series rewatch discussion post: s04e12 - s05e02
Season 4, Episode 12 - Heroic Origins
As Jeff prepares to graduate, he decides he wants a little pomp and circumstance to mark the occasion allowing the group and the Dean to throw a party. When Jeff waivers about returning to his old job, the group from the darkest timeline travels over to ensure that Jeff, again, becomes a sleazy lawyer.
Season 4, Episode 13 - Advanced Introduction to Finality
As Jeff prepares to graduate, he decides he wants a little pomp and circumstance to mark the occasion allowing the group and the Dean to throw a party. When Jeff waivers about returning to his old job, the group from the darkest timeline travels over to ensure that Jeff, again, becomes a sleazy lawyer.
Season 5, Episode 1 - RePilot
Jeff returns to Greendale a year after graduation on a mission. He meets the rest of the group and finds out what has happened to them since graduation.
Season 5, Episode 2 - Introduction to Teaching
Jeff starts his position as a teacher. Abed gets the rest of the group to take a class about Nicolas Cage.
Reminder: No bashing of other characters, ships or fans. Gifs, graphics, recs and other fan creations in relation to these episodes are encouraged in the comments. Be civil and respectful in all discussions and have fun!
I had most of the second episode's commentary finished when I accidentally hit the back button and lost the end of my Heroic Origins commentary and all of the next episode, so... Oops. The last three episodes, as a result, are a little rushed. Sorry! I'm also very late, yet again, for which I apologise. I'm going to work extra hard to get it up on time next week. On the upside, these are super long?
Heroic Origins
Is it just me or did they seriously just take old gags and tics and behaviours and dialogue pieces from past seasons and reuse them? When S4 was first airing, I did my best to stay positive and defend it as best I could. No, the episodes weren't as funny, but they weren't totally horrible! I would read critical reviews and I'd wander fandom and see people's reactions but I'd remain doggedly hopeful and optimistic (which is not my usual nature) in an effort to appreciate that we were getting another season of Community when we hadn't truly expected it. The piece of criticism that most stood out to me, well, the two pieces that stood out were that the show just didn't feel the same way. Rather, it felt like Frankenstein's Monster, aping the creator's vision by playing mimic and, sadly, failing. That story is depressing to me but, in retrospect and on rewatch, is still the most compelling summation of my feelings on S4.
What, you ask, was that big, long spiel about it? Well, that opening shot was basically Introduction to Finality rehashed, wasn't it? It could be argued that it was trying for the same character behaviours as what kicked Mixology Certification into gear but Jeff's frustration at the lack of studying is Introduction to Finality to a tee. My problem, I guess, is that while I'm hearing the characters say things that could, feasibly, be things they might say... I don't understand why they're doing what they're doing. This has been a constant refrain from me, I know - that the show has a bad tendency in S4 to do things - jokes, gags, plot points, etc. - as a means to an end not as a journey unto itself. In Mixology Certification, Troy's birthday is used to set up the idea that the study group avoids studying before veering back to Troy's birthday and neatly tying in their avoidance of studying. Here, Abed asks strange questions with no reason forthcoming and Jeff is frustrated at the group's lack of focus... With no reason forthcoming. Things are happening just for the sake of happening. And that's not how you tell a story.
It's not like I haven't ranted about this before so I don't blame you for skipping past it.
Let's talk about Chang instead. There might be a little ranting here too. Look, he's never been my favourite character and Dan Harmon has admitted that he struggled to integrate him from season to season, so it's not like going into S4, we didn't already know that he might be misused. But he got a surprising amount of screentime, had the most consistent (and most present) plot arc of any of the characters, and was also horribly, horribly misused, in my opinion. The Changnesia storyline was just plain awful. I'm sure there are some who disagree. Feel free to let me know (without judgement, I promise) in the comments if you're one of them. But the scene with the "big reveal" of City College and Dean Spreck being behind the "plot" against Greendale demonstrates why this didn't work for me. How exactly did Chang "infiltrate" the school and learn its secrets. Greendale doesn't really hide anything besides health and safety code violations! And despite his psychopathy and murder plots, if he hadn't been arrested already, was it really so far fetched that he'd be accepted back at Greendale even without faking something that was so obviously fake as Changnesia?
I just... It was such a bad idea. If I had to guess (and I do, since I haven't seen the commentaries and I mostly avoided Port and Guarascio-related news after S4 ended), the Chang storyline was meant to be zany and as outrageous as could be on purpose - he was their big gamble that they hoped would pay off where, I think, they were trying to play it safe with all the other characters, leaning into their behaviours and old jokes as hard as they could. Okay, this is coming off as one giant complaining session, isn't it? I apologise, really, because I wanted to end the S4 section of this rewatch with good critical analysis and some interesting discussion on the episodes and the season as a whole.
Alright, so, Jeff's reaction to Abed going through his wallet - first off, remember when Cornwallis mentioned that everyone would forgive Abed because he was their special friend? I feel like they really did ignore S3 when, at various times, Annie and Troy (and even Britta to some extent) called Abed on his behaviour. In S2, both Jeff and Shirley called Abed out, too. Yes, Abed is the friend they're all most likely to leap to defend, but he's not above criticism and S4 seemed to forget that. Jeff, clearly offended and shocked by Abed's behaviour, doesn't really say much to Abed - the guy who went through his wallet (without Jeff's knowledge) and took something important to him. That's gross, privacy-violating behaviour (which, given the Dean's behaviour this season, is something the show doesn't have an issue with) and nobody else reacts at all. Ugh. I wonder if they gave any thought to what it meant that Jeff was reacting so strongly to a sentimental item left over from his father just weeks after meeting and confronting him?
There was a lot of discussion back when these episodes first aired about the change in back story. Annie wasn't any heavier and actually, she was quite pretty (if a bit awkward) compared to the description Annie and Troy gave of her highschool self. But, I'm willing to forgive that. Yeah, it'd be neat to see Alison Brie entirely transformed but it's TV and their idea of making someone ugly is putting them in glasses and an ugly sweater. If they want to make them really unlikeable, TV and the movies will make them heavier (weight and body shaming will not be tolerated in the comments, by the way) because TV and the movies is a terrible and shallow place. So, yeah, whatever, I don't care that Annie's appearance didn't really reflect what we were previously told. Did it bother you? It's really the other details that make me flinch.
Jeff and Britta's origin crossover was pretty meh. I don't really believe that pre-Greendale Britta was so wildly silly that in 2008 she had purple hair, a nose ring (fake?) and fist-bumped lawyers who worked at major firms. Even anarchist Britta knew that lawyers like that were generally bad news. And honestly, the idea that she didn't at all remember Jeff's face, the face of the guy she exchanged words with and called a hero, seems a little preposterous considering she met him about a year later. Their meeting was fairly innocous so I don't much care but it's the lead-in for Shirley and Jeff's origin crossover. And that tidbit? It has irritated me since the first time I heard it. I understand why Jeff apologised but really, he had NO reason to feel guilty. He was hired to do a legal (and I mean that in the sense of it being a not-illegal) job and he did it to the best of his ability. Shirley's anger, on the surface, makes sense but overall, Jeff didn't know her and he couldn't have predicted what would happen. it's preposterous that he should've cared or turned down the job.
Is anyone else surprised that's how Jeff found out he was being investigated/suspended? I feel like there's canonical evidence to the contrary but I can't remember it off the top of my head, to be honest. Anyway, that's a nitpick, and I admit it. I'll switch it up and complain about Troy's story - which was, perhaps, the worst of the retcons introduced. First off, I'm not sure why Annie, who was half in love with Troy, was jealous of him getting the superlative of "most likely to be successful" and I'm also uncertain as to why they were doing the superlatives at a random party and why Annie, who was so unpopular, was even there. The writers seem to have no idea how Adderall or substance misuse or Annie works. But um, anyway. Troy was further regressed into his shallow jock persona and man, that sucks. Does anyone else find it odd that there's no fallout from his and Britta's breakup? No?
I very clearly know it was mentioned in previous episode discussions but does anyone at all understand why Shirley spoke to her kids and treated Andre (who was so upset she left him to pick up THEIR kids that he cheated?) like he was a stranger or, at least, like he was a date instead of the father of the scared and upset children on the other end of the line? I found that scene so, so weird. Actually, much like Intro to Felt Surrogacy, I think this episode tried to do some big secret-reveals and a lot of character building that it just failed at. I said last week that you had to really know your characters and have really tight plotting to do secret reveals, and when you're trying to do that for multiple characters all in the same ep? You have to be on your best game and in S4, the best game was not this show.
The ending for Heroic Origins was fairly trite to me. Chang was a character that Dan Harmon admitted to struggling with and the entire Changnesia plot was a terrible use of him. I think we're supposed to be surprised that Abed knew Chang was faking but aside from, maybe, the first episode or two, the whole Changnesia thing was very obviously fake. It got so much screen time but it was largely meaningless and at time, nonsensical. Did anyone enjoy it more than me? I'm very willing to hear why. I just think the plot required far too much willful suspension of disbelief in order to work from an audience perspective and the show suffered for having it take front and centre in more than one episode. It's also really ridiculous that Abed extending an invite was all it took for Chang to turn his back on City College. We knew as of S3 (the Hallowe'en ep) that all Chang wanted was acceptance. That isn't really a new concept. It just felt a little too pat to me. Anyone have a more generous interpretation?
Advanced Introduction to Finality
I feel like I've been so negative and so harsh on S4 so I'd like to start this off with something positive - Joe Lo Truglio. He's great, I really like him, and I think he does a fabulous job fitting into Community's universe but I'm not sure how much I buy him as a lean, mean, evil lawyering machine. That raised a brow but I'm willing to accept it because I like seeing him on my TV. If you want to see him really shine, go check out Burning Love or Brooklyn Nine Nine - he's spectacular in both. So, I've said something positive, let's talk about everything else.
If someone wants to explain to me why Jeff was having so much trouble accepting that job, please, go ahead. Jeff's hesitation didn't make a ton of sense to me. His time at Greendale was all in pursuit of that exactly, the whole reason he went to Greendale was to return to his law job, and yeah, he's a changed man but I didn't really understand why he immediately assumed he would end up being a bad person again. It was such a hollow scene, for me, because this was the culmination of all of Jeff's effort and his raison d'etre. Why would he pass that up? Do you think his evolution was so fragile too? Was his struggle more believable to you?
Now, for the immature infant in all of us, did anyone else think the clapping hands on the poster looked a little like penises? No? Just me?
Hmm. Anyway, aside from the banner, the opening scene didn't really offer a lot in the way of jokes or anything but it set in motion the plot of Jeff's graduation and the toll that's going to take on Jeff and the group. It bleeds into the next scene which picks up immediately afterward in the Dean's office. Can anyone explain to me why and where the wedding idea came from? Jeff mentions it sounds like a wedding (I've yet to go to a wedding with a string quartet, damn!) and then asks how long it takes to plan a wedding... Like, why did he randomly decide to say that out loud and then run with it? Who cares if it sounds like a wedding? We obviously know it's not... I just, that still baffles me! It was so utterly random.
The first of his "personal" talks to Britta is pretty meh. I never really understood why he talked to her about something that was, in theory, so important and personal. I actually think Shirley is a better candidate for that. They're apparently the only ones grabbing drinks together and I can believe that they occasionally hang out together (although the bar looks nicer than anything Britta would frequent) but just a few weeks prior, Jeff was undermining and insulting Britta with a ferocity reserved for people in whose failures you delight. It didn't make a ton of sense to me but little about this season follows any kind of linear logic so maybe I ought to drop that complaint, eh?
Can I just say how much I appreciate this show's willingness to have Joel McHale (Happy Birthday, Mr. McHale!) prance around half-naked so frequently? Not for my eyeballs but because it's fairly rare outside of the CW to have male characters (when not being played for laughs) strip down as often, if not more often, than female characters. That's a real feat. But I think Joel McHale takes his clothes off more than either Annie or Britta, or the two of them combined. For a show with a fanbase that's likely more evenly divided among gender and sex (fandom participation notwithstanding), that's amazing.
Britta's talk with Evil Jeff is... It's boring, guys. Sorry, I had to put it out there. Suddenly, Britta is right all the time and can analyse Jeff's psychological state with minimal evidence and she's actually sensitive about it? They were pushing toward this J/B thing and the strain was showing because none of the characters were acting or behaving with any consistency.
The darkest timeline play s a considerable role in this episode and let me preface this by saying that I love the darkest timeline. I love writing in it, I love reading fic set there, I like seeing it play out on screen. There is so much room for manouevering and because there are two different interpretations (Abed's and Jeff's), there's wiggle room in characterisation too. It's great. But Evil Jeff and Evil Annie in their first scene are a bit flat. I love seeing them make out on screen, I do, but I hate that little cloying exchange they have beforehand. Evil Annie is clearly playing into the stereotype and that's fine but Annie has never liked it when Jeff talks down to her so it seems like such a complete caricature. And I get it, it's in Jeff's head, but Annie has always held her own so the idea seems to be that Jeff enjoys talking down to Annie/seeing her acting like a child.
Except that we know he doesn't.
But whatever, Evil Jeff has a scene with Annie immediately after and his flirting wasn't evident at all. But I never understood his speech there. He basically tells her he's hot for her (why? What relevance does that have to anything he says after?) and follows it up by telling her that he plans to leave her behind and that he doesn't care about her. But to what end? He's doing it, apparently, to drive them away from Jeff but why open with "I'm hot for you." then? Annie's actions after don't make a ton of sense either - who decides to confront someone after they hurt you by saying you don't care about them when it's been made clear that they don't care about you? I just... Things happen for no discernible reason!
Now, Jeff accepts the excuse that Evil Annie gives of "going a little crazy" which I don't really get but... Ugh. There are just a lot of holes in this episode. It's funny because I don't actually hate it. It's entertaining enough and I love the darkest timeline and there's some shippiness (even if it's technically anti-shippiness) that this is actually one of the better episodes of this season for me. From what we see, Evil Jeff offends Annie, Shirley, Troy, and the Dean and sends Abed to the other timeline. Somewhere along the way, Britta is also offended since she's in Apt 304 with everyone else, I guess. I can't really bring myself to gloss over the holes in this, can I?
Anyone want to take a stab at why Jeff notices something weird is going on and mentions it to Annie who also claimed he hurt her before recanting? Like, do you not think she might be part of the explanation or do you think everyone is just making things up because of the emotional stress your departure is causing? It plays into the idea of Jeff having a gargantuan ego but it doesn't sound right. Evil Annie and Evil Jeff reveal themselves with minimal pushing and that brings us to Act 3 of the episode.
The Evil Study Group versus the Study Group.
Well, for one, I wasn't excited to see paintball back. There was a reason that paintball wasn't included in S3. Making trilogies is only a good idea if you have a reason to do it, a story to tell. The story here wasn't good enough to warrant a third part to the series, you know? Did you like seeing paintball back? I can understand why. I just think the show was trying to trade on fan's warm and fuzzy feelings for earlier escapades instead of aiming for creating new warm and fuzzy feelings.
Anyone want to offer up their interpretation of Evil Annie/Annie? Now, I seem to recall some people mentioning that even in his subconscious, Jeff made Annie competent and defeated Evil Annie. I think that does speak volumes to what Jeff knows about Annie and just how capable and confident she actually is comparative to the Annie in Jeff's imagination. I didn't really understand Annie's line about "Nobody sleeps with Jeff, not even me!" Unless she understood it in a literal sense, I'm finding it hard to parse exactly what she meant. What was your interpretation of that line? That Jeff is so closed off to intimacy and so emotionally insecure that he doesn't spend the night with anyone?
So, Jeff gets a speech from Abed and that decides him... It's an Abed in his head that's giving him a very personal Winger speech. it's not actually that bad, aside from the claim about paintball. But really, the crowning achievement of both the episode and, dare I say it, the season is the final speech from Jeff to the study group (and the Dean) because as much as I hate to admit it, Jeff admitting his love for the group never really gets old for me. I might've gotten into the show for the laughs but I stuck around through S4 because I liked, nay, loved these characters. Although whoever was doing the camera work was probably someone who kept lingering on Annie at key moments which struck me as shippy, whether it was meant to or not.
The very last scene (potentially, as we understood at the time, of the series) has all of them, including the Dean but minus Chang, sitting at the study room table eating cake and drinking champagne and toasting Jeff. It wasn't a horrible end to the series, if that had been it, even if I would've preferred them toasting the group or Greendale as a whole. Looking back on S4, I can't help but wonder how much of the successes and failures rest on the writers and how much rests on the showrunners. Megan Ganz wrote this episode and she was known as a protege of sorts of Dan Harmon's. This episode (and this season) took a lot of flack from critics and fans alike and I often think it might've gone over better if we'd never gotten a S5. No, I don't think it would've lived up to S1-3, but I think it might've been better received if we hadn't gotten another season and a return to the former showrunner. People might've been kinder and critical analysis (and quasi-academic) explanations of TV would've likely lumped this in with all the other shows that suffered in their later seasons.
This is the conclusion of the S4 section of the series rewatch and overall, I'm less impressed (and hugely less positive) about S4 then I was when it first aired. Has your opinion or feelings changed? I think, with the advance of time and the season being bookended by Dan Harmon seasons, it suffers. Fitting it in to the overarching plot and history of Community, this season stands out as one that looks like Community and sounds like Community but doesn't feel like Community to me. I know that was a common complaint and it's neither measurable nor truly fair (since most of us didn't consume Community in a bubble, protected from the drama and critical and fandom reaction). How does it measure up for you? All in all, how do you rate S4 and why?
RePilot
Having been so critical of S4, I can't turn it off for S5. It wouldn't be fair and it wouldn't be right. So right off the bat, I want to point out that Jeff's commercial was ridiculous and the movers point out that it was an expensive venture - Jeff is a cool, slick sort of guy. Why would he think running around in tights and making declarative (and corny) statements would be a good way to rustle up clients? Especially clients who would take him seriously? That commercial doesn't even remotely match his office, for goodness' sake! I assume it was a reason to get him running around in tights and be funny and it's a lot less egregious, all things considered, than some of the gaffes of S4 because I can think up a handful of explanations (set up by S4, funny enough) that would offer insight into why Jeff Winger produced such ludicrous commercials.
We get an appearance by Alan right away and despite a somewhat in-your-face persona, I actually really like Rob Corddry too. He does a great job as Alan, playing a character similar to most of his characters, that walks the line between smarm and intelligence just so. He points out that Greendale is a diploma mill and having spent four years demonstrating ridiculous classes and awful professors, it's hard to deny that. I don't know if it's my own feelings (and knowledge of the behind the scenes drama) colouring everything, but I found the dialogue sharper in the first few minutes than I did in many of the episodes of S4. I still laugh every time at Jeff's line about still having power followed by, "That was it, that was all I had." It's delivered so matter of factly as the scotch is removed from his hand (also, not something they'd usually repossess, if you were wondering) that I snicker no matter what.
Next up, we get Jeff returning to Greendale which we knew had to happen, so I appreciate that the why is established quickly and carefully. We see characters we know from previous appearances (Alan, Leonard) that place the episode squarely in the Greendale universe and it really does reorient us to the show. I know Dan Harmon can be a jerk and all, but I have to give him kudos for doing exactly what he says he'd going to do with a TV show. He knows how to craft a story far better than your average bear. Anyway, Jeff's little exchange with Rhonda (how many times has the Dean's secretary/Greendale's receptionist changed?) is pretty funny because Rhonda doesn't recognise Jeff nor does she care for his charm and good looks which forces him to explain his little compliment (which wasn't much of a compliment) with an awkward explanation about having an attractive aunt. Do better, Jeff, BE better!
The Dean in S4 was incredibly off-putting for me. His constant invasions of Jeff's privacy and his behaviour verged on the "predatory gay"
trope and I hated it. The hug here is uncomfortable but it isn't sexual - the Dean is comforting himself and it's actually pretty cute. I don't know if Dan Harmon just decided to ignore the Dean moving next to Jeff but it's a bit odd that the Dean acts like he hasn't seen Jeff since, not that I blame Dan Harmon for that. Either way, the very next scene has the reintroduction of the study group and I have to say that I'm exceedingly happy that we didn't have to wait long to see them altogether. The reason for the show is the existence of the study group together. While it centres on Jeff, he's only important insofar as he's important to these specific people.
The meta jokes are on point here. I have to say, I was one of the few people who liked S9 of Scrubs. While it didn't have the same heart, it had an excellent cast (including Eliza Coupe and Dave Franco. Troy's little outburst is a nice acknowledgement of Glover's impending departure and I think it indicates exactly how amicable that departure was in comparison to Dan Harmon's or Chevy Chase's. Donald Glover was willing to deliver that line and Dan Harmon was willing to write it.
So Jeff leaves the room to go to the bathroom (just as he did in the original pilot) and goes to see a member of the faculty (didn't he go to see Duncan in the pilot?). It's interesting that he speaks with the Dean and it's the Dean's own reckless disregard for who and how and why he gives degrees that seems to decide Jeff against Greendale - the Dean makes a bit of a mockery of the idea that Greendale is for good people and he disappoints Jeff's faith in the school so Jeff, essentially, turns on him. Although he's technically doing a bad thing, Jeff is living up to his principles, in theory. The school is granting degrees recklessly to people who don't deserve them and thus, Jeff is willing to work against the school, because it's no longer a good place for good people.
I don't love that Jeff is now working with Alan (who appears to be in more dire straits than Jeff is) but I do like how Jeff rediscovers both his will and confidence. It's not that Jeff was soft-toothed or anything before, but as I said in the episode just prior, his avoidance of taking the job his former partner offered him never made much sense. Jeff is now becoming a more active participant in his own life instead a passive receptor for what's happening around him. Now, much like the pilot episode, he sets the entire group at each other's throats. It's pretty amazing because while I knew, intellectually, that there were similarities, I never realised how many of the same beats, in a completely different way, the show hits in RePilot.
The scene where the group fights is fairly entertaining because the attacks, while technically personal, are mostly about circumstances over attacks on the individual. I can appreciate that more because Annie and Britta are doing most of the fighting and I'm tired of seeing those two as opponents. The difference between the pilot and this episode is that they all know each other this go-round and Shirley shuts all the fighting down by announcing that Andre has taken the kids and left her. It's enough to quiet the group and it sets in motion the second part of Jeff's plan where they all sit in silence and think about whether Greendale did right by them,
Elsewhere, Jeff confronts Alan and delivers the monologue and the Jeff that I wish I was better at writing. Often, I find, in fics, Jeff is a little sappier, a little nicer, a little more loving than I think he actually is. There are a number of really good fics where Jeff is a bad guy lawyer but generally a good guy underneath and that's the interpretation that I like and that I think we see here... Right up until he starts beating Alan with his tie. Yes, it's a tie, but it made me vaguely uncomfortable to watch. I remember commenting way back during the first run that it seemed a little like bullying and that's part of why I didn't care for the scene and I stand by that. Did you feel differently?
So there's a discussion going on somewhere else in the comm (seriously, I forget where) and I asked if it was confirmed that Britta was molested and/or sexually abused as a child and there's some disagreement. The show has a bad habit of not taking sexual absuse/substance use/etc. very seriously... They use it in jokes, they casually reference it, and I don't think they really consider the implications or impact of any of these serious traumas. Britta here mentions that the school 'clearly got a finger up its butt as a child' and I hate that! Just wanted to put it out there.
I do like how Jeff pointed out all the same things that fans and critics had been calling the show out on, though. All the character regressions and bits and pieces that you don't notice in the short-term but become big issues over the long haul. Troy was a walking punchline spewer for whom most storylines revolved around Abed. He suffered a lot as a character, post-S2, to be honest. Annie didn't suffer (S4, notwithstanding) but she also stagnated because Dan Harmon found it difficult, it seems, to really confront the idea of her maturing and growing like any normal person. But Britta and Shirley both evolved in some respects and devolved in others, so it was good to know that the writers and showrunner could recognise that. It seemed to promise that those things would be rectified.
It was discussed elsewhere that Dan Harmon admitted that this season would be about rehabbing the characters and, specifically, rehabbing Annie. I think it starts with giving her a job that's the most grown up and "successful" of anyone (including Jeff) there and having her, as per usual, be the one to challenge Jeff by having faith in him. She says the decision to sue is his decision and they're putting Greendale in his hands. It's a dick move, technically, but then, so is what Jeff is trying to do.
As far as Annie pushing pills go, I don't actually have a problem with that. I do take some issue with the idea that she would be taking unprescribed medication but that's one of those issues that the show may never properly address (their affinity for abuse/substance use/etc. jokes). I absolutely adore (and I assume this worked out because they were still on NBC at this point) that they had a Zach Braff voiceover a la Scrubs (is that voiceover 100% from Scrubs?). It really does tie the episode together and it's little details like that which really make the show stand out as one that you could and should care about (even if you're not crazy, which I know is a terrible term to just throw around).
So... How much do you think the behind the scenes drama (and fan/critical reaction) coloured how you viewed S4 versus S5? Do you think S5's opener showed a big improvement over S4? Were you one of the people who still maintains that S4 wasn't bad? (Don't be ashamed if you are!)
Introduction to Teaching
I found the opening for this episode pretty interesting because it forces Jeff to confront how different being a student is versus a teacher. He smiles at some female students and he's a prof leering at students, he's mean to Leonard and he's a prof demeaning a student. It's a complete shift from how he was perceived just a year ago. Although how everyone seems to know he's a teacher is beyond me. But it's good because it establishes that Jeff's role is now different and really hammers home that we, as the audience, are about to see him in a new role.
The one thing that I hate is that they retcon Jeff knowing nothing about law. I discussed this previously but back in the day, there was some discussion that Jeff likely went to law school because it's a felony not to when practicing law whereas he could probably have worked out a deal with the Bar Association if it was just his undergrad degree. Yet here they say that he knows nothing about law. Yes, Jeff is good with words but the idea that he could successfully practice law for five - seven years without having a law degree or knowing/learning about law is absolutely unbelievable. It's one of the few missteps in S5, I think. Something that just doesn't make a lot of sense (even though it makes sense for Jeff as a character).
The introduction of Hickey is actually pretty good though I don't think that Jonathan Banks is primarily a comedic actor. Still, he actually does a great job and while I didn't love that there were multiple episodes about him specifically, it was still a better use of the professor character than in previous seasons. How'd you feel about Buzz Hickey? Speaking of profs, though, Garrity makes a return and I love Garrity so I'm glad to see he's still teaching at Greendale. Do you have a favourite prof? Hickey is introduced in a way that suggests he's pretty awful. How did you guys feel at his initial appearance? I know people ended up with complicated feelings about him but what was your initial impression?
The teacher's lounge is amazing, isn't it? The professors are ridiculous and Jeff loves the power trip and the partying that goes along with being a staff member at this toilet of a school. Annie, of course, decides to check up on him and this extends into auditing his class because she doesn't trust him as a teacher. She's so good at keeping him on track. Guys. how did this scene not spawn 1000 fics? I have two (that are unlikely to ever be finished) set to the whole student-teacher dynamic (both are kink meme prompts, so, you can see where that's going) and I think it's an oddly compelling trope with these two. Jeff's mantra of "I hate her, I hate her, I hate her!" is great. It sounds so unbelievable and immature and it's a nice nod to the way their usual roles are reversed.
To switch tacks for a moment, Abed's B-plot is pretty awesome. His character is probably the second most focused-on character and in third season (and in S1 and S2, as well, actually) he was given a lot of heavy material. Danny Pudi can handle the acting but it's rarer that he gets to be zany and silly (despite his ostensibly zany plots - like being obsessed with celebrity impersonators) in his actions. This plot had him going starry eyed at a course, balking at a professor telling him what to do, and being overtaken by his obsession with answering the Nicholas Cage question (his hubris, pride goeth before the fall), and ending up Nic Caging all over the place. If ever there was material to submit for Emmy consideration, this was it! Did you enjoy the Nic Cage interlude or do you prefer Abed's more serious stuff?
His scene where he freaks out and channels Nicholas Cage is something where I laugh and wince simeltaneously. It's so very well acted because it required Danny Pudi to turn on a dime but I have to wonder what the script/stage direction said for that. Was it all improvisation? Because, and this is why I'll never be an actor, I couldn't imagine dreaming up what to do there. If someone told me to act like an out of control amalgamation of all of Nicholas Cage's parts, I'd be lost. And horribly embarassed.
Back to what we're all thinking, though... Jeff's takedown of Annie was way too simplistic. For someone who is rather intelligent, yes, but lazy as all get out, it seemed too easy to argue Annie in circles. Yes, his mouth is where his money is but it's not like Annie is a slouch either. That struck me as a little... Happening for the sake of happening but, I'll allow that I could see it potentially happening so it's more of a nitpick than anything. What I like is that it was the catalyst for Jeff to begin real teaching and it was something he didn't even notice was going until after the fact. I appreciate, too, his ego in assuming that Annie (of all people, please!) would be crying over him. As if. I enjoy Jeff's good deed/desire to placate Annie backfiring on him even more though. He looks so thoroughly confused.
Guys, Neil announces that it's riot time all because Annie yelled "minuses are made up!" which, when you take a second and think about it, has no real meaning and they didn't even contextualise it. Hilarious. This school riots so frequently, they take any excuse for it. When they march on the cafeteria and Jeff delivers his speech, I actually expected it to work for a minute and it's both so, so funny when it doesn't and a little sad. In a good way! Jeff has been proven, over and over again, fallible in this episode and it sets up the rest of the season where Jeff Winger learns and grows. If he was back at Greendale and a better man and there was no room for improvement, the show would be borrowing, heck, it wouldn't really have a central thesis.
By far, in an episode that I really enjoyed, my favourite thing is the Dean's French Excel song. It was the best, and not just because I enjoy French music on occasion (I live in Canada, you can't avoid it), but because it's so absurd that it makes me laugh and I can totally imagine the Dean having a French indie singer narrating his thoughts. I don't really know if I'm being too generous to this episode and S5 in general, as if the pendulum is swinging the other way, or just that, in comparison to S4, any bit of enjoyment I derive seems huge. Either way, I find it difficult to deny that already, two episodes in, I'm liking S5 significantly more than I enjoyed S4. But, a big piece of it is that the storytelling is considerably better. The plotting is tigher, character decisions and actions (even if you don't agree or don't care for the characterisation) are explained and track logically and that was sorely lacking last season.
I want to note, too, how important it is that we got a Annie and Jeff/Annie-heavy episode so early on in the season. Considering this season was Dan Harmon (and thus, the show itself) reestablishing what it is, who it is, and how it's going to be moving forward, that was a big deal, I think. It easily could've focused on Britta, on Troy and Abed, on Jeff alone again, but it didn't. Dan Harmon the writer's room chose to give us an episode that was largely about Jeff, about Annie, and about Annie and Jeff. Troy, Britta, and Shirley all took a backseat while Hickey rode shotgun and Abed, Annie and Jeff took turns driving the plot forward. It worked well for me though I know I wouldn't necessarily love that configuration every week.
I wrote a lot this week but I want to hear your thoughts. Tell me what you thought of S4 as a whole, tell me what you felt in watching S4 bleed into S5 for the rewatch, tell me what you liked about S5's premiere and its follow up episode, tell me whatever you want about these episodes and the characters and the cast. Last week had some truly excellent discussion and I'm really excited to see S5 with you (and not just because we'll be getting S6 pretty soon!).