This Will Be No Fun At All

Wow, I really should have used this time to study for mid-terms...

Spoilers:

Community – “Remedial Chaos Theory” (A-)

“Remedial Chaos Theory” gets high marks just for the attempt. I can’t think of another show on television (other than maybe a cartoon) that would be able to take on such a high concept episode as this one and get away with it. But to do just that, and still manage to give us a complete narrative arc is something special. Too many episodes built around these high concepts get lost in their premise and end up forgetting the storytelling. “Remedial Chaos Theory” not only avoids that trap but uses its multiple timelines to enlighten the audience in a way that wouldn’t have been possible just business as usual.

Now I’ll be honest with you here, when I first turned off the episode I was a little underwhelmed. From a plot standpoint the stakes just weren’t there. Whatever vignette you were in, you knew the episode was just a quick dice roll away from moving on to something else with really no lasting consequences, and that made it hard for me to get invested. But then I took the night and I thought it over for a little while, and I realized just how genius that actually was.

There were almost no lasting consequences! But the characters were still the same. They were motivated by the same things they were motivated by in any other episode. In fact, by watching them react to the same basic scenario over and over again with only slightly varying circumstances we got to see a lot more clearly what exactly makes them tick. Troy’s desire to be seen as an adult, Pierce’s need to be liked, Shirley’s alienation over being the only one not getting the “googly eyes”, all of it was quite cleverly worked into multiple timelines forming an arc that spanned the entire episode.

And what’s more, the writers managed to find a way to hook up some of our favourite potential couples without actually having any sort of lasting repercussions. I swear, one of these days they’re going to have to try one of these relationships out for real. I don’t know if I can handle watching Annie and Jeff kiss one more time without one of them doing something about it.

The ending was just an amalgamation of everything the show does well. Absurd over the top humour, high concept premises, and some serious heart to back it all up. We went from a classic Winger move (setting up a system in which he’s assured to not have to go get the pizza) to the whole study group sharing a sweet bonding moment with each other to the alternate timeline where everything has gone terribly wrong (Brita has a blue streak in her hair!). I mean, show me a better way to end an episode of Community than that.

JEFF: Oh look, Indiana Jones and the apartment of perpetual virginity.
TROY: Chop busted fellow adult, chop busted.

PIERCE: Doesn’t bother me, I’ve hardly missed you at all since I’ve had you removed from my portraits.

ABED: Tonight we offer something far more than boobs and billiards.
JEFF: What?
TROY: One word, two syllables.
JEFF: Don’t say charades.
TROY: Yahtzee.
JEFF: Is charades off the table?

ANNIE: I love your place Troy. You’re all grown up now.
JEFF: I can’t believe those are real mahogany bunk beds in there. I bet that cost you a few allowances.

TROY: Give it Pierce, it feels fun! You’re bad at gift giving. I demand to be house warmed.

PIERCE: Encarta it!

And line of the night:

BRITA: Troy lost his larynx because for some dumb reason he tried to destroy a flaming troll doll by eating it.
TROY: Clearly you don’t understand anything about defeating trolls.

Parks and Recreation – “Pawnee Rangers” (B+)

If you can remember all the way back to Season 2 of Parks, you may recall an episode named “Sweetums.” In it, Libertarian Ron got a little carried away in his glee over Sweetums taking over of the Pawnee’s park refreshment stands and ended up alienating Leslie in the process. His apology to her at the end of the episode was really the first time we got a look at the remarkable (and funny) mutual respect these two very different people share for each other.

I bring it up because “Pawnee Rangers” is really that “Sweetums” episode in reverse. This time Leslie was the one who got too carried away and Ron was the one who suffered, and yet the result is just as effective. Leslie’s retribution at the end of the episode was just another sweet moment in the ongoing saga between the two. I dare say you’d be hard pressed to find another relationship on television as unique as Leslie and Ron.

It’s actually a wonder that it took Parks and Rec until its fourth season to do an episode centered on a boy scout-esque organization. It really does feel like the type of thing this show is made for, and that’s a complement to this episode because the writers used the premise quite well. The contrast between Leslie’s Goddesses and Ron’s Pawnee Rangers was pretty funny, and all the supporting players did a great job – Andy and the Rangers reciting the Goddesses pledge, Ann’s rivalry with one of the girls in the troupe – they provided a great background atmosphere for the episode.

I also really liked Ben’s story again this week. I could have probably done without seeing him break into tears but for the most part watching him try to relax was one of the funnier parts of the episode and I’m glad the writers decided to show some of his reaction to his breakup with Leslie. It feels like the writers are making a concerted effort to make Ben more independently funny, which is fine with me – I’ve been enjoying his nerdish rants over the last couple of weeks. Oh and for the record, that acupuncture scene was the best part of the episode.

The other great development in “Pawnee Rangers” is the introduction of Jerry’s daughter as Chris’s new love interest. It wasn’t exactly laugh out loud funny in this episode, but there’s a lot of potential in that storyline if the writers choose to pursue it further. Poor Jerry... let’s hope they do.

To the quotes:

DONNA: What is wrong with you today? Did they cancel Game of Thrones?
BEN: Nothing is wrong, just do your job... and they would never cancel Game of Thrones. It’s a crossover hit. It’s not just for fantasy enthusiasts, they’re telling human stories in a fantasy world... fill out the forms please.

RON: We have one activity planned, not getting killed.

RON: Get back to your canvas box. We’ll discuss this no further.

CHRIS: I retroactively accept your original offer.

ANN: Who wants homemade peanut brittle?
GIRL: Miss Perkins please we’re in the middle of a debate.

LESLIE: Come on Goddesses, we just struck a huge blow for equality by proving that we were better than them.

And line of the night:

TOM: Ben listen I’m going to talk to you about things you like to take your mind off the needles okay? Accounting, trigonometry, stamps probably.

The Office – “Garden Party” (B)

If it wasn’t clear last week, than it should be now: Ed Helms is the new lead on The Office. Robert California did make it into this one, but James Spader is still pretty much a bit player, an enigma who just sort of shows up to throw a cog into whatever Andy’s up to that week. It’s not that this bothers me per se, Andy’s had a wonderful season so far, it’s just feels really weird considering the hoopla surrounding Spader’s hire.

With that said, “Garden Party” was probably the weakest episode for Andy this year. I’ve always felt that Andy’s country club background is the most unlikable part about his character, or at least the way he keeps bringing it up all the time. I get the joke, but it misses pretty regularly for me. So naturally an episode based solely around that didn’t really jive with me as well as it could have.

 I think “Garden Party” was supposed to be a way to move Andy’s character out of that niche though, and to me that’s a good thing. I doubt the Cornell references will ever fade out completely and I don’t mean to say I hate them all, but I think this is a good first step to a more modest version of Andy. In fact, considering how sweet his character has become over the past few seasons the Connecticut jokes don’t really fit him anymore anyway.

Of course I do have to make one distinction here. Endless toasts and awkward harmonies aren’t exactly my cup of tea, but Dwight in a top hat announcing every guest’s arrival, you can poor me a cup of that (metaphors!). It really was another great week for the Jim/Dwight duo. They may not be the same characters of old, but they can still pull off a prank and for whatever reason that’s very comforting to me.