by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of Sony Pictures Television.

6×10: “Basic RV Repair and Palmistry”

So pretty much nothing happened in this episode. In fact, I had to go back a couple of times just to fully understand what was happening, with the story beginning in media res and taking place over only a few hours inside Elroy’s RV. In terms of plot or character development, this week’s episode is probably the least active of the entire season so far, so it’s weird that it’s also probably the most important.

Community has always been a weird, self-referential show obsessed with and consumed by contemporary pop culture, but at its best it’s also used its eccentricity and self-awareness to insightfully find essential truths and drive home its thematic meanings. Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of Sony Pictures Television.

6×09: “Grifting 101”

Something that’s been hard to track throughout the last two seasons of Community is the progression of the school year. Without the benefit of a year-round/fall-winter release schedule, thirteen episodes can go by relatively quickly in about one semester’s time, and this year and last have also been without markers like a Halloween or Christmas episode. When the topic of picking new classes from this semester’s new course catalogue comes up, as is the starting pitch for this week’s “Grifting 101”, the whole thing sort of feels out of left field. On the other hand, we’ve already gone pretty far in abandoning the central conceit of school uniting our characters anyway; classroom settings rarely show up even as framing sequences anymore. And since when was Chang a student again? Hasn’t he been the math teacher since last year? And even then, along with photography and martial arts, shouldn’t that assignment have gone against every fibre of the mysterious, inscrutable nature he may have but doesn’t want to have any conversations about? Maybe I’m just living in the past (I miss 2009, when twenty years ago was still the 80s). Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of Sony Pictures Television.

6×08: “Intro to Recycled Cinema”

If there’s one thing I consider a gift in terms of my writing ability (if I can truly claim to even have such a thing) it’s that I rarely labour for inspiration. I’m not the type of writer who puts off writing until the last minute or stares at a blank page for long, and it usually takes mere minutes of consideration before I can start off in a relatively strong direction. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have to go back and edit or revise or that everything spills out in its final, pristine glory the first go-round (if ever), but if there’s one thing I can usually count on, it’s that I don’t have to wait too long for inspiration to strike.

Right now, I am absolutely struggling for something to say about “Intro to Recycled Cinema”. But it’s not that there is nothing to say about it, just that there’s not much I want to say about it. Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of Sony Pictures Television.

6×07: “Advanced Safety Features”

I feel compelled to begin this week’s review by telling you that I drive a Honda — a proper hatchback Civic and the last such hatchback released in North America. It’s fast [relative to Civics], it’s agile [ relative to Civics], and most importantly, for some reason most of the girls I talk to really like it.

Honda is strong in my family. My father drives one. I drive one. My sister drives one. But… my mother drives a Subaru… and I probably would too if I could afford a new car right now.

We’re now at the exact midpoint of Community’s sixth season in what I would call the most disappointing run in series history not referred to as the gas leak year. Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of Sony Pictures Television.

6×06: “Basic Email Security”

As has become increasingly common with this year’s batch of Community episodes, the best parts of this week’s “Basic Email Security” come from further exploring the mythos of Greendale and its ersatz “activities committee” nee “study group”. The group tested Annie’s blood for amphetamines because she was “extra jumpy last spring? The group has a betting pool on Frankie’s sexual preferences? Elroy’s being called out for his “House Guest-era Sinbad-esque wardrobe? Garrett had a girlfriend in 2009? And has therefore been attending a community college for at least six years? All gold.

Still not that funny, though.

Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of Sony Pictures Television.

6×05: “Laws of Robotics and Party Rights”

It was this time last year (and on real, broadcast TV) that we lost Troy in one of the most moving and insightful episodes in Community’s history. Honestly, and as my previous reviews can attest, I loved that first batch of Community season five episodes that represented creator Dan Harmon’s return. Balancing a rebooting of the series and dealing with what was left from season four, in particular Pierce’s Greendale retirement and Troy’s impending departure, they were bursting with the same kind of boundless energy that defined the show at its best and they would give us latter-day favourites like “Basic Intergluteal Numismatics”, one of the series’ best concept episodes and one that gifted pop culture with the Ass Crack Bandit. The show would soon fall off from such great heights with its following episodes, but it was still pretty good throughout the remainder of the season. I for one can’t imagine a world without Meow Meow Beenz or having never seen Sean Connery’s Zardoz.

So far I don’t feel anywhere near the same about season six. Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Community images courtesy of Sony Pictures Television.

6×04: “Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing”

Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how big the Community cast still is, with four remaining principals, one secondary character, two recurring guest stars, plus whatever Chang is. With a cast that size, it can be hard to find something for everyone to do, and even though “Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing” is comprised of three very separate stories and an eight-minute-longer running time than network sitcoms, the episode still had to shuffle three of its core characters out of its main stories.

Our lead story features Dean Pelton’s token ascension onto Richie and Carl’s (that’s right, they have names!) school board due entirely to the Dean’s seemingly apparent homosexuality. It’s not a very interesting or original premise, but it offers us perhaps the first in-depth analysis of the Dean’s preferences. Continue reading →