Every time Britta becomes a major player within an episode, I always end up reflecting on how far the character (and our understanding of her) has come since the beginning of season one. Dan Harmon has always meant for her to be the embodiment of today's “real woman," and though we have seen examples of this before, tonight's episode was, I think, the best example of how all of these "real woman" attributes work together.
Britta, for all her narcissism and false sense of superiority, is essentially a good person. She is more or less worldly and educated, and is highly aware of all the current debates over what it politically correct, and attempts to remain on the “right” side of things. Likewise, she is a feminist, and she attempts to live out those ideals daily as well. Yet for all her idealism, she often fails to fully adhere to the tenets of her moral code. She is, for all intensives purposes, a human being, with her flaws exaggerated for comedic effect. (You may say that this comedic exaggeration keeps Britta from being "human," but considering that Rich's “good guy” nature is likewise exaggerated for comedy, it all kind of evens out.)
All of this comes into play when Britta starts dating Troy and Abed's new friend, Luka. (Luka is of course played by Enver Gjokaj, of the late, great Dollhouse, and considering the skilled comedic chops he got to display in that show, it's surprising it took this long for somebody to give him a part in a comedy series.)
Anyways, when Britta ultimately fails to stay away from Luka like the boys command of her, she becomes super-paranoid about spilling any friendship-ruining secrets, and that's even before she finds out he's a past war criminal form the Balkans. (How old does that make him, exactly?) Though she fails to heed her friends' initial request, she does try to keep from ruining their new friend, and technically succeeds. This, ultimately,what makes this storyline work. Britta and the boys have never had a storyline together, and this was a nice, sweet one for the show to use on it's first pairing of these characters, a simple way to express how they interact with one another.
Yet as great as this storyline was, it also accidentally pointed to the shortcomings in the Shirley/Chang/Jeff storyline. Now I liked the idea of Chang desperately wanting to be a father. He has the child-like temperament that would allow someone like him to desperately cling to the idea of a baby as some sort of life-changing opportunity. And I liked the idea of Shirley wanting him out of her life for the sake of the child, and I found it funny that Jeff would try to use this debacle to oust Change from his apartment.
So while the ideas at play in this storyline were great, and firing at all cylinders, it fell apart somewhat at the conclusion. While I like the idea of the show exploring Shirley's desperate need to have everything perfect, and this being part of the reason that caused Andre to stray, there wasn't really anything here for Chang. (I also know that there's nothing here for Jeff, but this really wasn't his storyline anyway.) All Chang got was to be the source of everyone's scorn, and to be the butt of the show's jokes.
I know that the show has given Chang some small moments in the past, but there has yet to be a storyline that I feel services Chang as an actual person. Given the light load that the character has carried up until now, it didn't use to be a problem. But he is (probably) going to be a father soon, and that is role that has to be filled by a character, not a caricature. The show needs to find out how they're going to deal with him, or his scenes from now on are going to be incredibly awkward.
Oh, and here's to hoping they don't Pierce this up in their attempt to deepen his character.
What did everybody else think?
Additional Thoughts:
“We're talking about Joseph Kennedy, right?”
“Yeah, I really got Jewish Person-ed out of that one.”
“We like him a lot....so you're not allowed to bone him!”
“Exactly like Britney Spears. Hit me with your genie's bottle...”
“You mean Jeff 'Nipple Play' Winger?”
“I miss the smell of the villages burning....”
“I'm tired of confiscating saws. Give me that.”
“You're adopting me?!”
“Between you and me I don't Chang a lot chicks.”
“Ugh. Girls are so un-desensitized.”
“Hey, is that a reason to leave?”
“Why does the VCR have to be on 3, when Bones is on 5?”
“It could be cute. Are they baby lions?”
“In what war is he a criminal? The battle for our affections?”
“You guys have to believe me! He's so much worse than Tall Kyle!”
“There nipple guards for running. Olympic athletes use them.”
“Our school model is 'Lower Your Standards.'”
“There's a difference between telling us that a guy likes nipple play and that a guy made hats out of babies.”
Dammit, Britta, why did you have to ruin Catfish for the rest of us? WHY????
In case you didn't hear, NBC has renewed Community for a third season, and the show will have a one hour season finale on May 19th.
No comments:
Post a Comment