A few weeks ago a lone Community episode aired with no other originals. Not wanting to do an entire Thursday post on just one show, it has now been crammed into this post.
Community
"Economics of Marine Biology"
It's good to humanize Pierce every so often. That character can go off the rails in his evil sometimes, which can work well when properly set up ("Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"), but can often be too much. Him trying to be the father figure in Jeff's life is something he keeps trying to be, but here Jeff finally lets him in a little. The stuff they've been doing with Jeff this year has been mostly a cut above the rest, and it saves this episode from mediocrity. The plot of trying to land the whale (hence the title, I did like that) with the moneybags parents was just kind of there. I believed that the Dean and the school would go through all this trouble, but it just wasn't funny. The only part I laughed at was Magnitude trying to come up with a new catch phrase. Abed's Delta Cubes subplot goes no where, at all. Meanwhile, Troy and Shirley are in a Physical Education Education class. At least this felt like classic Community. Weird class with some good laughs and good work from supporting characters.
"Herstory of Dance"
Lackluster episode. The only part that hit home was Pierce making Jeff realize his ragging on Britta has gone too far for too long. Even that was undercut by Jeff sending a text message instead of actually talking to her. He then goes over to stand next to her after he sends it! I would be all for Abed trying to juggle two dates (and it was my favorite part of the episode), but there was no reason to have Abed focused on trying to be less hi-jinky. I understand it's a bit Abed can't pass up, but it felt wrong to have the character pronounce he was trying to be more "normal." Troy and Abed have tried being "normal" in the past, they're not, move on. It was great to see Brie Larson back on my TV, I hope she sticks around as Abed's love interest. This week, Troy gets the subplot that goes no where with him trying to create hi-jinks with helping Britta plan her dance.
Parks and Recreation - "Partridge"
A case of good stuff and bad stuff. Ben on painkillers was hilarious, further proving that anyone in this cast can do just about anything. The rest of the Partridge plot was pretty lacking, even with J.K. Simmons in it. It's good to keep track of your character's roots, but it would have been nice to get a little reconciliation from his hometown, or at least hit the Pawnee is his new home angle a little harder. I loved everything about the Jamm suing Ron plot, especially the montage of Ron wanting to punch Jamm in the face. Tom, April, and Andy getting to come to the rescue at the end was a nice touch. To balance that out, though, was the Ann and Chris having a baby plot. They've already decided their going to have a kid, all this parenting stuff seemed weird.
The Office - "The Promo"
It seems everything is of two minds this week. The things with the titular promo and the characters dealing with that were good. Everything else was just plain silly. The Dwight plot felt like them pay lip service to the backdoor pilot, but no explanation as to why Dwight's still at the office or anything about his siblings. Ryan Howard was funny in his guesting, but that story went absolutely no where. Where the episode really shined was putting a light on how much Jim has changed over the years, and Pam's struggles with who he has become. Their phone call near the beginning of the episode was so awkward, and not in the usual Office funny way. I'm sure if you looked back on the run of the show, there have been times these people should have realized that private moments were captured without their knowledge, but I like them having to deal with it now, it's something you can do with the luxury of ending. Only a handful of episodes left, maybe they'll be able to end strong.
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