NBC’s ‘Community’ season 4, episode 11 review: Donald Glover (as Abed) is brilliant
There have been times on “Community” this season where we have questioned some things the show is doing, in particular with some of the earlier episodes that were quite frankly dull as dirt. We wish that the show had led off with some episodes like Thursday’s “Basic Human Anatomy,” as it was without a doubt our favorite of the season. Not only that, but it could hold its own against some of the average episodes of the Dan Harmon era, even if it falls short of the classics.
First, let us eulogize the bizarre but appropriate way in which Britta and Troy broke up with Troy and Abed swapping bodies as a “Freaky Friday” tribute. What was great about the way Jim Rash wrote this was that the bit was fully committed until the end, and the illusion of fantasy was kept. Meanwhile, what was also great was the reasoning behind it: Troy was scared to break up with Britta, and he thought it would be better if it was Troy within the body of Abed. (How brilliant were Donald Glover and Danny Pudi as each other?)
In eulogizing Britta and Troy as a couple, we are sad to see them end, but largely because the show never really did anything with their potential. The new showrunners did not really give us any buildup to the coupling this season, and it was thus hard to tell stories about them.
The other story that was particularly roll-on-the-floor funny was Rash giving himself a great Dean story, as he pretended to switch bodies with Jeff, even if Jeff didn’t want anything to do with it. That led to the Dean actually becoming so committed to it that he forced Leonard to give up his valedictorian spot, and we got a great “shut up, Leonard” line to boot. Our conclusion at the end of this? That Rash should write as many episodes as humanly possible.
What did you think about this week’s “Community”? Was it the best of the season from your standpoint? If you want to hear what the show’s bosses have to say about the upcoming finale, you can do so over here.
Photo: NBC
Sadly Nostalgic
April 26, 2013 @ 2:03 am
“Best of the season” really isn’t saying much, is it? Despite Jim’s excellent writing, this was another horrible excuse for my favorite show. Why is Jeff constantly irrationally angry? Why is Annie suddenly a 14-year-old Jeff Beiber fan? NBC has accomplished what it set out to do with this season: sat on and killed the edgiest parts of Community’s plot lines that made it was it was–controversial and genius. Jeff/Annie shippers: don’t bother watching the last 2. If you haven’t spotted it yet, Jeff will finally give Annie the boot for being too young and Britta will become the main target.
I have to ask myself: would it have been better for Community to go the way of Arrested Development?
Poika
April 26, 2013 @ 3:43 am
GAAAAHHHH I am so tired of the WHERE IS DAN HARMON crowd? I recognize that this season hasn’t been perfect, but Jeff has been irrationally angry and Annie has been a 14 year old Bieber fan since season one- whether it be Troy or Jeff. And, also, I’ve been reading these garbage reviews since season one. I sincerely thought that this was one of the more solid episodes of this season, and I feel there have been a few solid ones.
Chris
April 27, 2013 @ 5:56 pm
This season was as solid as my morning crap. Which is to say, not very.
Seriously, I can’t even rewatch the older seasons of Community anymore because the new showrunners ran so many old jokes into the ground (the Dean likes Jeff!, the darkest timeline, etc.) and made the characters so unlikeable.
billyboyd
April 29, 2013 @ 7:42 pm
Whatever. The ratio of good/decent/bad episodes has skewed a bit negatively, but this week’s episode was the bomb. If you don’t enjoy the season, don’t watch it– the concessions you bemoan are the only reason it’s on TV, so if you don’t watch it then you can retain the moral high ground along with your smugness– and we can all win.
Paul James
April 29, 2013 @ 9:30 pm
Really?! As has been mentioned, Jeff’s an angry man – always has been. Off the top of my head we’ve seen him lose the plot and take an axe to the study room table; indulge in an almighty sulk because a doctor told him his cholesterol was a little high; tear up the study room carpet in a frustrated frenzy; yell an old man to death; and drive himself to the brink of insanity because somebody else was better at pottery than him. All of these things happened pre-season 4, and, personally, I can’t remember him doing anything nearly so insane as any of that this season. In this episode he’s fairly understandably annoyed because there’s work the group needs to do in order for him to get the passing grade that he’s worked for years towards, but Troy and Abed’s Freaky Friday bit is getting in the way.
Annie, as has also been mentioned, has, since the beginning, consistently been rendered moist before any man who behaves like an obnoxious prick. Besides Jeff and Troy, we could mention Abed, when he’s pretending to be some character who’s an obnoxious prick, and Vaughn.
I agree that the characters have been subtly, but quite discernibly off through most of this season. The writing’s been uninspiring; stories have seemed hurried; there’s been little to no character/plot/relationship developement; and none of the fascinating character exploration of earlier seasons. Episode themes have been established, then all but ignored (in much the same way as Troy and Britta’s relationship was); fairly pointless filler episode has followed fairly pointless filler episode; and the generally rather weak laughs have been few and far between.
This is hardly all that surprising, though – the show’s main writer was sacked, and half the writing staff left with him, and to be fair the quality has improved in recent weeks to a watch-able standard (although I really wasn’t a fan of that muppet episode).
I don’t think many would disagree that season 4 has been weak, but I totally agree with the reviewer – this episode was a real return to form. The characters seemed themselves again, rather than the shallow caricatures they’d become; the story was well-paced; the Freaky Friday theme was properly integrated, committed to, and appropriate to the plot; there were several truly awesome performances from the cast; and the jokes (none of which, I believe, were old ones re-hashed from earlier seasons) got probably the first real, proper, joyful laughs of the season from me.
I really feel that the old seasons 1-3 spirit was back in this one. For me it felt really good to watch what felt like a real new episode of Community (rather than the strained impersonations that have filled the rest of the season). It’s returned my faith in the show, and I now really hope that it’s allowed to continue, and, as the reviewer said, that Jim Rash is allowed to contribute as much to the writing process as humanly possible. Seriously, my respect for him just went through the roof!
Brian Fewer
April 26, 2013 @ 1:22 am
Community is mirroring The Dow. Last week it plummeted so low that I thought it would never recover, but they quickly brought it back up to par. Thank you Rash for convincing me not to sell my stock in this great show.