes who really got the group together. He runs off and gets Chang and invites him for yogurt. Chang melts because this is all he ever wanted.
  
  The new Greendale Seven?

The side plot is Chang conversing with the Dean of City College (called it). The two were going to take down Greendale. Later that day Chang is in the registration office with Dean and he’s sealing a lease renewal for Greendale. It is über important that the renewal goes out that day and he entrusts it in Chang’s hands. After being let in the group he has a change of heart and mails the lease. He then calls Dean Spreck and tells him that he it out of the deal and hangs up. Dean Spreck moves on to Plan B which, according to blueprints, involves a giant spider.

High Points:

Britta and Annie’s 2008 looks were awesome! Plus as a comic book reader, I enjoyed the artwork in between scenes.

Predictions:

The study group will face off with their alternate timeline counterparts.

If last week’s ep was a 9, this week’s was an 8. Which is fine with me as they should never dip below a 6. And this season has had some 2’s and 3’s.

The Novela Formula

It starts off wonderful when we get really hooked on a show. Season one is great, you’re connecting with the characters, the season finale was a cliffhanger and the WHAM, season two doesn’t look so hot. It’s a mess actually. You get ticked off and start going on the show’s Facebook page or GetGlue to vent about how the writers are ruining the show.

Corporate wasn’t sure about season 1 but when they see how much a following the show has and they start making changes. Writers are fired. New characters are brought in. People start dying or getting pregnant. Essentially, it’s the love of money that ruins a show. They begin to see how long they can drag out a certain plot or just switch the pace entirely.

This is quite the opposite with Spanish novelas. All novelas have an expiration date. You know it’s going to happen and all loose ends will be tied. Our favorite shows now could be greatly enhanced if we started taking this approach. We get a steady pace, an awesome ending and the actors can walk away from a show proud of it. There are a few shows this could benefit from and some shows that probably would be better off going as long as they can. Examples below:

Once Upon A Time is a show that can’t go on forever. I mean, it can, but it will start to suck. This is a 4 season show, maximum. And I think I was too generous with a fourth season.  How long can they keep going ‘round and ‘round with Regina?

Hart of Dixie is one that I’m on the fence about. We could get a conclusive ending if they were to pursue only the love angle, but it could go on for a while if they started focusing a little more on the medical emergencies. Then again, how many emergencies will happen in a small town?

Community should have an expiration date as well. Six seasons and movie; real fans know why. Also six seasons because they will have to graduate eventually. Although I’m not sure how we can keep them in college those additional 2 years….

I’m 50/50 about Vampire Diaries.  Should Elena just choose a brother and then wrap it up? Or should they go on for a while with a new villain coming out every season? That’s what they have been doing for so far. Season 1 was about Katherine. Then season 2 the scarier villain was Klaus of whom Katherine was afraid.  Now in season 3 we have Silas and he frightens even Klaus. I’m seeing a pattern here. And I think they should make a lateral move with the villains. Things will soon change now that The Originals will have a spin off and I’m eagerly awaiting that premier.

Big Bang Theory can go on for years. Some say it has jumped the shark, others still say it’s fresh.  Sitcoms like this usually don’t get stale quickly. The cast seems to be growing nicely and transitions are smooth.

Psych is another show that won’t peak quickly.  It’s mainly because every episode is a different but believable case.

Happy Endings can go on for decades.  I can’t even put into words how hilarious the writers/actors have made this show.

Those are just a few samples of shows I threw out there. I’d like to know what everyone thinks.  What causes a show to jump the shark and what can writers do to keep it from happening?

Community Season 4 Episode 11 Recap

Community 

Season 4 Episode 11 Recap

"Basic Human Anatomy"

This past Thursday’s ep was hilars. One of the funniest ones so far. It opened with the group deciding what their group project for history was going to be. They decide on banners because Jeff wants “doable and passable” and also Annie and Shirley both want an A since they are both in the running for valedictorian.

Shirley mentions that it’s Britta and Troy’s anniversary of their first date. Of course Britta and Troy don’t even remember their anniversary and were put on the spot.  But Troy does remember that it’s third anniversary of Abed and he watching Freaky Friday. As a gift, he presented Abed a slew of body switching movies. Abed rifles through them and comes across the original "Freaky Friday". Both lament how the other has it easier and they both grab the DVD and fake body switching as a janitor flips the switch on and off during a “routine light switch check”.

The following morning Troy and Abed start the day as if they had switched bodies. This means that Abed is really going on the date with Britta. And by the way, Donald Glover did an outstanding job playing Troy-as-Abed. Danny Pudi didn’t impress me as much playing Abed-as-Troy but he’s so great in everything else that this is forgivable.

Jeff is irritated at the bit that Troy and Abed have committed to and he finds the dean. Dean tricks him into saying the same phrase as Troy and Abed and holds the DVD with Jeff. He does a fake body switch of his own with Jeff looking at him weirdly. Another “routine light switch check” goes on while this happens.  Jim Rash nailed it as Jeff!  He had the deep voice, the arrogance and even pretended to be on a Blackberry. After Jeff leaves, Annie and Shirley show up to find out why Leonard is ahead of them in the running for valedictorian. Dean-as-Jeff tells them Leonard has been taking easy classes and Annie is visibly attracted to him. I gotta admit………..so was I. Dean-as-Jeff rips off his shirt and hunts down Leonard who leaves. Not sure if that meant he was dropping out of school or what.

Abed-as-Troy is on the date with Britta and she slowly starts to realize that this bit is just Troy acting out because he doesn’t know how to break up with her. I kind of felt bad for Britta.

Jeff finds Troy-as-Abed and tries to get him to drop the bit. Realizing that he has to play along, he goes with Troy-as-Abed to find the missing DVD so they can “switch” back. While searching for the DVD Troy-as-Abed starts talking about how Troy wants to break up with Britta. Jeff is moved and takes Troy-as-Abed to the restaurant where Britta and Abed-as-Troy are on their date. The duo holds on to the DVD (that Troy pulls out of the backpack because he had it the entire time) and they switch back. Jeff succumbs to the bit and does the routine light switch check at the restaurant.

Everyone goes back to the study room to find that Pierce has done the project and it turned out pretty good.  We close with Britta and Troy hugging and knowing that everything is okay. This will ensure that there will be no awkwardness in future episodes.

With Chevy leaving the show, Pierce had a small part in the episode. The phasing out continues. If the next episodes are as funny as this one, then it won't be as painful. 

Again, I loved this episode. It had some of the formulas that worked in previous eps:

• Jeff was being cynical, sarcastic, selfish and on the blackberry. Then he has a revelation towards the end and shares his nuggets of wisdom with the others.
• Troy and Abed were awesomely weird.
• Annie was wound tightly. Yay!

High Points:

The Dean’s monologue about “body switching” with Jeff and referring to Jeff being “inside” of him had me dying!

Predictions:

The race between Annie and Shirley is going to get ugly.

There you have it Delta Cubes, looks like we are back on track. I knew it would get better. Next episode let’s all wear Delta Cube shirts while watching it. Just kidding, looking for a Delta Cube shirt sounds like work. But, I’ll probably make popcorn or something.

Community Season 4 Episode 10 Recap

Community 

Season 4 Episode 10 Recap

"Intro To Knots"

It’s Christmas and Jeff’s having a party! Wait, what? I feel like this was shown out of order and that this should have been aired after the Thanksgiving ep with Jeff reuniting with his father and Shirley having a disastrous Thanksgiving of her own.

All continuity aside, Annie blows in Jeff's crib and starts adding her own touches. The rest of the Greendale 6 (no Pierce, sad face) arrive and Annie informs them that they have failed their history paper. Jeff is upset as he is attempting to graduate early.

But have no fear; Annie has invited Cornwallis to the par-tay! The plan is to talk him into a higher grade. Jeff botches the plan and Cornwallis ends up tied to a chair as they force him to up their grade. Cornwallis takes it upon himself to manipulate the group into betraying one another as the person who will untie him gets an A while the rest fail. In the end, Jeff, with his wise words, says they will not betray one another.  Cornwallis was never tied and confessed to being lonely this holiday and that’s the reason he attended the soiree. Also it is revealed that Shirley is in the running for valedictorian. I did not see that coming. 

High points: Abed in the Die Hard shirt and Chang asking “Is this a card?” Those were the only laugh out loud parts for me but that’s two more than last week.

Predictions: This isn't really a prediction just a hope. And it’s that Chang will be the new 7^th person in the Greendale 7. We just have to get past his hatred of the group. Also I think he’s working with the Dean of City College.

While this wasn't a stellar episode it was certainly a step up from last week’s ep. There were glimmers of the old Community here and there and I still have high hopes the show can become as great as it once was.  It’s just painfully obvious that they are still working out the glitches of having new writers and dealing with Chevy Chase’s departure.

I say that we soldier on through this season! Until next time Greendale Humans!

Community Season 4 Episode 9 Recap

"Intro to Felt Surrogacy" 

aka The Puppet Episode

We open in the study room where the gang avoids eye contact with one another and no one is speaking. Dean busts through the door and suggests puppet therapy to discuss what happened and for us to discover what happened too.

They reveal that they were tired of being in a rut and decided to go on an adventure. The puppets get on a hot air balloon that the guide manages to miss.  They’re all frightened and think death is near. Then the balloon begins to descend. They end up in a wooded area and mountain man played by Jason Alexander (with longish hair) shows up and gives them berries that make them hallucinate.

This is all being told to Dean and Shirley is the first to reveal her secret that she spilled that night.  So that’s what it was about, everyone’s awkward secrets.  They all look at Shirley with surprised faces and come to find out, no one heard her secret. As the group discusses what happened they find that no one heard one another’s secrets. Everyone but Shirley is relieved. Shirley pulls a guilt trip and now they have to reveal their awkward skeletons in their closet.

I’m not even going to get into what the secrets were because I was a little disappointed in this episode. It felt like a rush ep to replace another one that had gotten trashed. Or as my friend Alex said “They’re just phoning it in”. Pierce was notably absent in this ep, except in puppet form which does go with my theory that this was a rush episode.

Community will get a pass from me on this one because I know they can do way better than this and there had to be circumstances unbeknownst to us as to why this was shot and aired.

I still have love for them! It sometimes gets worse before it gets better. Until next time Greendalers.