Community: "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking"

Once I determine if somebody can be nostalgic for something they never experienced the first time around, I'll offer up a review of tonight's episode, after the jump...

Note: While I usually link to my past reviews just for reference, I lot of what I am saying here is a shortened version of what I've said in the past. Follow the links and read the thoughts on Pierce located in each post as necessary.

Before going any further with this review, we need to talk about Pierce. There is a sector of the Community fan base who despise his presence on the show, and they have only grown louder in the past few weeks (starting around the time of “Celebrity Pharmacology 212”). While I have personally never minded Peirce as a character, the rumblings have caused me to do some reflection on the show, and I have reached something of a revelation: I don't think Pierce is funny. Chevy Chase himself is funny (or at least he used to be), but Pierce isn't, even if he is the cause of many funny scenes, though in those cases it is the other characters that make things funny.

Also since “Pharmacology,” Pierce has been undergoing a character arc in terms of both his isolation from the group, and his growing drug addiction, though there wasn't any indication that this is what the show was doing until the closing minutes of last week's episode (and even if you didn't get it then, I don't particularly blame you.) Subtle storytelling is a great television device when used effectively, but when dealing with a character who is unloved and controversial (from the audience's perspective) as Pierce, it makes for some off kilter moments. (I said as much in my reviews of “Pharmacology” and “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.”)

All of this is a long, drawn-out way of saying that tonight's episode of Community was both very good and kind of bad, as best exemplified by the confrontational scene between Jeff and Pierce in the hospital's parking lot. As interesting as it had been watching Jeff freak out about the possible appearance of his father (though I'm not sure if this has been established before, Jeff having daddy issues is something that makes sense), I'm not sure if it was worth having to see Pierce go to such mean, villainish lengths just to get back at the group. So while it enjoyed Jeff screaming and hitting Pierce, working out whatever sort of rage he had, and I thought this scene would have worked in other context, I couldn't get over that there was meant to be some humor in all of this, humor I just couldn't accept due to Peirce sociopaths actions.

And that ultimately is what “Filmmaking” was all about – it was a character study for the rest of the group (minus Abed), and for Pierce...well, I don't really know what this episode was meant to do for Pierce. Is Pierce's descent reached its lowest point, or is this just the middle? What are these events going to do to the study group? Are the rest of them going to be as mad as Jeff was?

While I don't really have the answers for these questions (which I see as a bit of a problem since this show is a comedy), I am willing to give a possible “no” to the last query. Jeff had the most interaction with Pierce, while the rest were left to stew on their bequeaths outside of Pierce's influence. In addition, Shirley and Britta's gifts led to some unintended consequences, thus negating Pierce's villainous intentions (at least for those two). Shirley has been forced to confront both her selfish use of guilt, and her skepticism/mistrust of the group, while Britta comes to realize that she truly is a selfless person, even if she it sometimes plagued by selfish thoughts.

I realized at this point I have written some 650 words and none of them have described how funny this episode was, which perhaps undersells this episode. Troy and Annie's storylines here existed as pure comedy (more so Troy's), and I think storylines as inconsequential that was needed in an episode that dealt out so much darkness. (Though the question of whether Pierce's proclamations that Annie is “his favorite” were straight up truth, or if he just wants to bang her, has been bouncing around in my head, though that may just be one of those things that I'm over-thinking.)

In fact when I think back about this episode now, it's the comedy that I really remember, before I remember all of the awkward plotting that surrounded it. I would like for my memories to just be of the former. Maybe the show should just write out Peirce. But I know that is just wishful thinking.

What did everybody else think?


Additional Thoughts:

“Something called 'Bruce Willis Surrogates.'”

“See? Fish in a barrel.”

“It's Gregory Hines all over again.”

“Black sheep...sorry, that's offensive – black swan.”

“People shouldn't die in the same place as People Magazine.”

“And her mom gets freaky when she hears Oingo Boingo.”

“You can't disappoint a picture!”

“Are you more familiar with me from Stark Trek or Reading Rainbow?”

“Are they...Holocaust Diamonds?”

“More fish for Kunta.”