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After the lukewarm 4th Season, Community returns to its former awesome self. It's not quite as good as the legendary Season 2, but Dan Harmon's return did nothing but improve the show from its off-Season last year.
This return to form is evident early on. Only three episodes in and we were already treated to one of Community's best outings yet. "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics" saw the writers parody dark and moody serial killer fiction. The @ss crack bandit seems like an immature and juvenile joke but the writers, staff, and actors all bring this episode to life. There's lots of great lines to be found in this episode, and it is also beautifully capped off with a hilarious song and all the characters playing around with quarters (poking fun at the movies that contain a super twist where there's a "it was him/her all along!" moment at the end).
Before this however, "Repilot" had to successfully remind the fans that Harmon was back. And boy, did it accomplish this goal. It was a bit overstuffed, since Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) had to find his way back to Greendale. Really, in this episode, we saw what seems to be a re-energization of the cast.
Which is why it's too bad that Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) had to leave. Troy's departure was handled right in "Geothermal Escapism". Not only was it emotionally effective but it was also a pretty damn funny outing. Although, I have to say, the episode was a tad too familiar. We've seen wacky games that the school buys into a few too many times. The familiarity is, of course, used to help Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) and the audience let go (but not forget entirely) Troy. It's still a bit frustrating, though I can swallow this complaint considering how well done it was.
Oh, and who could forget "Introduction to Teaching"? Abed's Nicolas Cage craziness was simply brilliant. We also saw Breaking Bad's Jonathan Banks come into play as Professor Hickey at this point. He seems to fit in well with the rest, and he is definitely not a Pierce clone.
Pierce was purposefully the least likeable character but the show gives him a great send-off. Walton Goggins (Boyd in Justified) does another bang-up job at playing his attorney who handled his will. For a show as eccentric as Community, it's refreshing to see some dry humour, and Goggins delivered his lines excellently.
"VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing" was another stand-out after the show flat-lined for a few episodes. Vince Gilligan's "Pile of Bullets" was fantastically nonsensical. We see Abed and Annie Edison (Alison Brie) deal with their emotional insecurities post-Troy by actually going along with the ridiculousness. Other than that, we get a solidly entertaining sub-plot where Jeff, Hickey, and Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown) find a whole bunch of textbooks and treated them like drugs.
The finale was also effective for me. I`d like to thank Subway for allowing the writers to poke fun at them. The best part of the episode would have to be Abed's awesomely meta line: “We’ll definitely be back next year. If not, it’s because an asteroid has destroyed all of human civilization. And that’s canon!“.
Other than these highlights, I can`t say that this is the best Community Season. I can appreciate the social commentary they were going for in “App Development and Condiments“ but the end result wasn't a particularly funny episode. Same goes for “Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality“. With those two episodes aired next to each other, my faith in the Season was a bit shaky, only redeeming itself later. Plus, I was not a huge fan of the “G.I. Jeff“ episode, simply because I never watched G.I. Joe in my life. It was still pretty amusing to see them make fun of the more general cartoon tropes though.
In a bounce-back Season, Community reminds us why we love the series in the first place. What more can I say besides: #SixSeasonsandaMovie?… Expand
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