I seem to remember from the DVD commentaries that initially "The Psychology of Letting Go" was supposed to be the second episode and "Accounting for Lawyers" was supposed to be the third, and for some reason they switched the order. I don't know if it's because they thought Rob Corddry would be a big draw and that's why the order was switched, or if it was because in the wake of "Anthropology 101," they thought two heavy episodes in a row would be too much for viewers to deal with
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I also seem to remember from the DVD commentaries that Jeff and Britta started sleeping together either right before or right after "Basic Rocket Science," which makes Britta's momentary attraction to Troy in that episode veeeeeeery interesting in terms of timing. Plus, the bloopers for that episode is so cute. Donald Glover and Gillian Jacobs accidentally kiss when she lands in his lap and then they start cracking up
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Wow, I just watched 'Anthropology 101' and 'The Psychology Of Letting Go' back to back, and you're absolutely right! It works so much better. Even in the non J/A stuff
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"Accounting for Lawyers" - I noticed this time around that Jeff's conflict here mirrors the conflict in his mind in "Advanced Introduction to Finality": he's tempted to go back to his "cool lawyer life" but ultimately he chooses to be with his Greendale family, and in both cases Annie is the one who is most visibly affected by his decisions. (It is perhaps worth noting, though, that even though he chose his Greendale friends in the S4 finale, he did go back to being a lawyer between Seasons 4 and 5, and he did lose touch with his friends. But, of course, he was trying to be a better lawyer, and it wasn't like he wanted to lose touch with everyone
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One other thing I wanted to talk about regarding "Psychology of Letting Go": I agree that Annie and Britta's confessions are both a little true and a little false. It may be true that Annie kissed Jeff because she wanted to be cool, but that's not the whole truth. Jeff may be the Cool Guy, but she also genuinely likes him. His coolness may be a big part of why she likes him, but that doesn't make her feelings any less legitimate. I think Annie probably knew this at the time, but she wasn't comfortable telling Britta the whole truth, at least not in that moment. On the other hand, Britta does seem insecure enough to actually believe the only reason she slept with Jeff was because she hated herself. She can sense that they don't really go together, which doesn't have to be a bigger deal than that, but she makes the worst possible conclusion out of that assessment.
This kinda sucks. I'm on vacation and out of town through Sunday without access to my DVDs or Hulu. It will likely be Monday or Tuesday before I have a chance to comment on these eps....
"Do you think Jeff's line about hating Leonard was when he engaged in the dad role or was it written expressly so he would sound like he occupied the dad role? That's the only thing about the show I don't always love - characterization sometimes changes for a plot device."
I feel like it's the other way around, or at least it's supposed to be, i.e., a change in normal behavior is meant to drive the plot. It's a tricky line to walk, and it doesn't always work, but when it does, it is oh so satisfying. In this particular case, I think it was meant to be a commentary about how we sometimes play-act certain social roles and/or roles from movies and TV without even realizing that we're doing it. The study groupers look to Jeff as the dad of the group, and that idea burrowing into his head makes him start acting like a dad in little ways. I think they almost went too far with that moment, but when Jeff suddenly realized what he was doing and declared he wasn't the dad, that really sold it for me.
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I feel like it's the other way around, or at least it's supposed to be, i.e., a change in normal behavior is meant to drive the plot. It's a tricky line to walk, and it doesn't always work, but when it does, it is oh so satisfying.
In this particular case, I think it was meant to be a commentary about how we sometimes play-act certain social roles and/or roles from movies and TV without even realizing that we're doing it. The study groupers look to Jeff as the dad of the group, and that idea burrowing into his head makes him start acting like a dad in little ways. I think they almost went too far with that moment, but when Jeff suddenly realized what he was doing and declared he wasn't the dad, that really sold it for me.
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