Community (Season 4): The Darkest Timeline - Page 7

I really liked the Burn Notice line.  I guess. 

I thought that maybe i didn't like this episode because i am somewhat over-sensitive, being a german after all, but on the other hand i thought that the wicked side-gag about trying to (tear-)gas the germans was one of the best.

 

This episode just didn't gel for me and what's more alarming - it felt lazy: you would imagine that this show would find some way to not rely on nazi jokes alone. or use that stuff more cleverly. and they even got the cliches wrong: what's the cliche about "perfectly crafted timepieces"? they are from switzerland, not germany. 

If Harmon was still there, I might give that line the benefit of the doubt and say that it was part of the joke.  Now, rationally or irrationally, I agree that it just seems lazy.

 

I don't know. This does not sound like a mistake Jeff would make... more like Pierce or Troy.

WOW! This latest episode makes me embarrassed for the actors, I feel terrible that they have to try and work with such crap writing. I thought I saw a glimmer of hope last week, but this was a chore to sit through. I was going to stick it out, now I'm not so sure. What a depressing end to a really enjoyable show.

4 episodes into the new season & I can justifiably call it "lifeless as shit".

Shut it down, guys. It's over.

I was keeping my fingers crossed that there was still some life left in the show post-Harmon but at this point I'm just watching out of morbid curiosity.  

It's a shame as there are little snippets of 'Classic Community' that peek through here and there.

 

They should end the series by having Abed 'wake up' and have this last season be a dream/nightmare. 

Yeah, he wakes up just as he's about to be electrocuted for going on a killing spree at Greendale. Now that would be a perfect exclamation point to end the show on.
 

Wow, the way you hate, it's just so creepy.

Or its not Abed who wakes up, but Danny Pudi.  After waking up he says to himself, "What a God awful dream. I hope Community never goes down the tubes that fast." He then gets a text informing him that Dan Harmon has been fired. This causes him to scream "Noooooo!" in such a overly dramatic fashion that the scene cuts to Hayden Christensen to opine that it was a tad over the top.

Or it turns out that the entire series was a pitch to NBC executives from the "real" Chevy Chase attempting to reignite his career with a "youth-y" TV show concept. Then we see Danny Pudi (as one of the execs) ask Chevy, "Which 'Ghostbuster' were you again? Pass.".

 

This is me being cynical. You don't want to see me when I've gone completely dark. 

 

Is it Dan Harmon dark? Because that shit is dark, according to his Tumblr, Reddit, and that magazine article someone posted earlier.

I think this is new...

 

 

Puppet-themed episode of 'Community' to air this spring

I'm surprised that the convention episode seemed to garner more praise than the last one.  Kroll's absence was felt, and the Chang stuff is just bad, but I got a big laugh out of the one guy gushing about there being "nearly 100 luftballoons!"

 

Looks promising. Those designs are excellent.

 

"The puppets — which were previewed at the panel — are designed and operated by Scott Johnson and Drew Massey, who gave similar treatment to David Boreanaz in an episode of Angel."

 

That's one hell of a coincidence.

I've yet to watch it, but the Paley fest panel is up on Hulu.

 

And in random six degrees of separation news, I just watched this interview with Brolin, where he says he took the role on his daughter's insistence.  I introduced my brother to the show a few years back, and he did the same with a bunch of college friends and acquaintances, one of whom, according to him, was said daughter... so... clearly I'm responsible for him being Jeff's dad.

 

Will it approach the dark brilliance of the stop-motion Christmas episode? I think we all know the answer to that. 

Because Alison Brie.

 

  I hoping Jeff reuniting with his father makes for a good episode.

I know I'll be watching.  So I can complain about it.

I just hope that if I have issues with the episode, other people will call me a hater and try to render my opinion invalid without responding to my criticisms!

Weird to follow up that post with this: That was easily the best episode of the season.

Yeah.  I... liked that one.

Despite the middling-to-bad Shawshank subplot, I pretty much agree. McHale had a really good one.

The Shawshank subplot was bad, but I admit that I liked Abed talking about not getting to do the Shawshank homage he wanted to. That kind of writing often feels lazy, but in this case, I admired the save. I thought that whole final narration was really well done.

 

The Britta in this episode was a stark reminder of how dumb the Britta-Troy relationship is. Also, Adam Devine has made me laugh, but I was lukewarm on him here. An interesting idea that didn't work.

 

Still, I thought McHale was great in this episode, and I found the scenes with his dad really affecting.

 I agree that everything with Jeff and his dad was good; especially when Jeff told him how much he wanted someone to care about him when he was growing up. Jeff giving the surprise Thanksgiving dinner was a nice touch. Everything else was very weak. I didn't laugh once. Brita referencing day time TV to prove a point didn't seem like something she would do. I always saw her as smart and well read; she just has trouble applying what she knows.

Well, one of the issues now is the characters are nope mostly broad ideas of who they used to be. That's why the Jeff stuff really worked tonight, it was felt more honest. And again, McHale is a very good actor.

I dunno, after three seasons of build up I don't think even the best Community episode would satisfy me.  Good try.

 

Oh, and Britta was a fucking cartoon estimation of what her character used to be.  Tone it down Gillian. 

It's not hard to imagine the excellent version of this episode, that was written by Harmon, shreds the Shirley story to nothing, features a better Britta performance (you're spot on there), and has BIll Murray as Paps Winger.

 

Could it have ever really happened? Probably not, so this'll suffice.

So they found the sad that had been missing... but then they forgot the funny. This was the first one I didn't laugh out loud a single time. Yet, it felt the most like a Harmon ep, because it felt as though there were genuine emotional stakes at hand (even the Shirley's house b-story wasn't a bad idea, just mishandled). If they can start putting these disparate pieces together into a single episode, they might have something.

 

And maybe it's just me, but I'm starting to see Chevy's point. Every character's been reduced to their basic element, and he may be getting marginilized 'cause no one likes Chevy, but Pierce's is the worst. By the end I was wondering if this was the ep that made him make the news again last year.

I thought both the stories hit their emotional beats well (particularly Jeff tearing down his dad by tearing down himself), but the only big laugh I got was Shirley muttering "I know what my house looks like" when Abed revealed his stomach map.  Best of the season so far.  

I laughed at "This is the Jonestown of dinners" but that was it.

Joel McHale and James Brolin were excellent and really elevated last night's episode. Otherwise, stuff is still falling flat and feels too sitcom-y for me. Abed commenting that The Shawshank Redemption bit goes nowhere just points out that The Shawshank Redemption bit goes nowhere. It doesn't make it meta or funny, it's still just a lame gag that didn't work. And Shirley finding the hole in her house I just didn't buy. They put a fucking hole in her house but she brushes it off. "Hey, look we had a pay off! It's funny! See?!"

 

And I like Workaholics but something really bugged me about Adam DeVine's character and then it hit me. It wasn't his performance but the character itself. The on the nose sitcom convention of "Jeff is unemotional and closed off but look, his half brother is the exact opposite of that!" Nothing interesting, no nuance, just exactly what you'd expect. Now I'm waiting for the episode where they have a montage of Annie dating and everyone she goes out with is nightmarishly awful except for that one perfect guy who gets away. Complications!

 

I will stick with the show and it's certainly not the fault of the actors but from a tone and writing standpoint, it's been disappointing.

I'll chime in and say that I actually liked this episode. The stuff with Winger/his dad/ and his new bro was really great.

I'm just angry we didn't get to see more of Britta's self congratulatory therapist dance.

 

edit to add:

 

Edited by VTRan - 3/8/13 at 2:09pm

It take it back, I did laugh at Britta's smirky "And I see what I did there," largely thanks to Gillian Jacobs.

The dad storyline was great. The Shawshank storyline felt very forced. Agree that this was the best episode of the season, but that's not saying a whole lot.
 

Not bad episode. Jeff's cutting himself was kind of a shock.

So onto a more important question. The topic?



Annie mentions her ex boyfriend was at thanksgiving. No I may not remember too clearly, but did they imply she dated and slept with a member of her family?!

Also wasn't her ex gay? Why did he keep asking if they were real?

She says, "My Aunt's boyfriend." not "My ex-boyfriend."  So, just a creepy dude she doesn't know asking about her boobs.

Again, there seems to be a level of denial here over exactly how the show has been in the past. Britta has been a cartoon for at least a season prior to this. If anything this episode reigned her in somewhat.

 

Not only did I laugh at several points in this episode, I actually laughed at (gasp) Chevy. Specifically, his newfound "grasp" of Meta. "Ay-bed gets it!"

 

"With all due respect...which is NONE..." perfect line, perfectly delivered. And I actually thought that being the point where their burgeoning relationship went sour rang very true.
 

I just totally disagree with this. I thought last season was pretty much her best season, and she's possibly the character who's least herself now.

Agreement on the consensus here.  The Jeff/Jeff's dad stuff was surprisingly good.  Everything else, not so much.

The Jeff stuff was great. I think the Shawshank stuff was going along ok then it just fizzled out. And what do you know, someone woke up Chevy and he was solid.

 

And cartoony or not...Britta has gotten increasingly hotter as the series has gone along...so the show has that going for it.

I was surprised that AV Club gave it a B+. I would give a C- at best.

 

Putting aside the fact that she started out as someone who had it together in a way Jeff didn't and has notably devolved over four seasons into a shrill liberal stereotype/ludicrously self-absorbed dimwit (which, don't get me wrong, is hilarious), I specifically remember people complaining how dumb she'd gotten last season. Plus, whereas the "ugh, you're the worst" joke originally seemed to stem from a similar place as Jerry on Parks & Rec (everyone inexplicably hating an otherwise lovable character) last season it kind of seemed like the writers felt like they needed to give a reason for why everyone was so down on her, and she got pretty over-the-top. The nosy psychiatrist-in-training business was definitely pushed to the fore in S3, and I really don't see how the Britta we saw this week is inconsistent with that.

The big difference between season 3 and season 4 Brita is that the former was funny!!!!

The 'you're the worst' stuff started happening halfway through season one, and it happened organically because the Britta character flat out sucked and wasn't funny for the first half of season one. You watch it now and it's striking how sour she is. Harmon's fix was to make everyone on the show beat up on her to get the audience on her side, and it worked beautifully. 

 

I can see how Britta now is a logical progression from last year's Britta, but it's also clearly the first bad logical progression she's taken. She' broader and goofier and acts like a character on Saved By the Bell now, instead of one on Community. Kind of like the rest of the show is doing, but somehow sllghtly moreso. The only time she was so goofy last year was the cell phone/carny episode, which was a low light of the year and still funnier.

I thought she was pretty over the top in "Basic Lupine Urology" and the Christmas musical episode too.

 

Please understand that I'm not defending the current season, by the way.