#147 | community 4.05 - cooperative escapism in familial relations
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☂ Britta + Jeff and his father
The way they handled this really exceeded my expectation. I'm glad that the Dean was the one who told everyone about the meeting, because I don't think it would have been in character for Jeff to do it.
And I'm glad that Britta didn't come off as creepy as she did in the out of context preview clip. Even though her showing up at William's house was still pushing it imo. (But I've stopped complaining about the way therapist/client relationships and therapy in general is portrayed on American shows and in movies a long time ago in favour of being able to enjoy them, so whatever.)
I really like the way they wrote Jeff's dad, not as a two-dimensional villain or super cliché but as a someone who's careless and selfish in a more subtle way. It fits Jeff's character well. His treatment of Willy Jr definitely had some abusive undertones and gave us a good impression of how he probably treated 10-year-old Jeff (who iirc wasn't exactly "tough" either).
And the parallels between him and Jeff (the attempted Winger speech, the rules at the beginning to maintain control of the situation), and Pierce/Cornelius (the fake-heart attack, the way he bullied Willy Jr.) added another layer.
Jeff going from trying to impress his dad to actually confronting him seemed like an organic development and was satisfying to watch and the end killed me. The appendix story was much more effective than some big reveal would've been, because while it's incredible sad, it's also very relatable so it hits you RIGHT IN THE FEELS.
“I am not well adjusted, and more often than not, I’m barely keeping it together. I’m constantly texting and there’s no one on the other end. I’m just a grown man who can’t even look at his own friends in the eye for too long because I’m afraid that they’ll see that I am broken. So you get credit for that. one time when I was in seventh grade, I told everybody at school that I had appendicitis. I wanted someone to worry about me. But, when Beth Brennan asked to see the scar, I didn’t want to get found out so I took mom’s scissors and I made one. It hurt like hell. But, it was worth it because I got seventeen cards and I still keep them in a box underneath my bed twenty-two years later because it proves that someone at some point cared about me. Wanna see the scar? So, you get credit for that, too. This is me."
Joel killed it - his whole body language, the facial expression at the door when he can't go inside, THE SCAR SPEECH - anyone who says he isn't a serious actor can pretty much go suck it.
His scene with Britta at the end hit exactly the right notes with me, it showed us that they still really get and appreciate each other, which we didn't get enough in S3.
☂ Abed, Annie, Troy and Pierce at Shirley's
That was a bit disappointing tbh. There was almost no Shirley in a stoyline that was supposed to be centred around her. Maybe if they had shown why her family was so boring/horrible I would've understood why they couldn't just suck it up and act like her friends, but this way they came of as ungrateful, spoiled brats. Sorry.
The montage was pretty fun though, and at least Shirley got her moment in the end, and reminded us that she gets something out of the study group as well (which I sometimes forget now that her life is basically back on track again).
☂ other random stuff
The Dean wearing Jeff's cowboy costume was a nice callback, and Jeff's expression when realising it pretty priceless.
ALSO THIS IS STILL GOING ON:
THERE ARE 30(!) WONDERFUL FILLS SO FAR, SO MAKE SURE TO CKECK THEM OUT!