by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of NBCUniversal Television Distribution

5×06:  “Analysis of Cork-Based Networking”

Particularly In comparison to the last two episodes, both, in their own ways, gut-wrenching goodbyes to two long-standing cast members, “Analysis of Cork-Based Networking” is a relatively light episode.  It’s very plot-based, not particularly dependent on established relationships or longstanding quirks of the series, and it’s probably the closest the show’s felt to season one in a while.  Which isn’t a bad thing.

In establishing the “Save Greendale” Committee, Annie splits the remaining members of the Greendale Five (née Seven), along with Professors Duncan, Chang and Hickey, into teams to tackle a variety of pressing issues around the school, among them updating the Greendale Student Census, planning the decorations for the mid-term dance, and rehanging the bulletin board in the cafeteria.  So, three tasks, three storylines.

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by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×16: “How Your Mother Met Me”

Sometimes, when writers want us to feel sympathy or camaraderie with their characters, they make said characters go through something negatively life-altering: embarrassment, failure, loss. We can’t identify with characters when they’re happy all the time, which is why all our favourite stories start out well, get really awful, hit rock bottom, and then go back up to being great again.

If the situation is too unsubstantial or not sufficiently devastating, we won’t feel the emotions we’re supposed to feel. But if the situation is too severe, we can become angry with the writers, thinking, “I see how you’re trying to manipulate me, and it’s not going to work. I’m smarter than you. I’m not going to feel anything.” It’s a constant challenge we writers face: how to write a compelling story about an engaging character that doesn’t make the audience want to smash their own faces in with a hammer.

Say what you will about this week’s How I Met Your Mother, but I think the writers, flawed as they’ve been in the past, succeeded in that goal.

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by Grace Crawford

All images courtesy of the BBC.

Spoilers ahead!

Almost exactly one year ago, I had the flu/mono/Spanish plague. I was in bed for a whole week. I had all kinds of nasty things leaking out of my face. I was cross and hot and miserably uncomfortable. I was looking for a diversion, and my sister recommended Sherlock.

“Why not,” I said to myself. After all, it wasn’t like I was going anywhere, and it looked like there was about nine hours’ worth of episodes. That would keep me busy for  a while. So I started with “A Study in Pink,” and that was pretty intriguing. Then I watched “The Blind Banker,” and even though it wasn’t a particularly great episode, I kept watching. Then came “The Great Game.” It was at that moment I realized I was hooked.

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by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of NBCUniversal Television Distribution

5×05:  “Geothermal Escapism”

When I think about it, I’ve never particularly liked Troy.

But give me a second.

I can explain…

Let me explain…

…*

Occasionally, but only occasionally, I’ll run across a fellow Community fan in real life.  It’s a rare occurrence to be sure, but it almost always represents one of those odd moments of kinship, one where we both have an instantly heightened sense of respect toward each other.  But that can only happen if, during the usually brief chat about the show, neither of us allows the conversation to devolve to asking, “who’s your favourite character?”  Some people will say Annie or Jeff, a certain type of person really likes Chang, and just about nobody likes Shirley (and not just because she intimidates us all sexually, but probably mostly because her character type is least represented in Community’s audience demographics).  Abed is usually everybody’s favourite, though, and with him Troy naturally follows.  If anyone, I might like Britta the best, but only because I admire her for the grace with which she (usually) handles everyone taking a giant crap on her.  But to me, Community’s never been a show about individual character favourites; it’s very much an ensemble, one that works, thrives, and depends on the contributions of everyone involved. Continue reading →

by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×15: “Unpause”

This week’s episode began with a statement that we’ve become familiar with over the last eight years and that we all know to be true: “Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.”

Unless you mean The Mother going into labour in 2017 and Barney telling all his deepest secrets to Ted and Robin right now, that is.

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by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of NBCUniversal Television Distribution

5×04:  “Cooperative Polygraphy”

For those of us who have stuck by Community over these long and, sometimes, arduous five years, we should all feel grateful that, even though we weren’t always laughing, even though we weren’t always in on the joke, even though we weren’t always happy, we’ve really… really learned a lot from watching it.  Like what bottle episodes are.

Even more than last week’s episode, “Cooperative Polygraphy” is an incredibly insular episode of a show that’s proven itself to be almost invulnerable to the prospect of gaining new viewers.  It’s an episode that commits the cardinal sin of tell, don’t show, but it does it in such an introspective and understanding way that, if you’re deeply invested in these characters, it still draws hysterics.

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by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×14: “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra”

I can’t remember how many times I’ve watched the gang sit around at McLaren’s while Barney tells some totally-made-up-but-he-still-says-it’s-a-true story. It’s got to be at least a thousand. He tries to pass off some supposedly legendary exploit as fact, and none of the rest of the gang is buying it, and no one backs him up. So we just assume it’s not true. And that’s happened at least a million times. What do you mean, a thousand? I’m pretty sure I said “a million.”

So it’s nice to see Barney getting a taste of his own medicine when Marshall tells the story of how he mastered the Slap of a Thousand Exploding Suns (SoaTES), spending a year in China to learn speed, strength, and accuracy from a trio of masters who look suspiciously like Robin, Lily, and Ted, if they were Asian stereotypes. And it’s hilarious seeing the group backing him up with things like, “Yes, Marshall spent a year in Shanghai,” and “Yes, I’ve heard of that magical forest; I backpacked there in college.”

But apart from that, this episode is seriously lacking in anything even remotely resembling humour.

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