Tuesday, May 19, 2015

6x11 "Modern Espionage" (That Was An Episode, This Is Paintball) [Contributor: Deborah MacArthur]


"Modern Espionage"
Original Airdate: May 19, 2015

Ah, Paintball Assassin. The Community tradition that started with "Modern Warfare" and, in my opinion, reached maximum quality with the "A Fistful of Paintballs/For a Few Paintballs More" two-parter. This week, our dose of paintball madness has the shiny veneer of a spy movie, and we get to see (almost) everyone in formal wear. Huzzah! I have to be honest and say that I don't watch a lot of spy movies, so if there are references that are really clever for fans of spy movies, I'm sorry ahead of time for not getting them or mentioning them or recognizing them as noteworthy.

The Episode

This year, Greendale really wants to put paintball in the past - at least according to Frankie. She feels bad for the custodial workers who have to clean up after the chaos and also thinks, you know - destroying their school every year with a paintball war isn't the most mature, professional thing for Greendale to do. I can't say she's wrong about that, but if Greendale gets all mature and professional, will it still be Greendale?

That (plus a cash prize) seems to be the idea behind the underground paintball tournament that’s taking place during the episode: doing anything else - trying to be mature and professional - just wouldn't be Greendale. Jeff, at the very least, seems to be okay with putting paintball behind him – the rest of the group, not so much. Jeff is only really roped in when everyone realizes that there’s a conspiracy afoot on Greendale grounds, and they might be the only ones capable of stopping it. In an attempt to catch an underground paintballer who goes by the moniker “Silver Ballz” and possibly protect the custodial workers who appear to be the main targets for Silver Ballz’s silver (paint)balls, the group decides to join in on the fight in secret. They try their hardest to espionage their way through a gala for custodial workers and keep the paintball-shooting to a minimum around Frankie, who - as previously mentioned - seriously disapproves of Greendale’s paintball past. Stuff goes down at the gala and a shootout means that Frankie learns about the continuation of the secret underground paintball tournament before everyone - except Jeff and the dean – get taken out.

Jeff confronts one of the custodial workers who, we discover, started the underground tournament in order to keep their occupations necessary as well as a way to just accept that paintball war and weirdness is what Greendale is. Frankie is trying to change Greendale, and doing that wouldn't be honest or long lasting - so why let her try?

Apparently Jeff really believes in Frankie all of a sudden, because he has faith in her being able to turn Greendale from a "cigarette" to a "carrot stick" (which is the healthy form of a cigarette - I had no idea) and wants everyone else to just let her do it. I have no idea when Jeff and Frankie got so close, because I always just got the impression that Jeff acknowledged Frankie as a sane, competent individual but not a whole lot else. Now he seems to think very highly of her.

I don't want to imply that the "Core Four" are the only members of the group allowed to have meaningful connections with each other, but it kinda feels like, if things had gone a bit differently regarding character development this season, Annie would have been the one Jeff made his speech about in this episode. If Annie had continued the do-gooder leadership role she had last season, she basically would have been Frankie this season... But, alas. Frankie is the leveling force for season six, and even though Jeff's faith in her feels a bit weird due to the lack of interaction between the two characters, anything else would have made even less sense with the way the season has gone.

Overall, this was a fun episode. Had it been situated in a season with more arcing development and plot, it probably would have been one of the best episodes of season six. The problem is that - although the paintball specials of the past have seemed like out-there, stupid homage fun, there has always an underlying “real world” plot to them. There’s always something that still exists when the paint is cleared away and the Community universe gets (comparatively) more sane.

In the first season, it was pretty simple: the season-long “sexual tension and lack of chemistry” between Jeff and Britta had to break, soon, or the group was going to fall apart or kill them or both. In the second season’s paintball episodes, the mystery of what had happened before the game had started led into the realization that the group - minus Annie, the Ace of Hearts - no longer wanted Pierce around, something that the show had been working up to all season with Pierce’s increasingly erratic behavior. Season four had Jeff’s paintball daydream stem from fear of his post-graduation future, only to be broken by his realization of how much he loved his friends.

Season six’s "Modern Espionage" doesn’t have a revelation or big development that happens after a whole season of foreshadowing to make the episode more than just very entertaining TV. Although we get Jeff respecting Frankie and believing in her ability to make Greendale better, that is something that only exists within the half hour of this episode - not a culmination of season-long worries, grudges, sexual tension, or... anything.

It's paintball war with a spy twist, and it has some great moments and some funny lines but there's not a whole lot underneath all the neon and silver paint. Sadly, this is pretty much what I’ve learned to expect (and hope for) from season six and while I liked the episode, I still can’t help remembering when Community gave us a bit more.

Other Stuff:
  • "Occasionally our campus interrupts into a flawless post-modern homage to action-adventure mythology, mischaracterized by the ignorant as 'parody.'" Is it just me, or has there been a significant increase in meta references this season?
  • "I'd call him Silver Ghost, but that's probably already taken by an indie comic book or a terrible tequila." I’m not sure, Starburns, but I do know it’s a kind of Rolls-Royce car from like, the 1920s.
  • "WHAT THE HELL?!" I love it when Joel has to yell, because he gets all shrill and hilarious. [Jenn's note: I don't know why, but I always find it SO hilarious that his voice jumps 10 octaves to yell like that.]
  • "That was instinct. I can't help being a badass."
  • Jeff taking Britta's glasses to look at the computer made me laugh. It was really silly and I don’t know, I just liked it.
  • There's a Greendale club called "Club Club" where people "party the way they do in clubs."
  • Annie doesn't want to say "Silver Ballz." I don’t blame her. That name is dumb.
  • "Mr. Winger, you clean up nice!" "Oh, come on, I'm always good looking."
  • Apparently "Daybreak" is the only thing that plays in the elevator! It’s also the only thing that plays in my head for at least a day after hearing it.
  • The "Custodial Innovation Award" is a push broom. Never stop being Greendale, Greendale.
  • I really liked the exchange between Kumail Nanjiani's character and Abed during the gala, when Abed was heckling him.
  • "Did you do stand-up? Is that how you became a custodian?"
  • I’m assuming that Annie and Abed were doing a Mr. and Mrs. Smith thing, since they were spies dancing with each other at the gala, but I don’t think it landed as well as it probably could have.
  • Did I miss it, or was it not really clear who Silver Ballz was?
  • I like that they finally, FINALLY showed that getting hit with paintballs actually really, really hurts when Jeff, the dean, and Lapari all shoot each other.

28 comments:

  1. This is so dead on, Deb. It's pretty much how I felt about this episode and the show.
    You hit on a lot of truths there. It's a fun, clever episode, but the emotional beats feel like they were put there solely just to have them. Exactly, when did Jeff and Frankie become so close? The Dean expressing how they didn't need him anymore because of Frankie was probably the most honest moment of the show. I like Frankie but she seems to have made both Annie and the Dean redundant, "business" wise. So the Dean's thing became his obsession with Jeff, and Annie, with two eps left, who knows?

    They used to be more than just about clever episodes. They have become that kind parody episode that they used to resent being called, even with Abed lampshading it. This is an example of an episode with lot of good elements that somehow fail to coalesce into what we used to know as a Community episode. It's decent and well-made, but why does it ultimately feel empty? It's good enough if this was just some other show, but it used to be more than just another show.

    Also, your extensive other stuff...I have nothing to add, you got it all. --Lia






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    1. Oh, the dean saying they didn't need him anymore because of Frankie, I meant most honest moment of the "episode" not "show".

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    2. I like Frankie but she seems to have made both Annie and the Dean redundant, "business" wise.

      RIGHT? Elroy may not be adding a whole lot to the group, but he's his own character. Frankie is -- in my opinion -- detracting from stories that other characters could have had. She's an older version of Annie and they've essentially given Frankie the role Annie would naturally be taking (as Deb and you so astutely pointed out), rendering her pretty much useless all season. I mean, can anyone really say what any of these characters have DONE all year?

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  2. Sorry to dwell on the previous week, but I think it contrasts nicely with this one (sorry Jenn that I didn't find the time to reply in that thread either). Because the more I think about it, it was all about Abed the introvert being put to an intense situation where he has to resort to his usual ways to make sense of it all. So while he seemingly regresses into seeing everything through the lense of a sitcom episode, and is incapable of letting go of popular culture and seeing the real world at times, he also finds a compromise, a middle path for himself: "Keep a loose grip". This is something he didn't have before.

    Abed is after all a sitcom character, and someone who makes sense of the world through television. This is tied into his introvert nature: he doesn't know any other existence for himself other than life as a sitcom character. He will cease to exist once the series is over and he fully knows this. Frankie may have tried to bring him into the real world with Ladders but this could never have been totally successful. Introverts can't help that their brains are built the way they are: they process every impulse through a more complicated route than more extroverted types do. They are incapable of changing themselves in that regard, just like Abed is incapable of stopping to view the world through stories. (This isn't as unreal as it seems: some people see their lives as stories with themselves as the heroes, Abed is just an exaggerated version of that.)

    But then with both 6x08 and 6x10 Abed learns that life is messier than that and he will have to compromise. So a loose grip it will have to be. Because he is incapable of changing the core of his being after all. All this while the show itself tells the viewers that loving (Community) stories is ok, but you should not build your world around them.

    Then Community turns its focus on Jeff and takes an even more self-critical turn.

    I'm not as bothered by the previous lack of Frankie and Jeff bonding as you guys are. I think Basic RV & Palmistry already sort of led to this when Jeff directly told the Dean that he should be grateful to have Frankie in order to prevent the Dean's extravagant ideas. We see some of this cooperation already in 6x02 when they're trying to prevent the Dean's escapism in the virtual world. Frankie's point of view is something Jeff started to appreciate early this season. And while their onscreen friendship may fail the Bechdel Friend Test, it's not implausible to assume that everyone in the table would bond together or become friends to an extent, even if it's offscreen. It's the sixth season, you'd think that every viewer would assume that by now.

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    1. But then Frankie isn't just a character, she's also been a symbol of real life for the season, someone who inhabits the real world but can't fully operate in it like our core characters, as we see through that job interview in Ladders. She's the one that sees the group's pop culture escapades as the self-delusional trips they can be. She dislikes seeing the group's homages and boozing already in Ladders, because she knows what they truly represent.

      And she’s also someone who sees potential in Jeff, more potential than he does in himself. When she says he is the de facto leader of Greendale and wants him to give a speech at the gala, it’s a role that Winger might not feel comfortable with. Someone is trusting him to do that much and take that responsibility. But then he has also been growing up to this point and while the agent storyline suggests he might (and does) relapse for one last adrenaline rush, it’s not a surprise when he rejects the escapism in the end.

      This is once again the idea of seeing popular culture and homages as addiction (Jeff comparing Greendale to Robert Downey Jr. should be a dead giveaway) and something grown men in their 40s need to let go off. The thing the Dean, Jeff and Kumail Nanjiani’s Lapari share is that they’ve all failed at the capitalist system, they’ve possibly been entirely outcast from it, and at their age they feel like they can’t crawl back to it anymore. All they have is Greendale where they can indulge in their homages and pretend to be heroes in their partly imaginary scenarios.

      This is a perspective that Jeff had to gain from the outside, from Frankie. It only had to be someone new to the group who would see all this with fresh eyes. Annie is just as tainted as the other members of the group by having participated in these popular culture escapades. (It isn’t bleak for Annie though: she’s the youngest and still has hope of leading a meaningful life outside Greendale if she so wishes. It’s the kind of hope no one else in the group really has anymore.)

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    2. (continued again...)

      I think to me this serves as a culmination of the central conflict in this season, but also as something that puts a large part of the entire show into new light. Community is criticizing the heroic narratives it utilized with some of its pop culture homages, criticizing one of the central columns of its storytelling, and showing the true sadness underneath it all. And no better place for it to be done than through paintball, the show’s biggest success story. It was the Season One heroic story for Jeff, the one where he finally emerged through the rubble and did the right thing by giving Shirley priority registration.

      That story might have led Winger to believe that he could have turned his life around. But in the end he is still at Greendale and will have to take responsibility of the place now if he truly wants the school to function. He is not the hero of his own life, that’s the wrong narrative. Unlike Abed, whose addiction to pop culture is shown as the unchangeable (but not uncompromisable) core of who he is, Jeff’s addiction to these homages is shown as something sad and delusional.

      And that’s why Jeff, the Dean and Lapari finally let out some real screams of pain when they can’t resist having one final shot at each other. Because entering the real world and letting go of that narrative, of you being the imaginary hero of your own life, really does hurt.

      This is it for me basically, the point where there shouldn’t be much (or any) turning back from. If Jeff ever fully reverses this big decision and returns to drinking at work hours, for instance, it will annul what happened in Modern Espionage.

      In the end I keep on returning to Frankie’s small speech in 6x03: ”What’s true will be true. Our job is to deal with that truth.” These characters would never end up to the same 100% optimistic place that the characters of Parks and Rec ended up in (only Annie would, but she’s this show’s Leslie Knope). Because there will still be Greendale, a Greendale that needs to be fixed, a Greendale that needs to be brought back to the real world while still retaining its core. No, Jeff didn’t become the Seacrest of lawyers, Britta did not start a revolution, Abed did not fill the world with TV and Annie still has places to go to. The daily toiling at Greendale is what you’re supposed to be doing now, instead of going after the biggest riches and fame of capitalism. And if you take an anti-American, anti-capitalist look at this and think of this from the viewpoint of zen theories, then you’ll find that there’s no higher place in life than that daily toiling.

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    3. I'm not as bothered by the previous lack of Frankie and Jeff bonding as you guys are. I think Basic RV & Palmistry already sort of led to this when Jeff directly told the Dean that he should be grateful to have Frankie in order to prevent the Dean's extravagant ideas. We see some of this cooperation already in 6x02 when they're trying to prevent the Dean's escapism in the virtual world.

      I think my problem and the one Deb articulated -- and Deb can jump in if she disagrees -- is that there is just TOO much inference lately and barely any substance. Deb likened this season recently to eating cotton candy: it's fluffy and it's fun, but it cannot sustain you. That's how I feel about this episode. Sure, it was good. But it's ultimately rather directionless. What did anyone actually learn? To be more mature? Right, that will happen... until next week. The growth that the show demonstrates is short-term, not long term.

      Jeff and Frankie are not BFFs. I don't even believe that they're friends. I think they're people who tolerate each other. So to have Jeff all of the sudden leaping to Frankie's defense? It's weird. That's a role FAR better suited to Annie. It's shown that Annie admires Frankie and respects her. We've seen glimpses of Jeff "caring" about Frankie (the caring only results from him screwing up and realizing she was right -- again, a role that we noted above was essentially Annie's until this season) but not nearly enough evidence to warrant such a strong reaction to and repulsion of the game.

      The last time we saw Jeff play real paintball -- not in his head -- he was totally devoted to it. So... I just feel like this season (in so many regards, but very clearly evidenced in this episode) is trying to shove moments and ideas and plots on us that cannot be substantiated with real, solid evidence.

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    4. [i]The last time we saw Jeff play real paintball -- not in his head -- he was totally devoted to it.[/i]

      On the other hand that was the Jeff Winger of four (or five) years ago, the one who was still engaging in student shenanigans with others. This season, now that he’s slowly realized he has responsibility within Greendale and has to act accordingly, he finally sees paintball as the destruction that it is. After all, it has always been shown under previous instances of Dan Harmon -controlled paintball that the adults will have to clean up and fix the place after the kids have stopped playing. It’s not unlikely that a character who returns to an old concept after 4-5 years of slow change would still view the concept in the same way.

      [i]Jeff and Frankie are not BFFs. I don't even believe that they're friends. I think they're people who tolerate each other. So to have Jeff all of the sudden leaping to Frankie's defense? It's weird. That's a role FAR better suited to Annie. It's shown that Annie admires Frankie and respects her.[/i]

      You’re probably right here, and it’s worth examining how Jeff uses the word ”friend” in this episode. The only time he does, he addresses the group and calls Frankie ”our friend”. This is easier for him to say than ”my friend”. Because Jeff will probably always have difficulties in letting people get close to him: it took him five seasons of knowing the Dean to admit he considers him his personal friend. During his only Winger speech of the season so far he only admits that he likes Frankie. So while he still has reservations (Frankie is a partly opposing force within the group as Ladders showed), he’s also capable of embracing the viewpoint of someone who he is slowly growing attached to, but who still isn’t on the friend level.

      [i]We've seen glimpses of Jeff "caring" about Frankie (the caring only results from him screwing up and realizing she was right -- again, a role that we noted above was essentially Annie's until this season) but not nearly enough evidence to warrant such a strong reaction to and repulsion of the game.[/i]

      I think the scene in 6x10 where Jeff defends Frankie from the Dean is actually different: he cares because they’re both tired by the Dean attempting to undo her efforts.

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    5. (continued...)

      The issue of escaping your responsibilities is also something that has been strongly with Jeff all season. The drinking and the pop culture homages have essentially been the one and the same (notice when both are going on in Ladders and Abed pointedly yells: ”This is the show!”). But the realization of his addiction has also played out realistically (IMHO). There’s been no big scene of enlightenment, instead he’s just kept on at it while quietly knowing that this is not how things should be. And here he finally turns away from it, partly because Frankie sees something more in him and he is thus able to see his addiction for what it is. Drop the pop culture side of the addiction and it might as well be Annie who helps Jeff out of this. But since it’s there, it only has to be someone from outside Greendale who helps Jeff quit both.

      I think my problem and the one Deb articulated -- and Deb can jump in if she disagrees -- is that there is just TOO much inference lately and barely any substance. Deb likened this season recently to eating cotton candy: it's fluffy and it's fun, but it cannot sustain you. That's how I feel about this episode. Sure, it was good. But it's ultimately rather directionless. What did anyone actually learn? To be more mature? Right, that will happen... until next week. The growth that the show demonstrates is short-term, not long term.

      To me this has become a substantial and nuanced season especially in its latter half. And I think there’s something here that Jeff hasn’t learnt before. He finally understands that the Community he has to take responsibility for isn’t just the study group, it’s the entire Greendale. He is one of the leaders of the place now. And while he will struggle with that responsibility (like many people do), it’s also something you don’t really expect the show to back away from now. Jeff has hated this place but he also loves it somehow, he just needs to direct that love into better places.

      As for inference, some readings can be more justified than others, especially when the show prefers a more show-and-tell approach to the Winger speeches of old now. Thinking that this episode was about rejecting the heroic story isn’t implausible. Not when Jeff himself says that them thinking they’re heroes and villains is delusional, or when Frankie quotes Joseph Campbell (”Follow your bliss”), the biggest popularizer of the heroic journey concept, which gives some clues to the thinking behind the episode.

      Once again though Jenn, I appreciate you sticking out for Annie. If she’s not focusing Jeff on what’s important anymore, there should be something else for her in these stories.

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  3. One of the great things about Community is their ability to touch on thematic episodes without completely upending the characters. This week really did a nice job of tipping the hat to spy thrillers and action movies (the opening Highlander bit was nice) without going overboard (Meow Meow Beans).

    Jeff doesn’t care about paintball in itself, but he likes to win valuable things and to prove he is awesome. In both previous paintball moments, Jeff joins to win the prize, but the underground paintball isn’t interesting to him because the prize isn’t worth it (the number value isn’t spoken and underground means no acclaim), and with Frankie trying to stamp it out, he is on board with the first reasonable option. We he reaches the study group (clearly not the term, but whatever), he is shocked they are playing without him and he attempts to get them to stop the game. This is the best version of Jeff. Defending his friends and looking accidentally bad ass in the process (slouching his way into the Han Solo role if you will S2 finale reference laser breath. Give up the props or things will get nasty!).

    The episode then unfolds introducing more absurd things about Greendale (Club Club, Janitorial museum, & a black tie gala to give an award to the deputy custodian) and in the process they (FINALLY) used their guests stars a reasonable amount while the group tries to find the source of the paintball game without alerting Frankie. As expected, the whole thing explodes during the gala with Frankie watching the banned paintball tournament erupt in a free-for-all shootout and ends with Jeff and the Dean tracking down “villain” with an ode to James Bond finish. The lesson, to the extent there is one, is about growing up, which very arguably is the only repeated message from the sixth season. This episode ended with accepting that Greendale can get better if they commit. It won’t be easy, it won’t be filled with paintball, but it can be a better place if they will be a part of it. Sucky people trying to be less sucky and committing to being better is, sadly, adulthood in a really narrow sense. Heroes are great, but reality needs people to not self-destruct at every turn and so does Greendale. The only off key note of the episode came with Frankie making the group where baby outfits. It just seemed off.

    When I first heard they were doing another paintball episode, I was worried it wouldn’t work or it would feel as forced and awkward as the S4 finale. It didn’t. While it didn’t have the same feel as previous versions, it did feel like a more mature take on the idea, and that, well that is the point. Greendale is 6 in TV years, which more than enough time for this group to grow up. It was really good.

    All of your “Other Stuff” was right. I would just like to add the Dean’s commenting on Day Break in the elevator, “Oof, Is this the only think that plays in this thing?” Loved it. Enjoyed this review too!

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    1. While I enjoyed the episode more than the last episode (much MUCH more), I still felt like something was off. And it's not so much off as just... the morals of each episode are falling flatter than a pancake on a kitchen floor.

      This episode ended with accepting that Greendale can get better if they commit. It won’t be easy, it won’t be filled with paintball, but it can be a better place if they will be a part of it. Sucky people trying to be less sucky and committing to being better is, sadly, adulthood in a really narrow sense. Heroes are great, but reality needs people to not self-destruct at every turn and so does Greendale. The only off key note of the episode came with Frankie making the group where baby outfits. It just seemed off.

      Okay, ready for my problem? What has changed? Since Frankie told the group that they needed to shape up and grow up in "Ladders," what, exactly changed between that message and this one? Jeff's drinking and anger problem has escalated. Abed returned to his crutch of meta references (minus some great growth recently undercut by the past few episodes). Britta's... not really changed. She reconciled with her parents, I guess, but she's still not paying her rent on time. Goodness knows what's happening with Annie. So... really, the question of: 'are you better off?' can be answered clearly with a resounding 'no.' That's my problem. The show keeps dipping into its pool of "Winger speeches" and just has different people delivering them this year.

      The question is: do you believe the group will actually change after this episode?

      If you do, great. I don't, and that's why I'm frustrated. Because it means no one is REALLY growing after all. Again: it was a fun, light episode but with two episodes left in the season... that's exactly what G.I. Jeff was, too, right? A fun, basically meaningless episode. And with two episodes to go in the series, most likely, that's not good enough for me anymore.

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    2. The easy response from me would be that they are growing like people grow in real life: inconsistently. BUT, I agree (and with Richard) that this season is not actually going anywhere, and these scraps of growth (in this case it isn't growth of the character, but in the collective idea that they could grow together) are not part of some reverse Jenga of wellroundedness. Like Jeff's rasberry at the end of ACB episode, there is a lot of going nowhere with no captured bandits and nothing settled. Given what they have done in the past, I don't know if the last 2 episodes will show that the group has matured. I want it. I don't know if I get it, but for this episode, the acceptance of maturity is there (for Jeff). It is a good episode, and I want to look at it as the latest of a season and a show without thinking about how they will poison the well next week. If I think about it that way, I can't enjoy it when they do well, and this week, they did. To answer your question, I think that this aspect has been poorly handled, it is easy to have the group act foolishly for pushing and creating funny situations, and I don't know if the group will change after this episode. I will disappointed if Jeff doesn't, because he was the one that really spoke the words and attempted to do the deeds, even if he ended up with paint on his suit.


      The Annie of it all, or in this case, the lack of Annie to it all, has been disappointing, but I think she was incredibly busy last year. I think what they did with Frankie Dart taking a lot of what Annie and Shirley would do was to give Alison Brie an opportunity to be in the show the amount that could work. Harmon said several times that if Alison got sick and missed a week, everything would have fallen apart, and he regularly has referred to her as a movie star that he can't see coming back for another season (along with others in the cast). I have always taken that to mean that she wasn't available as much as others, and Frankie's role was intended to take narrative weight off of Annie's shoulders. I hope the last 2 episodes have more of her, particularly with Jeff so we can put a bow on this, but I am worried about it.

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    3. Where, on Dan Harmon's story circle, do you think we're stuck at? I'm genuinely wondering where we are because if we're not at "having changed," are we simply just continuing to live at "returns to a familiar situation"?

      Thoughts?

      Given what they have done in the past, I don't know if the last 2 episodes will show that the group has matured. I want it. I don't know if I get it, but for this episode, the acceptance of maturity is there (for Jeff).

      Is there an official description for 6.12? I thought I read somewhere that it was Jeff trying to sabotage Garret's wedding. In which case... yeah. But if not, I'm kind of wondering what he's going to be doing there. It would be great to see -- paralleling last year's two-part finale -- Jeff actually in support of marriage if it's healthy and him breaking up that one because he realizes what true marriage should be.

      Maybe I'm just hoping for too much but wouldn't it be lovely?

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    4. I think we are off circle (and I think I said this a couple of weeks ago). Harmon seems to be a creature bent on responding to the last criticism, and S6 feels like a better version of S5, and S5 was meant to rub S4's nose in it. If a story circle still exists, I think we are at "having changed" based on the last episode, but I don't know if I have seen the circle up to this point. My expectation is a two-part finale with a do over of Jeff/Annie that will satisfy nobody.

      I haven't seen an official description (IMDB is no help and evil), but I agree with you about what I want to see in the episode. If Jeff just destroys Garrett's wedding like a petulant child, I am going to be disappoined even if he ends up with the greatest speech since the Gettysburg.

      I dunno. I guess I just want these last two to be great (agreeing with Richard again), but I just have this sinking feeling that we will end up with a pile of loose ends and nothing gained (S3 and S5) and no zone of comfort for the fans.

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  4. Well, that was fun in a slightly bittersweet sort of way. It was nice to finally see an episode where Jeff isn’t being a jerk and is instead a constructive and effective member of the group again (even if he is going against his better instincts to do so), and like Log Lad I’m not troubled by the idea he respects Frankie and supports what she’s trying to do – it hasn’t been signalled as much as it could be, but there have been hints along the way that he sees her that way. So yes, Jeff Winger’s growing up at last – long overdue, but welcome nevertheless. (Obligatory KJV – 1 Corinthians 13:11.)

    Unfortunately though I have to agree with the comment that a lot of what Frankie is doing would have been done by Annie last season, which has left Annie criminally underused this season. This isn’t a criticism of Frankie – I genuinely like her as a character and think she’s made a strong contribution to the show – it’s a criticism of the treatment of Annie. It’s especially poor as one of the (relatively few) things I’ve liked about Season 6 has been the way they’ve tried to give every character at least one episode they’re at the centre of so as to showcase them and the actor and give us something to remember them by if the show is ending. Jeff, Britta, Abed, the Dean and even Chang have all had this, but Annie really hasn’t yet and with only two episodes to go they’re running out of time. It really is not a good way to treat what is easily the show’s most interesting and multilayered character.

    Some nice touches – the way the core group used the names of Batman actors as code names (West for Annie, Bale for Abed, Keaton for Jeff...); Jeff absolutely rocked the Daniel Craig era James Bond look and Annie was a smoking hot femme fatale (sadly, I can hardly be bothered to complain any more that they didn’t have a scene together in costume – at least it made sense in context); and there were nice tributes to Highlander, Die Hard, the Man the Golden Gun and even Blake’s 7 (though I’m not sure if that reference isn’t a bit too British for this show). But other than that and the somewhat bittersweet themes of growing up and if you can’t leave Greendale you have a duty to make Greendale a place worth staying in (which we’re themes worth developing, don’t get me wrong); I’m not sure what else to take from this episode. This was Community by the numbers, and although Community by the numbers is still as good as or better than a lot of other stuff on TV it’s not the show we’ve invested so much time and emotion in.

    We’ve only got two episodes left, and it really feels like this show is petering out rather than building up to a memorable finish. And that’s wrong – the show, the characters, the actors, and the fans all deserve better.

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    1. We’ve only got two episodes left, and it really feels like this show is petering out rather than building up to a memorable finish. And that’s wrong – the show, the characters, the actors, and the fans all deserve better.

      AMEN.

      AMEN x infinity.

      This is exactly what I feel.

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    2. I agree with Richard and Jennifer.

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    3. "Annie really hasnt't yet"

      Actually, the Ruffles episode was Annie-centric. I thoroughly enjoyed it as comedy, but the underlying theme kind of bothered me. The episode appears to ask the question: What is an ambitious person like Annie still doing at Greendale? Shouldn't she be moving on to bigger things?

      The answer was vague, but they seem to imply that she's there because the rest of the group wants her there . . . Doesn't seem like that should be enough. Also, I was kind of hoping that they would revisit that seed of discontent in her, but they never did.

      -D.D.

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  5. And totally off topic, but I can I beg the experts around here for some help? The Wikipedia entry for Jeff (on the "List of Community Characters" page) describes him as "a snarky, glib ex-lawyer of Welsh descent attending Greendale Community College."

    Does anybody know what if any is the canonical basis for the claim of Welsh ancestry? I'm Welsh myself (I live about six miles from the castle that is used as an exterior location in Galavant - which still hasn't been picked up by a UK network despite being filmed here:-( ) and am therefore somewhat curious about this. We are stereotypically a culture that respects the power of words, so that's presumably where all the Winger speeches come from...

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    1. I can't be sure, so I asked twitter, and the first reply I got is probably correct: Pierce's Dad identified him as Welsh in Advanced Gay. I also agree with your previous post. If you watch anything else like you watch Community, let me know. I enjoy your posts.

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    2. Thanks Matt - both for the reply (I honestly wasn't expecting one but thought I'd try my luck anyway, looks like I need to re-watch Advanced Gay) and the kind words - needless to say, the sentiment is entirely mutual. The main problem I have is that, although I read most of Jenn's reviews (the quality of the writing and analysis makes it a pleasure so to do) because of different broadcast times in UK and US I rarely get to comment on them. Community (which has got under my skin in a way few other shows have) is a rare exception, coming out less than 48 hours later over here. I would have participated on the Arrow discussions, but we see it over a week later and things have usually moved on by then. Hopefully Jenn will review Dr Who when the new series starts, and I’ll probably join in then, especially as I should see the show first for once....

      All of which probably means I’ll be largely dropping out of the comment threads in a couple of weeks time, until something else comes along anyway, which feels slightly sad. #greendaleiswhereibelong

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    3. Richard, whatever your interests, I will troll this site (I follow Jennifer and @JustAboutWrite_ on Twitter and await your interests showing up on the page.

      By the way, the placeholder post..... I am stunned and excited.

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  6. BTW, spotted on Youtube in the placeholder for episode 6x12...

    "Overview: The study group is visited by their old friend Troy, and Frankie feels left out."

    Nothing else to say really....

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. It looks like it is fake based on Harmon's twitter feed.

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  7. Hello everyone, sorry to butt in. Just wanted to say that I'll be very excited to see Troy back (if true - I don't really follow preview type stuff, so this is the first I'm hearing of it!) That was on my wish-list for the remaining episodes (along with seeing Shirley and possibly [hologram] Pierce again.... And - if the gods are kind - Duncan too. ;) ) This might bring things full circle, or create some kind of resolution somehow. Looking forward to seeing what they do.

    I've enjoyed reading all your insightful posts and reviews recently and don't have much to add, other than that I agree with the sense of hollowness/going through the motions that has accompanied this final season - you've all been able to put your collective fingers on the issues much better than I could.

    As a viewer, it's been hard for me to ride the waves of change that came with the new characters and the adjusted set-up. I obviously struggle with change (much like the Greendalers, heh), so even seeing them in 'new' locations (Britta's bar, the motorhome) kind of took me out of it all a little. I know, I know: it makes little logical sense. I apologise! The issue I have is that for me, the essence of Community is in the study room; it's the place that best represents the ensemble magic of the characters. That's not to say that said magic can't exist elsewhere - because, really, it's in the people. The knowledge/predictability of who will say what, and how, because we know them so well, and they know each other. The way each individual fits into the whole. It takes time, I know, to establish those relationships, and by and large I think that Frankie and Elroy have been integrated well enough to create a solid new ensemble. But... I miss the old one. I can't help it... ;) That's why I was pleased to see Vicky, Garrett, Todd, Starburns in this episode. Vestiges of the glory days, lol. (Side note: I was amused when Vicky says something like "If they're booing, it means they're not indifferent!" I took that to be a little comment on the series. ;) )

    So the 'moving on/letting go' theme applies to me personally too. ;) It's been hard for me to let go of the old and embrace the new. I have no idea what would make a satisfying resolution for me in terms of the characters and their relationship with Greendale - I'm honestly not sure if it would make me happier to see them say goodbye once and for all (because we all need to let go some time), or to stay at Greendale in some capacity but accept that things need to be different, that *they* need to be different, and that different doesn't necessarily mean bad (because you can keep a "loose grip", as someone rightfully pointed out). But of course there's been so much progression/regression (two steps forward, one step back) that I can't seem to get a grasp on what the writers actually *want* for these characters.

    Ahem, I shall stop there. *This confused and rambling post has been brought to you by a confused, rambling and slightly emotional reader*. ;)

    Rose

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    1. As much as I have enjoyed this season, I still think of them as a study group. I still think of them as a group bound together for a cause, and I just wish, somehow, it was still Spanish. I wish we got more of what we want. Thankfully, the humor and insight are still in the show. Now, how to either deal with it ending (whenever that is), or deal with a show that has changed a lot since the first season. I don't know to do so.

      You are not butting in. You are getting involved! That is a good thing.

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    2. Hi and welcome, Rose! Thanks so much for your comments. :D

      The issue I have is that for me, the essence of Community is in the study room; it's the place that best represents the ensemble magic of the characters. That's not to say that said magic can't exist elsewhere - because, really, it's in the people. The knowledge/predictability of who will say what, and how, because we know them so well, and they know each other. The way each individual fits into the whole.

      This is actually quite a good point. I think that the longer the show goes on, the less... anchored it's feeling. Harmon didn't think he would be fired. And I think he must have had a four-year plan for writing the show. So when all of that was shaken up, it really threw off everything. And I think now, the show kind of just feels like it's adrift in a lot of ways and you're right -- part of that has to do with them moving away from Greendale, too.

      I'm not sure what I want from the show either, now. I want them to all move on from Greendale but that seems an unlikely turnaround in two episodes. I want them to be successful outside of the school and to not rely on each other and always having to save Greendale. I think, more than anything, that I just want to know that these people have actually grown up and that they're not choosing to stay at the school because the outside world scared them and they failed a few times. I want them all to address their issues, their hang-ups, and to get better.

      ... Huh. So maybe I DO know what I want. :P

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