I actually agree with you on Pierce. His statement at the end of paintball seemed so final, that I thought he'd stew a little bit before coming back to the study group. However, the writers dug up everything early in Season 2, so I wasn't really surprised at the quick resolution. Besides, Pierce probably doesn't have anyone who'll have as much patience with him as these six people.
Something that's easy to overlook about the Inspector Spacetime segment in this episode is that with the exception of the very brief excerpt from the Christmas Special in 3x10, this is the only glimpse of the "real" Inspector Spacetime we ever see. Everything else is cosplay or other expressions of fannish enthusiasm (e.g. posters).
I can relate to how Abed immediately fell for Inspector Spacetime, because it very closely parallels how I (and probably Dan Harmon too, considering he was a fan of the original series) fell for Doctor Who. I came to the series cold; a friend told me she thought I'd like it, so I talked my mom into letting me stay up (this was back in the 80s; I was in middle school and the show aired at 11:00 PM on Sunday) to watch it. The story that happened to be showing that night was "The Invisible Enemy," a 4th Doctor adventure. Looking at it as an adult, I can state it's not a very good episode. But it *is* completely nuts, which is the sort of thing that middle school-age boys usually find appealing. Another thing
( ... )
You said it! Abed and Inspector Spacetime seems like a match made in heaven. I've never seen Doctor Who (booooo!) but I've had the same reaction to some shiows. Of course Community is one of them.
Also, good catch on those two appearances being the only ones by the "actual" Inspector Spacetime. I was wondering which episode the 1981 special was, and didn't look at the obvious answer (to be fair, I got sucked into a partial S3 rewatch)
What is the appeal of Inspector Spacetime? Did you think Inspector Spacetime will be this big in the fandom when you first saw it? To be honest, I wish Cougarton Abbey took off the way Inspector Spacetime did. Why does Abed like Inspector Spacetime more than Cougar Town? Did Abed actually stop liking Cougar Town? Maybe IS just filled the Cougar Town shaped hole in his heart, and when CT finally came back from hiatus, he didn't need it as much anymore. Or, maybe since Troy also loves IS, the experience is more enjoyable for Abed (it didn't seem like anyone else in the group watched CT.)
What did you feel about Pierce after Season 2 finale? Did you expect this resolution of the cliffhanger? It seemed a little too pat to me. That being said, I liked how Pierce let himself become the villain for Jeff's sake. Why did Jeff freak out about being excluded from the study group? What is the significance of the trippy daydream? Because even though he's the de facto leader of the group, he's realizing that they don't actually need a leader
( ... )
I liked Pierce in this episode too. He's become mature, for Pierce. I wonder what happened to all that animosity from last season ;)
Yes, I wish they had a lot more stories of being in class or doing classwork, but I guess Dan was trying to gradually move from a school setting to a bigger world.
For starters, the name itself is just brilliant. I also liked the way it poked fun at the differences between British and American tv.
Also, I think the CA/IS storyline showed us a lot about who Britta is. She knew that Abed needed a new show to love, something to distract him so he didn't miss CT. But she didn't realize that maybe a show that ends with every character taking their own lives after 6 episodes might not be the best one for Abed. And after she figured that out, she was the one who introduced Abed to his latest obsession. She has the right instincts to become a good therapist one day, but she has to stop getting in her own way and let herself gain the discipline and skills needed first.
Shoot, I've missed all of the rewatches so far! I hope it's not too late to add to them.
•Did you think at this point that they could survive as a group without all being in one class?
Honestly, at that point? No. I think one of the great things about this season is that they've really evolved as one actual group of friends (with the excetpion of Troy and Abed, who got there before everyone else) as demonstrated by more episodes taking place outside of the study room (although we did have the bar episode last season).
I've found that in college there's two types of friend groups - the type who are mostly like work friends that just bond over coffee, and the type who go above and beyond. I've had more of the former than people I'd call close friends. Which is why it's fitting that they all took biology this year, and IIRC it was definitely intentional.
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I actually agree with you on Pierce. His statement at the end of paintball seemed so final, that I thought he'd stew a little bit before coming back to the study group. However, the writers dug up everything early in Season 2, so I wasn't really surprised at the quick resolution. Besides, Pierce probably doesn't have anyone who'll have as much patience with him as these six people.
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That would've been brilliant.
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I can relate to how Abed immediately fell for Inspector Spacetime, because it very closely parallels how I (and probably Dan Harmon too, considering he was a fan of the original series) fell for Doctor Who. I came to the series cold; a friend told me she thought I'd like it, so I talked my mom into letting me stay up (this was back in the 80s; I was in middle school and the show aired at 11:00 PM on Sunday) to watch it. The story that happened to be showing that night was "The Invisible Enemy," a 4th Doctor adventure. Looking at it as an adult, I can state it's not a very good episode. But it *is* completely nuts, which is the sort of thing that middle school-age boys usually find appealing. Another thing ( ... )
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Also, good catch on those two appearances being the only ones by the "actual" Inspector Spacetime. I was wondering which episode the 1981 special was, and didn't look at the obvious answer (to be fair, I got sucked into a partial S3 rewatch)
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Why does Abed like Inspector Spacetime more than Cougar Town? Did Abed actually stop liking Cougar Town? Maybe IS just filled the Cougar Town shaped hole in his heart, and when CT finally came back from hiatus, he didn't need it as much anymore. Or, maybe since Troy also loves IS, the experience is more enjoyable for Abed (it didn't seem like anyone else in the group watched CT.)
What did you feel about Pierce after Season 2 finale? Did you expect this resolution of the cliffhanger? It seemed a little too pat to me. That being said, I liked how Pierce let himself become the villain for Jeff's sake.
Why did Jeff freak out about being excluded from the study group? What is the significance of the trippy daydream? Because even though he's the de facto leader of the group, he's realizing that they don't actually need a leader ( ... )
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Yes, I wish they had a lot more stories of being in class or doing classwork, but I guess Dan was trying to gradually move from a school setting to a bigger world.
What about Cougarton Abbey piqued your interest?
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Also, I think the CA/IS storyline showed us a lot about who Britta is. She knew that Abed needed a new show to love, something to distract him so he didn't miss CT. But she didn't realize that maybe a show that ends with every character taking their own lives after 6 episodes might not be the best one for Abed. And after she figured that out, she was the one who introduced Abed to his latest obsession. She has the right instincts to become a good therapist one day, but she has to stop getting in her own way and let herself gain the discipline and skills needed first.
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The color scheme seems to be much brighter and colorful for this episode. Or maybe that opening segment just sticks. :D
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•Did you think at this point that they could survive as a group without all being in one class?
Honestly, at that point? No. I think one of the great things about this season is that they've really evolved as one actual group of friends (with the excetpion of Troy and Abed, who got there before everyone else) as demonstrated by more episodes taking place outside of the study room (although we did have the bar episode last season).
I've found that in college there's two types of friend groups - the type who are mostly like work friends that just bond over coffee, and the type who go above and beyond. I've had more of the former than people I'd call close friends. Which is why it's fitting that they all took biology this year, and IIRC it was definitely intentional.
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