Community Review: Basic Human Anatomy (4.11)

Summary:

Basic Human Anatomy brings the familiar Community charm by inserting a wacky theme while still keeping it grounded in reality. The episode touches on the awkwardness of the romantic relationship between Troy and Britta and gives more depth to it in one episode than they have all season. There is a nice flow between the plots that makes great use of the study group and their fast paced banter. The joke density is high in this episode and we see a lot of strong story pairings between the group.  Overall the episode finds the perfect balance between emotional depth and crazy humor.   

All season I have been waiting for an episode of Community that would be the stand out episode for the season. I have been on board with season four of Community since the get go but I do acknowledge that there seems to be something off. There have been a few gems here and there but nothing that seemed to hit on all cylinders. Though we still have two episodes to go, last night’s Basic Human Anatomy (4.11) made a really strong case as the standout episode for this season.

The episode opens up with the gang as they’re discussing their last history project for the semester. Annie and Shirley are both concerned with the group’s effort due to their neck and neck race with becoming valedictorian, while Jeff is content with a doable and passable grade. Meanwhile Troy and Abed celebrate their three-year anniversary of the first time that they watched Freaky Friday by accidentally swapping bodies.

Basic Human Anatomy marks the first episode written by Oscar Winner, Jim Rash (The Descendants), aka Dean Pelton. Rash is able to capture the spirit that seemed to be lacking in season four while still maintaining the new tone and direction. One of the things that I liked most about this is episode is the fact that it was able to make use of the group without feeling like anyone was particularly isolated, save for Pierce but that’s a different story. The joke density is solid and is probably one of the more quick-witted episodes this season. The fast pace banter around the study room is back and provides a lot of great laughs.

The episode works to the strength of the cast and we see the return of some nice pairings. The competitive nature between Shirley and Annie has always been delightful to watch on screen, and even more so now that they introduced the race to be valedictorian.  Troy and Jeff also get some nice screen time and we Jeff acting as a father like mentor to Troy.

One of my complaints this season has been the romantic spin that the writers have placed on this season, in particular with Troy and Britta. Although last season saw the two pair up, it never really developed into a full relationship and often felt out of place. Not only does this episode acknowledge this but it gives depth to a relationship that has been so flat all season. It’s amazing how many emotional chords this episode is able to hit despite its wacky body-switching theme.

I was apprehensive to say the least when I heard that this episode would be tackling a Freaky Friday homage. This season has proved that the new crew hasn’t quite figured out how to nail high concept episodes yet, and I was worried that it would fall flat. However, the Community charm shines bright in this episode and it’s able to insert a wacky idea like Troy and Abed switching bodies and still keep it grounded in reality. We see so much emotion from various characters in a scenario that is easy to roll your eyes at but the talent, and the writing are able to make it work. It was very reminiscent of Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas from season two. It’s episodes like Basic Human Anatomy that proves a fifth season would be worth it, especially if they give Jim Rash more episodes to write.

Basic Human Anatomy brings the familiar Community charm by inserting a wacky theme while still keeping it grounded in reality. The episode touches on the awkwardness of the romantic relationship between Troy and Britta and gives more depth to it in one episode than they have all season. There is a nice flow between the plots that makes great use of the study group and their fast paced banter. The joke density is high in this episode and we see a lot of strong story pairings between the group.  Overall the episode finds the perfect balance between emotional depth and crazy humor.

Interested in writing reviews or news posts for Thinking Cinematic? Contact me at ThinkCinematicReviews@gmail.com! You can also send your guest reviews there too!

Connect with me at:
Twitter: @Treyrs20o9

Twitter: @Think_Cinematic
Email: ThinkCinematicReviews@Gmail.com

Community Review: Herstory of Dance (4.08)

Summary:

Overall Herstory of Dance feels like it fits right in the comfort zone of this season. Once again there’s an imbalance of comedy and tender moments. The episode does end on a heartwarming note but having one week to week begins to take away from the effect. The episode further delves into the study group’s romantic relationships, more so with Abed and new girl Rachel. Brie Larson brings a wonderful personality to Rachael that serves as a great on screen counterpart to Abed. The chemistry is great and it’s nice to see the writers create a romantic interest for Abed that’s not just a female version of him. With only a handful of episodes left Herstory of Dance seems like a weak foot to start on in this final stretch. 

Community returned last night from its one-week break with the airing of Herstory of Dance (4.08)! We’re down to the final stretch of episodes and there’s still a lot of ground to cover between now and then. Unfortunately last night’s episode didn’t feel like a step in the right direction.

The episode opens up with the group in the study room as Pierce is discussing his new love for the American version of Inspector Spacetime. The Dean interrupts the gang announcing that there will be a Sadie Hawkins Dance where the women will be the ones to invite the men. Offended by the sexist undertones Britta vows to throw her own gender equality dance to upstage the Dean. Meanwhile, Annie and Shirley decide to set Abed up with dates for the dance but Abed has plans of his own in mind.

This is the first episode of the season that really didn’t do anything for me. I was more forgiving in the earlier part of the season when the episode weren’t able to provide a steady stream of laughs but after eight episodes it’s concerning that episodes are still having a balancing issue. The episode does end on a heartwarming note but after so many of those tender moments week to week it begins to feel so formulaic. There are chuckles here and there but overall I didn’t find myself bursting out laughing. It’s still enjoyable given the wonderful talent and my interest in these characters after so many seasons.

I feel like the B plot with Annie and Shirley was a rehash of an earlier episode in season one when the gang tries to set up Abed with a mystery girl despite Abed’s reluctance. It seems redundant that the gang would try and do this again especially when Abed clearly stated he has no problem hooking up with girls, he just prefers when they approach him instead.

Strangely enough this plot line was the strongest aspect of the episode and I actually liked the pairing of Abed and Rachael, played by Brie Larson. The chemistry between the two worked really well and it was cool to see them create a character that shared enough interests without just making a girl version of Abed. I wouldn’t mind seeing Brie Larson becoming a regular for a while to flesh out this relationship a bit further, especially since after this season the group will be minus one due to the departure of Chevy Chase. More on that later.

One of my biggest worries after watching the first few episodes of season four was that Community would return to romantic driven relationships that dominated season one and it seems as though my prediction may have come true. Although the relationship between Troy and Britta may be on the back burner it seems as though the writers are trying to heat things back up again with Jeff and Britta. These two have way more chemistry than Troy and Britta but it’s a bit uneasy to watch the two flirt with each other without a mention of Troy. I like the idea that this group is a family and undercutting each other like this ruins that dynamic. They did it once in season two and it was quickly resolved. The relationships within the study group are messy and personally don’t do much for me but if this is the route the writers are going I hope that they can clear some confusion relatively soon.

A few positives this episode. Pierce returns to his wise old man status that has been dearly missed since season one. Going out of his way to help Britta with advice and support is a great change of pace for him and watching him put Jeff in his place was refreshing. It’s such a bummer to watch these last few episodes with Pierce knowing he’ll be gone after this season but I’m glad they’re giving us a great Pierce to remember before he leaves.

Pairing Shirley and Annie is always a fun experience though it does seem that the two didn’t reach their full potential this episode. Watching Britta’s struggle through the dance preparations was an easy way to connect with her this episode and the eventual payoff was rewarding. It was also nice to finally see her taking action against using her name as a verb to indicate something bad happening. It always felt like that slipped in uncontested from Britta. The episode also felt like it didn’t know what to do with Troy but the small gags he was in were chuckle worthy.

Overall Herstory of Dance feels like it fits right in the comfort zone of this season. Once again there’s an imbalance of comedy and tender moments. The episode does end on a heartwarming note but having one week to week begins to take away from the effect. The episode further delves into the study group’s romantic relationships, more so with Abed and new girl Rachel. Brie Larson brings a wonderful personality to Rachael that serves as a great on screen counterpart to Abed. The chemistry is great and it’s nice to see the writers create a romantic interest for Abed that’s not just a female version of him. With only a handful of episodes left Herstory of Dance seems like a weak foot to start on in this final stretch.

Interested in writing reviews or news posts for Thinking Cinematic? Contact me at ThinkCinematicReviews@gmail.com! You can also send your guest reviews there too!

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Email: ThinkCinematicReviews@Gmail.com

 

 

Community Review: Conventions of Space and Time (4.03)

Overall, the episode is solid with a decent amount of laughs. Despite its Inspector Spacetime setting it’s not overbearing and quite enjoyable. The episode doesn’t change my opinion on this running joke, but I was able to look past it. The plot lines are all enjoyable, but I can’t help but be annoyed with the way they’re handling Chevy Chase’s character Pierce. The thing that’s the strangest about this season of Community is that we really haven’t seen much of Greendale yet. Part of the charm of Community is watching this group of misfits interact with their even stranger school, as well as the lovable background characters that inhabit it. I miss the feel of the gang being in the study room as they hold interesting conversations in lieu of studying. It’s still relatively early though and hopefully we’ll get back to Greendale pretty soon.

Community’s in show TV show, Inspector Spacetime has always been a reoccurring joke that felt like it out stayed its welcome for me. Ever since it was introduced the gang, more specifically Troy and Abed, have made minor references to the show in their daily lives. It was funny at first but lost its appeal after a while. When I heard that season four would feature an episode dedicated to an Inspector Spacetime convention I was worried. It also didn’t help that early reviewers were deeming this episode as easily the worst episode of Community to date. However after watching Conventions of Space and Time (4.03) last night my fears have been quelled.

The show opens up with Troy and Britta together in bed watching an episode of Inspector Spacetime. When Abed approaches the door Troy shoos Britta out the window in an effort to prevent an Abed from freaking out about the intimate relationship. The scene plays off wonderfully and ultimately ends with an extremely satisfying payoff. It’s definitely one of my favorite intros of the series.

The rest of the episode features the gang at the Inspector Spacetime convention, minus Pierce and Shirley. Jeff, Britta, Troy and Abed all figure that the other two would not be interested in the convention and decided to not invite them, however the two end up crashing the convention anyway.

The thing that bothered me the most about this episode is the way they handled Pierce. It’s easy to see why Chevy Chase would leave the show after the way the writers continually keep excluding him from the story lines. I’ve read before that Chevy Chase isn’t exactly the easiest person to work with but it’s becoming more and more evident that the plot lines always seem to exclude Pierce from the group. Which is a shame given that at the end of season three Pierce seemed to have made significant strides in being a better person, yet the rest of the group continues to treat him like crap. That being said I did like the story line he was given with Shirley that provided for some great Meta commentary on Community and other TV shows.

The main focus of the episode features Troy dealing with his feelings of being set aside by Abed after Abed meets an equivalent Inspector Spacetime fan, Toby. Britta does her best to walk Troy through his feelings while he unknowingly keeps blowing off Britta. It’s a little disappointing that we never see Britta speak up for herself but I’m assuming this will play a bigger part as the season unfolds. Once again Troy carries a lot of the comedic weight this episode and produces a lot of great laugh with his unique delivery.

On Abed’s side of the story, he discovers that Toby isn’t quite all he’s cracked up to be and begins to work things out on his own. I’m really enjoying the fact that Abed has been able to get himself out of these situations on his own. It’s shows a significant amount of growth given the fact that in prior seasons Abed has always needed help to work things out. His story ends on a really sweet note with some call backs to his younger bullied years.

Last we have Jeff and Annie’s plot, which happens to be the strangest of the three. Their intentions were always to bail and go skiing during the convention but things change after the resort was closed down due to an accident. Annie decides to hang out in the hotel room where the staff confuses her for Mrs. Winger. She goes a long with this scenario and takes it to the point of creepiness. However, given her teeny bopper tendencies when it comes to her feelings for Jeff it works, but it’s just adding to the feeling that season four is playing match maker a little too much for my liking. Troy and Britta’s relationship has been a major focus for these first three episodes and now it seems like we’re going to start to see more of Jeff and Annie together.

Overall, the episode is solid with a decent amount of laughs. Despite its Inspector Spacetime setting it’s not overbearing and quite enjoyable. The episode doesn’t change my opinion on this running joke, but I was able to look past it. The plot lines are all enjoyable, but I can’t help but be annoyed with the way they’re handling Chevy Chase’s character Pierce. The thing that’s the strangest about this season of Community is that we really haven’t seen much of Greendale yet. Part of the charm of Community is watching this group of misfits interact with their even stranger school, as well as the lovable background characters that inhabit it. I miss the feel of the gang being in the study room as they hold interesting conversations in lieu of studying. It’s still relatively early though and hopefully we’ll get back to Greendale pretty soon.

Community airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC! Check out last night’s episode here on Hulu!

Interested in writing movie reviews or news posts for Thinking Cinematic? Is TV more your speed? Contact me at ThinkCinematicReviews@gmail.com! You can also send your guest reviews there too!

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Twitter: @Treyrs20o9
Twitter: @Think_Cinematic
Email: ThinkCinematicReviews@Gmail.com

Community Review: Paranormal Parentage (4.02)

Overall the episode was an emotionally driven episode that will pull on some heartstrings as well as show a lot of development. The jokes are somewhat thin but when they hit they hit hard and it’s shows that the writers know what they’re doing. Attentive fans will appreciate the subtle background jokes and references that filled Paranormal Parentage. Donald Glover steals the episode with his fantastic portrayal of our favorite man boy, Troy, and walks away from the episode as the most quotable, something that last week’s episode was missing. Newcomers may feel out of the loop but for the die hard fans Paranormal Parentage is a great return to form.

Community’s halloween episodes are easily my most anticipated episode each season. It gives the study group a chance to break away from the norm, at least by Community standards, and push the boundaries even further. From acid tripping Beast Masters, a school wide zombie epidemic, or a night of revealing spooky tales, Community has taken the audience on some wild rides and the trend continues through season four.

The episode opens up with the group in the study room as they’re checking out each others costumes in anticipation for Vicki’s party. After some quick mingling Troy receives a call from Pierce explaining that he has locked himself in his panic room and needs to group to bail him out before they head to the party. Much to Jeff’s reluctance, the group eventually agrees to help Pierce, which leads to a very unexpected night.

I found myself enjoying this episode a lot more than I did last week’s. It was nice to be able to take a breath and slow down from the ambitious but chaotic season opener. It also helps that this episode was written by Megan Ganz, my favorite out of the Community writing staff. The episode featured a lot of great comedic exchanges between the group with some enjoyable callbacks and background humor. Troy was easily my favorite with plenty of quotable lines. I was even pleased to see the great sarcasm and wit from Britta that seemed to be lost in season 3 in lieu of more bizarre and uncharacteristic humor.  It was great to see the episode reference the unexplained but extremely hilarious hatred that Pierce has for Vicki as well.

Despite it being a Halloween episode, love was still in the air and we got to see some interesting developments in the study group relationships. Honestly, I wasn’t too thrilled about the writers pairing Troy and Britta, and although I’m still unsure about it, I liked the way they handled it. In Shirley’s words, Britta is a more modern woman, while Troy is still the innocent man boy that we’ve grown to love. It was great to see the contrast between the two personalities and even more satisfying to see the way Britta handles it. The thing that worries me the most is that the episode seemed to hint at a possible future pairing of Troy and Annie. Although the juggling of the group’s love affairs has been a reoccurring theme throughout the series I’m worried that the season will fall back into the love triangle scenarios that dominated season one. Especially since we’re starting to see the heat between Jeff and Annie pick back up.

I got to say that I was a bit caught off guard with this episode of Community. Although it was a great episode, the jokes were spread apart in this more emotionally driven episode. I was glad to see Pierce still retaining some of his growth from last season and able to show some genuine care towards a surprise guest. Even Jeff pulled on some emotional strings as the episode set up for the long awaited reunion between Jeff and his dad. I always like that they mirrored Jeff and Pierce together, and it works extremely well int his episode.

My only complaint this episode is the fact that I feel like the plot line seemed to draw a little too close to season two’s Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking. In both episodes Pierce devises an elaborate scheme to make the group appreciate his value. The only difference is that in season two’s episodes things end up in a brawl between Jeff and Pierce where as in this episode things are end up on a much lighter note. The contrast does show growth for both Pierce and Jeff so it’s easy to over look this minor complaint.

My last complaint is the fact that there seems to be something wrong with Abed. He seemed slightly irritated throughout the episode and kept to himself more than usual. I felt like the episode would shed some light on his somewhat annoyed demeanor but the audience is kept in the dark for the rest of the episode. I can only chalk it up to external factors or something that is yet to be revealed this season.

Overall the episode was an emotionally driven episode that will pull on some heartstrings as well as show a lot of development. The jokes are somewhat thin but when they hit they hit hard and it’s shows that the writers know what they’re doing. Attentive fans will appreciate the subtle background jokes and references that filled Paranormal Parentage. Donald Glover steals the episode with his fantastic portrayal of our favorite man boy, Troy, and walks away from the episode as the most quotable, something that last week’s episode was missing. Newcomers may feel out of the loop but for the die hard fans Paranormal Parentage is a great return to form.

Community airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC! Check out last night’s episode here on Hulu!

Interested in writing movie reviews or news posts for Thinking Cinematic? Is TV more your speed? Contact me at ThinkCinematicReviews@gmail.com! You can also send your guest reviews there too!

Connect with me at:
Twitter: @Treyrs20o9
Twitter: @Think_Cinematic
Email: ThinkCinematicReviews@Gmail.com

Community Review: History 101 (4.01)

Warning Mild Spoilers discussed throughout the review.

After a long series of setbacks, the beloved NBC sitcom, Community, returned last night. From losing the beloved Dan Harmon, indefinite pushbacks, and uncertain airdates, Community and its fans were left in limbo and the fate of the show seemed to be looking grim. However, things moved on and Community eventually got the release date of February 7^th, 8/7c. The new show runners along with their crew had big shoes to fill, and expectations were arguably unreasonably high. So how was Community’s long awaited return? Did it quell the worried and vocal fan’s fears?

History 101 (4.01) will be recognized as the most polarizing episode of the show’s history. As a longtime fan, I can say that personally I was pleased with the show’s return, but the episode isn’t without faults. The episode suffers from what a lot of other shows face when it comes to season openers. Story arcs need to be set in place, characters reestablished for new comers, and of course live up to the hype of fans. History 101 juggles a lot of different story lines and unfortunately it seems to come off a little chaotic.

Playing off the fear of fans that believed the show would be drastically changed, the episode opens up wonderfully with a stab at multi-cam sitcoms. Troy and Abed return to the study room in their famous melody to an uproar of applause and laughter. They exchange gimmicky quips and the laugh track continues. One after the other the old faces return with intentionally shallow jokes as well as the actors playing caricatures of themselves. We also see a surprise guest that pokes fun at a lot of the behind the scene issues, in particular with Chevy Chase. The bit works really well, but unfortunately becomes overplayed as the show keeps going back to that well one too many times.

It’s eventually established that these multi-cam bits are actually taking place in Abed’s mind as a way to deal with the stress of being seniors. They keep going back to this throughout the episode anytime Abed can’t handle the situation, like when Jeff announces that he’ll be graduating early. My problem is that these AbedTV moments feel redundant and lose their humor after awhile. However, the pay off for the AbedTV bit well worth it despite it eating up a lot of time. Personally I would have cut down some of the time dedicated to the bit and focused on fleshing out the other stories to make it a more solid episode.

The other storylines involve Jeff competing in The Hunger Deans, Shirley and Annie focusing on pranks, and Troy and Britta carrying out a new school year tradition. Although not without their funny moments, the pacing of these stories moves rather quickly, and it leaves a lot of these plot lines rushed. However, much like the AbedTV bit, these story lines eventually do have strong pay offs and set up a good tone for the rest of the season. Overall, the characters still feel natural and the episode delivers a nice heartfelt message. I won’t spoil it but it deals with moving on and learning to let go. Something Abed, as well as the fans of Community, will have to come to grips with eventually.

History 101 proves that the humor is still there, and although it’s not the strongest of episodes, it’s still Community.  I chalk up a lot of the faults in the episode to just nerves and stress from the new show runners, and the old crew trying to keep things up to par. This might be a bit of a downfall due to the fact that all of the episodes are shot and cut, so there’s not much room to make changes on the fly. It’s hard to replace the beloved heart soul, Dan Harmon, but I can say that I’m pleased with the way the show is going so far. It’s still early, but if last night’s episode is any indication of the road ahead Community is going to be just fine.

Community airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC! Check out last night’s episode here on Hulu!

Interested in writing movie reviews or news posts for Thinking Cinematic? Is TV more your speed? Contact me at ThinkCinematicReviews@gmail.com! You can also send your guest reviews there too!

Connect with me at:
Twitter: @Treyrs20o9
Twitter: @Think_Cinematic
Email: ThinkCinematicReviews@Gmail.com