5 Things to Dig from Community ‘History 101’ [Review]

New Community showrunners, David Guarascio and Moses Port, were faced with an enormous challenge picking up the reigns to what may be the most idiosyncratic and fiercely loved television show of our era.

In season three we visited the darkest timeline and there’s no coming back from that without a few scars to show from it. Guarascio and Port wisely built these significant character developments into the structure of season four opening inside Abed’s head.

Happy Place Troy & Abed immediately recognize that something is different, and that bit of meta acknowledgement of changes taking place helps ease us into the strange multi-cam version of Greendale, that truth also applies to the regular Greendale world. Something is off.

As much as I was thrilled to be back at Greendale with the Greendale Seven the energy of the show wasn’t the same – which is to be expected. Many of the bits and storylines felt like the writers were holding back from following-through to the extremes we’ve come to expect.

The zany antics felt placed into the story rather than a natural extension. When Annie decided she was going to start pranking in her senior year I expected the results to go way off the rails in a way we’ve seen her plans end up in previous seasons like the broken Dark Knight DVD getting way out of hand, or how volunteering to be campus security with Shirley resulted in an out of control buddy cop comedy directed by Abed. Instead we got the Dean disproportionally reacting to Annie’s diabolical desk re-organization and car-popcorning.

The strangeness of “History 101” may not entirely be a direct result of Harmon’s departure; there are significant changes that have taken place with the characters as well as behind the scenes.  Our show is certainly back it’s not without some hiccups, after this week’s slightly off-kilter outing it will be interesting to see how the new regime finds its footing over the next few episodes.

Last year we did “5 Awesome Things”, this year I’m going to kick off with “5 Things to Dig” here we go (not in any particular order):

5) #BrittainGlasses – This bit felt a bit long and the group taking off the glasses when Pierce, played by Fred Willard, came in wearing them was a great touch– but when the gag picked up with Jeff in real-world Greendale it solidified the return of the group dynamics.

4) Inside Abed’s Head – Season 3 went into Abed’s head a lot, and it was very dark in there. That kind of darkness isn’t sustainable on this kind of show no matter how weird and quirky it’s meant to be.  I loved returning to the patient/therapist relationship with Britta and Abed. Having her “happy place” advice work as a strange framing device for the show, breaking Abed further in the process, was brilliant. Exploring the depths of Abed’s imagination is always excellent place to mine comedy and drama – watching him work through his issues by reasonably accurately recreating behaviour of his friends including Jeff’s speech that brings him out of it was all spot on. Plus, it brought us Greendale Babies as the happy place within a happy place and that was wonderful.

3) Senioritis – Annie may have claimed it but it seems the whole group is suffering from Senioritis in their own way and to varying degrees. When a show takes place in a setting that actually dictates the appropriate time the conceit should be taking place that issue needs to be addressed.

Jeff is dealing with the fact that he is a better person, one he has dubbed “New Jeff”, because of the people he has met and the experiences he has had at Greendale. The end is near, and as much as he wants to get out early, he is worried about whether he will be able to hang onto the maturity he has gained, and the friends he has made when he leaves. For him that means going to extreme lengths to ensure his last class is with his study group, and in the end giving that up entirely for the sake of the group.

Abed is terrified of any kind of change in his equilibrium. The idea of a “last year” and moving on completely messes with that. As much as Abed will probably enjoy exploring the pop culture references and tropes that go along with senior year, the finality of that is damaging to his delicate psyche. Abed’s senioritis gave us the framework for this episode (see above point: Inside Abed’s Head).

Annie’s fears are probably the most relatable for most of us. When the idea of being finished school and in the career you wanted changes from something in the future to something that is very nearly your reality it can be absolutely terrifying. Annie is stuck between having matured so much in her time at Greendale and being prepared to move on, grow up and approach real life.  The way she acts out hasn’t been as fruitful for storytelling as Jeff, Abed’s and the Deans yet – but it is very true to her character and really hits home.

The Dean – his inability to face losing his favourite Greendale students resulted in a history of ice cream registration scandal and a Gladiator Style fight for space in the class based on The Hunger Games by name only, seemingly as an excuse to don some truly fabulous outfits. His hanging onto the group in real Greendale and Abed’s multi-cam version should provide for some excellent conflict throughout the season and that’s without even mentioning that he’s Jeff’s new neighbour.

2) Greendale Babies

1) Community is Back! If that’s not something to dig than I don’t know what is. After being at risk of cancellation for it’s entire run, being given the Friday death slot in the Fall 2012 schedule and then being pushed back, Community is back and in an even more favourable position Thursday at 8 paired nicely with Parks and Recreation. Not to mention the ratings weren’t so shabby scoring a 1.8 in the key demo, up from 1.7 in the last season premiere in fall 2011.

Honourable Mentions:

• Jeff wears torn-up and dirty really, really well. See also – Hulk!Jeff.
• Fred Willard as Pierce in Abed’s world
• American Sword Cooks, Blonde and Blind
• Britta on her and Troy’s relationship “it’s progressive”. I really dig that they kept that couple together and hope that plays out for more than a few episodes, there’s a lot there to explore between the two of them and how it affects the group dynamics.

What did you think of “History 101”?

February 7^th was October 19^th, see you next week when we get Halloween for Valentine’s Day in “Paranormal Parentage”.