Monsters of Television

“When you’ve earned it.”

I did the first two years of my undergraduate at a private, residential, 2-year liberal arts Methodist-affiliated college in the mountains. It was a great experience, but after I finished my Associate’s, I had to leave. I transferred to a public, urban, major research university in the middle of a city. In my previous institution, it was 600 students living on campus and everyone knew everyone (more or less). In the second one, it was over 20,000 undergrads, almost all of whom commuted to the campus. It was hard to make friends that lasted longer than the semester you were in class with them. I didn’t manage to make any until, ironically, my last semester of undergrad.

I’ve told you all of that because this episode of Community, while certainly not their funniest, was easily the one I related to most, and felt the most like my college experience (both undergraduate and graduate).  More importantly though, I think it feels like a fairly universal experience, not only in college, but in any situation where you’re tossed into a place that you don’t feel like you really fit in, but desperately want to.

The gang has returned from winter break, all happy to see one another. But hovering in the background is the new guy Buddy (Jack Black). Buddy’s been on the show all along (like Niki and Paolo), sitting in the corner of Señor Chang’s Spanish class. He’s longed to be a part of the cool study group and attempts to insinuate himself into the group. Initially the group isn’t keen on having the “fat agile guy”, but a reformed Jeff (laid back and easy-going now) gives the guy the benefit of the doubt.

The barely B-plot has Dean Pelton convincing Jeff to take over the campus newspaper. It comes with a nice desk (a really nice desk), and Jeff agrees. The plot does little but to serve as a way for Jeff to talk about the A-plot to Abed, who has decided that Jeff like is Franklin “Hawkeye” pierce from MASH in his laid back, caring but sarcastic way (Abed, of course, wants to be Radar). Halfway through the episode, Jeff is wearing, of course, a Hawaiian shirt (I was waiting for the bathrobe and cowboy hat, but they never materialized). And while I appreciated the references, I’m not entirely sure using MASH was something the show’s demos would’ve gotten. At the show acknowledges MASH as a widely known cultural touchstone that people may not have seen (“What’s your favorite episode of MASH?” “I guess the one with the Army in it?”) That kind of self-awareness I can appreciate.

I didn’t feel that any of the episode’s jokes really landed, but I want to think that was kind of the point. Buddy makes the point of the group’s rhythm being a bit off (only to have his comment interrupted by the opening credits) before he can resume his point. The entire episode felt like this: just a tad bit off. Jack Black, never a presence I’m thrilled to see, brought his typical range of annoying Jack Black antics (singing his lines, high kicks, weird scrunchy faces), but this, again, seems to serve a narrative purpose.

That narrative purpose exploring  is the difficulties (and rewards) of being in a group. Jeff and his gang have established a rapport and an understanding amongst themselves, and Buddy throws all of that out of whack. College is often about finding a niche to study and survive with, and this episode makes that idea clear. Jeff, over the course of the season, has come to realize that he needs these people who felt ruined his transition from (pseudo-) professional life to college to survive and live with. Buddy, in his obnoxious way, makes this point perfectly clear for him. And for us.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Had they actually killed Señor Chang, I would’ve been furious. One beloved character death on NBC this week was one too many. I don’t know if I could’ve hung on.
• The first commercial break has Ken Jeong (Señor Chang) and Jim Rash (Dean Pelton) meeting out of character, talking about TurboTax. This mirrors the in-character ad for Honda with the Chuck supporting cast. I’m not sure how I feel about this form of advertising. I mean, it’s better than product placement to be sure, but it feels odd. (When do I see Big Mike and Pierce ordering Subway?)