A Post Just For Community

Considering how much I love "Community" [spoiler alert: it's a LOT] I'm kind of surprised I haven't written about it all that much. I'm not sure I can explain why, except that I know that very few people watch it, and that even fewer appreciate it on the same level I do. 

You see, "Community" appeals to me on a number of levels. Within the show itself, I relate to different aspects of different characters. Most strongly I relate to Jeff Winger, a vain, self-absorbed, emotionally-distant man who is very bright but even more lazy, preferring to charm or cheat than work. But, at the same time, he secretly cares about people and is only half as jaded as he pretends. In a different way, I relate to Abed, a nerdy guy somewhere on the Autism Spectrum who is awkward and overly invested in television. I appreciate his many, many references to assorted tropes and trivia, and understand the vast majority of them (which is more than I can say for most people, I believe). I can also see my fear of exclusion in Pierce, my judgmental nature in Shirley, and a fear of failure in Annie. How I reconcile that last with my association with Jeff is beyond me. 

On a more meta level, I appreciate parody/homage. Scratch that, I love it. Crave it. And that has become what "Community" is famous for. A claymation episode, an Apollo 13 episode, a Western, an Action Flick, a Zombie Movie, a Bottle Episode, a Conspiracy Thriller - all of these and so many more have been done. I think it's ambitious, and super impressive because these episodes are more than just fan-fiction or wish-fulfillment. They reveal things about the characters we might not find under "normal" circumstances. They put our characters in outrageous positions, push them to strange places, and allow us to see the results. What we get is a shockingly character-driven show, that highlights each of the group in turn. We may get paintball in a post-apocalyptic world, but we also get to see why everyone is playing - for family, for fun, to prove something to themselves or to others. We get moving speeches, beautiful relationships, dysfunctional family, bizarre plots, fun weirdness, and painful fights. The show is so diverse, so eclectic, so unpredictable... it's unique.

Tonight's episode was by far the best of the season - which isn't saying much at this point, but I'm convinced that when the season is over this will still be one I particularly remember. The plot (at first) is simple: Troy and Abed - TV's greatest bromance - invite the study group to their new apartment to celebrate living together. During their game of Yahtzee, the pizza arrives, and someone has to go down and get it. Obviously, they roll dice for to decide who will go. What follows are seven different timelines where each character in turn is chosen.

That may sound weird - and it is - but it is also BRILLIANT. Why? Because we get to see how the group reacts to the same things, but in different combinations. For example, with Shirley gone, we find out about her "Baking Problem," later revealed to be her attempt to be needed. Annie's absence reveals her gun (she lives in a bad neighborhood). Pierce leaving develops the relationship between Troy and Britta, AND Jeff and Annie. 

Honestly, I'm still freaking out about this. It goes to show just how fragile this group is - that they're one single move away from either making out or having a nervous breakdown. That they could either rise above their vindictive urges, or succumb to them in the worst ways. 

And where it blew my mind was the real universe. The one where Jeff - the leader and often glue of the group, leaves. What results is a group dance. No one's feelings are hurt. No revenge is enacted. No drugs are smoked. No feelings are prematurely acted upon. Everyone is happy. Which has all sorts of implications. Is Jeff necessary? Is Jeff in fact detrimental? Has he convinced himself that the group needs him, just to avoid having to realize that he needs them more? Has Jeff refused to change, and has everyone else's growth led to them outgrowing him? Apparently Jeff is going to be put through the ringer this season, and while I hate to see him hurt, I know it will benefit him in the long run. 

So, in conclusion, please watch this show. The first third or so of the first season is a little choppy. They were still figuring themselves out, JUST LIKE FRESHMEN REALLY DO, but when they hit their stride, YOU'LL KNOW, and thank me for it.

My Ongoing Quest to Critique TV, Part 1

Dudes. Lady Dudes. It's been about a week since my last post, so I figured I'd review some of the shows I've been watching this season. So let's cut the chit-chat and just dive in, shall we?

How I Met Your Mother
I'm not sure what it is, but I'm just not enjoying this season as much as I should. Maybe it's that I caught up on the previous five seasons in the span of a couple weeks, and this whole "waiting for new episodes" thing goes down like broken glass. Actually that's probably it. But there's also the issue of feeling like the show is stalling. I know, I know, that could be true of any season of this show. But ever since they announced that the show will end after it's seventh season, it feels like things should really be happening. What things? I don't know. Part of me wants to say Ted should meet the mother now, so we have time to fall in love with her with him, to see their amazing synergy, etc etc. Another part of me thinks that's how the show should end, leaving the rest of their relationship to our imaginations (and what we've learned from Ted's narration). The risk with the first option is that the show pulls a Zooey, and that everyone hates her. I mean, how does an on-screen relationship compete with Future-Ted's rose-colored glasses? The problem with the second option is that nothing Ted does until the last episode will matter, so why bother? Of course, the hope is that we're invested enough in Barney, Robin, Lily and Marshall that we'll stick with it. And by-and-large I am.

Honestly, I enjoyed this week's episode. I loved the return of Kal Penn to television. I loved getting an episode mostly from Robin's perspective, and the gentle mocking of the show's very premise ["Robin. Serial killers have led me to shallow graves faster than you're telling this story."] Barney and Nora are precious. I had quite a few laughs.

But nothing feels consequential, and for me, that's a problem.

Community
So far there have only been two episodes of Community this season. And while they've both been good, neither has lived up to the absolutely stellar precedent set by season two. This latest episode was, however, substantially better than the largely underwhelming premiere. The show kept things simple, with just two plots: Annie vs. Asian Annie in a Model U.N. battle royale; and Britta vs. Chang. Basically, Our Annie has met her asian evil twin, who steals her idea for a Model U.N. at Greendale. She runs to Jeff, who rushes her defense. To settle the matter, both Annie's start their own Model U.N.s, who then race to solve world crises and achieve world peace. Unfortunately, when a real-world problem occurs (a fart), the group falls apart, Annie throws a tantrum, and storms off. This leads to the real pay-off for me, which was Jeff explaining to Annie that he feels strongly for her, but thinks it's creepy and wrong, so he treats her like a child. It was just nice to see Jeff actually vocalize the feelings that have only been hinted at for so long.

Britta's storyline was where the humor was. After learning that a former protester friend has been locked up in a foreign country - and worse, has her own Facebook page - Britta begins to wonder if she's sold out. Meanwhile, Chang discovers that being a security guard means virtually nothing. So when he tells Britta not to do something, she of course does it, badly. It's a match made in heaven, as evidenced by "Hello" by Lionel Richie playing every time they encounter each other. Britta's attempts at rebellion are pretty hilarious, and Gillian Jacobs really committed. It was great.

I'm looking forward to the apparently noir-style episode this week, and the Halloween episode later this month. I'm excited about the journey Jeff will be on this season. I'm just ready for this show to hit its stride again.

Revenge
Ok, I'm officially hooked on this show after only two episodes. Out of all the new shows I've seen this year, this is easily the one I'm enjoying most. Victoria continues to be an evil bitch. Collin continues to be smarmy and awkward. Emily/Amanda continues to be equally engaging as charming socialite and driven life-ruiner. I like that this latest episode broadened the focus, and began to develop some of the other characters - namely her childhood sweetheart and his family, as well as her future fiance. While I'm not entirely convinced the show can continue to be good after the first season, I'm pretty sure this season at least will be great. So hopefully it gets renewed, AND avoids pulling a Desperate Housewives or Heroes (excellent first seasons, intensely crappy all other seasons).

The Playboy Club
I like this show, despite myself. I still think Nick Dalton was chosen largely because he sounds so much like Jon Hamm, and that the show is trying to make him Don Draper. But I love Carol-Lynne. The whole ice-queen/aging beauty dynamic makes her alternately truly despicable and completely relatable. I like Bunny Maureen too, if only because I feel like there's more to her than we've seen so far. The other bunnies are varying degrees of interesting. Bunny Alice - the Lesbunny - annoys the hell out of me, but without her there'd be no Sean Maher, who is adorable and also FIREFLY. I love Bunny Brenda, the black bunny. I think Naturi Naughton is a good actress, and her character has a lot of sympathy. Bunny Janie doesn't really do it for me, despite her tragic past, but I don't actively dislike her.

Of course, none of this matters, since NBC canceled the show today. But still.

Supernatural
I enjoyed the premiere, I really did. I was conflicted how I felt about Castiel being the big bad, because he's my favorite character. But I liked Sam's ongoing insanity, and the Leviathans seemed like a cool villain that fit well in the Supernatural universe.

But then they killed Castiel. Again, my favorite character. So I'm upset about this. But at the same time, it pushes the characters to some cool new places. I mean, when was the last time the boys faced death. Not Death. And definitely not "death." I mean actual, final death, for someone they truly loved. Their dad? How many seasons ago was that? Four? Five? Cas was Dean's best friend, maybe even as much a brother to him as Sam, and now he's gone. Add to that Sam's insanity, and poor Dean is going to have a rough year. Which sucks for him but is good for us as the viewer. And there being so many Leviathans, in so many potential places, reinvigorates the story. So I'm excited.

Fringe
The fourth season premiere was good. Not amazing, but good. It was from Lincoln's perspective, which gave the show an excuse to re-cap the past three seasons - although in this case it was more just "capping" them, since the show's history changed. So we needed an outsider's view. But it left me wishing for more Olivia. Well this episode I got my wish.

Guys, I know none of you watch this show, but you really should. How many other shows on television get to explore two versions of the same man - one where he became a serial killer, and another where he met a woman who taught him to overcome the darkness?

How many shows parallel that with an incredible lead actress, playing two versions of herself - one where she was beaten by her step-father growing up, who was experimented on my mad scientists, who trusts no one and is somber; one where none of that happened, where she grew up to win an Olympic medal in sharp-shooting, where she is a highly decorated agent in an agency that saves the world, consistently, who is in a happy relationship? Come one guys. This is deep. This is nuance. This is fantastic story-telling and phenomenal acting. From everyone. This show is so well-done it breaks my heart that more people don't watch it.

Well guys, it's been fun. I have way more to talk about - the season six premiere of Dexter, the premiere of Homeland, Glee, Ringer, Raising Hope, New Girl, and Modern Family - but I have school in like two hours and still haven't done my homework. So I need to GTFOffline. But hopefully I'll be back tomorrow or Thursday!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, pt. 4

OK, so I know I promised a lot of content for today, but things came up, and I've only seen two shows. So... this is why we can't have nice things. So let's just get started.

Person of Interest
J.J. Abrams + Jonathan Nolan teaming up to make a show that stars Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson? Consider me sold before the show even starts.

Hold up. Flag on the play.

This show was HELLZ BORING. Just like every show on CBS, everything was colored blue. There were generic villains. Generic dialogue. Forced 9/11 references. Plot lines from The Dark Knight. Bo.Ring. Throw in that Jim Caviezel delivered half his lines like he was reading cue cards and I was downright displeased. Not even Michael Emerson could save it. There was not enough backstory. No one seemed to have a personality! The twists were underwhelming, because I didn't care about anyone. But basically it was just boring, minus Jim kicking all sorts of ass.

Final Verdict: Maybe this is just premiere season ennui. Maybe it's having expectations that were far too high. Maybe this is my adolescent rebellion against the producer I trust more than any other (J.J.). I don't know. But I legitimately don't want to see another episode. I probably will, because come on, it's J.J. But I will have to force myself to come back, and I may only give it three episodes.

Community
Oh Greendale, how I have missed you. You truly are my favorite show, and it was a long summer apart. Let's be friends again this year. OK, sweet.

To be honest, this was one of the weaker episodes of Community in some time. I loved the opening. It pretty much says everything you need to know about the show. People may want it to be less crazy, less weird, more grounded, more upbeat, more mainstream, more "normal." And it will respond with a musical dream sequence. Which was fantastic. Jim Rash and Yvette wearing the same dress? Jeff and Dream-Annie saying they would finally sleep together? An aerial ballet Human Being? Perfection. I also loved John Goodman as Vice Dean, being intimidating and also unintentionally dirty. I think he's going to be an excellent villain this season. I also like Chang's new status quo as security guard, or as creator Dan Harmon described it, getting to see "what happens when Gollum gets the Ring." I loved Cougarton Abbey and Inspector Spacetime.

But as someone who relates to Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) a little too much [basically he's a heartless douche who isn't really heartless and is learning not to be a douche], it was really hard for me to see him crazy and kind of evil last night. I mean, I get what the show was going for. Showing us, and him, what it's like on the outside of the group and how much he needs them? That was great. And revealing his fear of becoming Pierce was equally great. I just felt like the group was way too forgiving/accepting of Pierce after everything he did last season, and way too hard on Jeff - even going so far as to say they didn't even want to be friends with him anymore. I felt like it was inconsistent with what we know about them.

Final Verdict: Season premieres have never been Community's strongest suit. I get that, and hopefully so does most of the audience. I'm excited for everything this episode set into motion, and hope to see a season that can compete with last season's TRULY stellar year. Bring it on, junior year.

And that's it for now. I may update this post later if some of my friends have reviews of any other shows from last night, but who knows? In any event, I'll see you tomorrow with reviews of Supernatural and Fringe, two of my favorite shows currently on!