Season 3, Episode 8
“This is it. This is how I get to put
Greendale on the map.”
I must fight it. I must fight the urge to talk about
tonight’s episode in light of the recent dustup over NBC’s decision to bench the show for a few months. Much like I discussed with “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps”,
it’s key with any episode of Community to
keep authorial intent in mind, especially when it comes to a show as meta as
this one. As self-referential as the show can be, not every connection between
the show and the real world is intentional. That being said, it’s hard not to
at least mention how dense “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux” was as an episode,
and how off-putting that most likely was to any new viewers who happened to
tune in to the episode in the wake of the general internet outcry over the
show’s fate, and somehow think that they were watching another knock-off of The Office or something. But unlike The Office, “Redux” was an episode that intentionally
injected unreal situations in a genre that strives for authenticity, perhaps to
the episode’s detriment.
I feel like I don’t say this enough, but I love “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking”, the prequel of sorts to tonight's episode. I realize that in my original review of
the episode I come off as overly critical, and while my criticism of the Pierce
arc that the episode resolved still stands and affects in part my reaction to it,
it still stands as an excellent piece of television, and my opinion of it has
only grown upon rewatch. (Another reason why it appears that I hate the episode
in my review: I wasn’t very good at writing them back them. In fact, just save
me the embarrassment and don’t click on that link.) Part of what made the
original “Filmmaking” work so well was that, as with the show’s best theme
episodes, the theme wasn’t just slapped on, but that it helped to build the
story that the episode was telling. While the style allowed Abed to stay out of
a story in which his character just wouldn’t have worked, it also allowed for a
gripping emotional realism that allowed the show to wrap up Pierce’s storyline.
It was this emotional realism that I believe the show was
searching for yet again as it returned to the format, in an attempt to finally
give Jim Rash’s Dean Pelton a storyline more suiting of his regular cast member
status. (It also allowed Abed to once again to refrain from the action, as once
again the A-story was something ill-fitting of his character.) But, much like the show’s return to the paintball/action genre, by piling on other references on top of it of the original theme, “Redux” felt like it overstretched its bounds just
a bit by reaching beyond the superficial theme and piling in other references
on top of that.
Obviously, thanks to both the title and the name-dropping
within the episode, “Redux” is meant to serve as an homage to Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse,
the 1991 documentary about the troubles that Francis Ford Coppola and his crew
faced in their attempts to film the Heart
of Darkness reimagining Apocalypse
Now. Haven’t not actually seen the
film, I can’t actually speak to whether or not the “filmmaking” style of this
episode – which looked purposely more skilled that it did in “Filmmaking” – is meant
to ape Hearts style, or is just another sign of Abed’s growth (more on that
later). However, what I did notice is that “Redux” did lift some images for Apocalypse – specifically Pelton
smearing his face with Ash, and the drunken breakdown that happened prior – and
while I appreciate the show doing references like this, I’m wondering if combining
these two films blurs that line between reality and fiction that’s so important
for this episode. (Again, I haven’t seen the doc, so it’s quite possible that
those film images made it in, and I know Wilard’s drunken breakdown wasn’t
planned, but was rather the film’s own blurring of the lines with a fortuitous capture
of a drunken Martin Sheen trying to work through the pressure of filming, but
still.)
And I think that keeping that line between fiction and reality
is important because of this episode’s focus on Pelton. The show’s move to promote
Rash to series regular was one I applauded, because he’s funny guy, but also
one that I was a bit confused by, given his marginalization in the show, and ultimately
feared he would be as useless yet ever present as Chang, now that the show had
to include him in every episode. And while his role didn’t seem to change much
for the first few episodes of this season, but that changed last week when we
saw a more human side to Pelton, and that seemed to continue on tonight, as he
gained the spotlight of the episode, both in terms of laughs and pathos. (To
highlight just how weird this is, remember how marginalized the rest of the
cast was, especially the “stars” of Joel McHale and Chevy Chase, and the “breakout
character” of Abed.)
And it was that pathos – which really hit home to night,
thanks the show placing focus on a heretofore unexamined character – that both
makes this episode important, and highlights the episode’s flaws. What the show
was trying to do was to not only look at Pelton in the same sort of dark,
probing manner that they’ve been doing with all the characters this season
(including looking at the chaos and destruction he can unintentionally cause),
but to also flesh him out as human being, bringing him beyond just and one- or
two-joke character. (While I see Alyssa Rosenberg’s point that the show should
probably make him, the only real gay character on the show, at bit more
likeable, I like that this episode allows him to remain the unintentional antagonist
to the group, and that his sexuality has nothing to do with his moral
standing.)
And while I think the show did that – especially by
highlighting just how prideful and narcissistic he can become with the right
motivation, and then latter revealing his the underlying cause of most of his
actions when Luis Guzman took him down a peg – I think my making some of those references,
which are meant to be seen as jokes, the show blinked away from its more
serious moments. While Pelton’s conversation with Guzman was unequivocally serious
in nature and tone, as well as fairly moving, seeing his breakdown in his
office was a bit more ambiguous. While it was an understandably moving and
importantly dark montage, showing us just how deep Pelton’s neuroses go, I feel
like the show undercut this with those Apocalypse references. This could have
been an episode on the level of “Mixology Certification”; instead it ended up
being slightly less than.
But please don’t misunderstand when I say “flaws”: this
was near-perfect episode of Community,
and a fantastic attempt by writer Megan Ganz (who is really blowing up this
season, considering she also wrote “Remedial Chaos Theory”) to fully
incorporate a character into a fairly heavily established world. In fact, given
how upsetting this week has been since that horrible Monday news, getting to
watch a new episode of Community is akin to wrapping myself in a warm, reassuring
blanker, albeit about three days too late. Even if Pelton’s storyline wasn’t as
pristine as it could have been, there was still plenty to like.
Even though this was an episode about the Dean, Pelton
also served as a stand-in for Dan Harmon himself, who famously also tends to
grow a lot of stubble when throwing himself into the show, loses sleep, sometimes
yells at his writers and production staff – all by his own admission. (How much
of this story was his idea - though he rarely gets writing credit, Harmon is
very involved with the conception process for episodes – and how much was
inspired by the writer’s experience working for him is of course unclear, and I
can’t wait to hear the commentary track for this episode.) I’m less certain
about how many creative battles Harmon gets into with NBC – though last season’s
“Epidemiology” did put his production cost grossly over-budget, thus leading to
“Cooperative Calligraphy” – but it’s obvious that the Greendale board member
(and their love of that wacky Chinese guy) were stand-ins for network execs. Giving
this episode a personal connection for those involved not only helps to inform
the meaning behind it, but I also think I made for a stronger overall
execution.
And then of course, there were the character moments from
those that weren’t the Dean, which were surprisingly solid considering where
the focus was. The joke about Britta and Troy’s continuing mutual infatuation was
a nice callback while also turning what was once a joke into a serious possibility.
I also liked how Annie’s drive for control (notice how she equates being the
line producer with being “the star”) eventually led her to create a delusion belief
that the Dean had to be a genius, or else admit total failure on her part.
But I was most interested in Abed, even though he received
perhaps the least amount of screen time of the regular cast. Though is his
absence from the action in “Filmmaking” was out of narrative necessity, tonight
his purposeful “fly on the wall” stance, and his eventual break from that
stance to help Pelton out, was, I think, I purposeful statement on where he is
as a character, and a continuation of the show’s study of the study group’s
individual members. Abed’s insistence on being the metaphorical fly feels not
so much like a compulsion but rather a more conscious act to maintain distance,
and his e eventual break from that stance feels like a statement on how far he’s
come socially thanks to the groups. For as much as the show has been focusing
on the group’s negative aspects, it’s also a nice to have reminder every once
in a while of the benefits their social interaction can bring.
In short, tonight’s Community wasn’t the best episode the
show’s ever done, or the most accessible. But considering how many goals it was
trying to accomplish, how high-minded it’s ideas were, and how well it all
worked together, it may have been the best evidence of why this is a show that
deserves to stay on the air.
Quotes, Etc:
About that Luis Guzman statue: It first appeared early in
season one (“Advanced Criminal Law”) after the show was unable to get Mark
Hamill’s permission to use his likeness. They do in fact have to pay him
royalties every time that statue is shown.
And speaking of new viewers pulled in by the internet
shitstorm: last night’s episode saw an uptick of 0.1 in the demo and and increase of 200,000 in total viewers. So, so much for that plan. Let’s just hope that syndication
theory pays off.
“Abed, true to form, has decided to do the weird thing,
instead of helping…”
“This isn’t Hollywood, Pierce. If it was, these glasses
would be tinted, and I would be friends with Stevie Nicks.”
“We open on a typical day at Greendale, except the
students are look happy, and you can’t smell that smell.”
“Welcome to Deandale Community Colledean! I’m a silly
goose! Honk, honk! Diddly-doo!”
“Peirce Hawthorne, screen of stage and star, will not
leave this trailer until he gets a trailer. And then I’m not leaving that
trailer until there’s catering!”
“I’m thinking about breaking into the TV game. Because
apparently it’s sticking around.”
“He’s also using the PA system for casting calls.”
“It’s says I’m supposed to be a book reading a book. That
doesn’t make sense.”
“This commercial is going to push every button, including
the one that is so hot it will sizzle your finger. RRRRAAAAACCCCCCEEEEEEE.”
“Fight the power. Fight it with your hugs!”
“You get this wrong one more time, I’m segregating the school.”
“STOP SAYING I’M DIFFERENT!”
“You are a microscope. No, that’s a toilet. That’s
clearly a frog that can’t get out of a box.”
“And whatever embarrassing photos the can get from my
two-faced mother.”
“Are you by any case familiar with Stockholm Syndrome?”
“It that something the Dean created? Because if not, I don’t care.”
“I have worn this stupid thing for twelve days. I’ve made
bald friends!”
“Oh, that’s a possum. Once you spend some time with him,
you’ll see they’re just like big gentle rats.”
“You know what? It’s better than good – it’s good enough.”
“Is there any more of that crazy Chinese guy? He pops.”
“Can someone please help me get a live possum out of my
office? It just keeps jumping and skittering. You think you’re prepared, then
it skitters again.”
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