Thom Bitches About "Community": Alternative History of the German Invasion

Left to right: Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi,
Gillian Jacobs, and Alison Brie

Like most people, I was skeptical about what Community without Dan Harmon would look like. His inane fantasy of a community college was so meta and well structured that anyone who would come in would probably not do the show justice. However, it has happened, and Community is back with former Happy Endings show runners. Is it capable of finding its footing with new controllers, or is this the end? In Thom Bitches About Community, we will attempt to figure that out with sporadic thoughts on season four. Hey, maybe it's not all bad. Maybe it's better? Check back every week for further commentaries, and please feel free to add your own thoughts.

You see, because racism is funny! That's the whole butt of the jokes in tonight's episode and while I am trying not to immediately hate this show, four out of the past five columns of Thom Bitches About Community has been nothing BUT bad reviews, with maybe a pinch of hope. Maybe the hope is still important, but after last week's terrible episode about Inspector Spacetime, I have put a watch on my tolerance for the show. 

I hate to say it, and I hate to admit that I watch it, but in recent weeks, the average episode of the Big Bang Theory has surpassed the quality of Community. Long considered a rivalry between faux nerdery and breaking the fourth wall nerdery, it was easy to see the shows compete against each other since they both aired at the same time, forcing viewers to decide which was better. For many years, I'd argue that Community deserved your love, though this plot, more than last week's nonsense, may be the first time that I felt like they were both on par with broad stereotypes, poor plotting, and bad characteristics.

I will admit that I do admire the Malcolm McDowell cameo. It is nice to know that celebrity teachers still exist in this universe. I also like the call back to the premiere episode with the History of Ice Cream stuff. However, when things began getting into how Germans weren't the victors, things just got too nuts. Saturday Night Live buffs will have little trouble just wishing that they were watching Hans and Franz segments instead of what Community produced. A batch of German wiseguys whose thick accents weren't necessarily played for laughs, but the cultural heritage was many of the butts of the jokes. For further proof, there is an extensive existential crisis in the episode that pits the Greendale 7 as metaphorical Nazis. Yeah.

Most of all, for villains, they just felt so underdeveloped. They merely existed to participate in trappings. They were diligent and made World War II references. There was even a whole segment dedicated to Oktoberfest. Perfectly fine, though seeing a German stereotype pine over sausage and beer as easy targets, and the belief that they Jeff (Joel McHale) thought that they were dumber than that doesn't help.

I get that the episode wanted to make a few comments about culture. Still, it felt like by explicitly making the Germans the bad guys, Community fell into a severe case of racism. Even the concept of being extradited doesn't help. All that was missing was a Kristallnacht reference. It was also painful to see the whole third act be buried in existential "are we Nazis?" territory and see the campus of Greendale rebel against them. I even saw a sign that made reference to the 99%. Jesus Christ, is that embarrassing. It doesn't help that Annie (Alison Brie) admits that she is Jewish. The subtext feels like it goes super deep into racism within racism.

Of course, it doesn't help that the characters continue to feel off. Abed (Danny Pudi) is suffering heavily from a sense of third wheel. He no longer serves a function that matters. Troy (Donald Glover) insisting that a dank study room was like a Darren Aronofsky movie just seemed odd and while a pop culture reference, didn't feel in line with his character. Of course, Jeff's Hogan's Heroes analogy (and all of his speeches for that matter) were pretty bogus. It felt like how Britta (Gillian Jacobs) tried to be perceived as a nerd last week by loving the most hated character in the series. It just feels that fake, and I worry that we have lost Jeff to tripe speeches.

Of course, we unfortunately get the return of...

Ken Jeong

Yep. We have Chang (Ken Jeong) back. I have long felt that Ken Jeong is an unfortunate character actor whose broad shtick comes off as a little racist. True, Community hasn't used that much of his aggressive pandering, but it gets harder to separate the character from Jeong's persona in other projects. In fact, it is hard to really back a supporting plot that asks us to believe that Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) was willing to treat him while Chang's entire performance in the episode was to tear apart dalmatian furniture. 

It is also unfortunate that the rules and regulations of Greendale just seem to be falling apart. Who authorized the Oktoberfest and let Chang back on campus? I know it isn't much in terms of realism to expect it from a guy who cross dresses in every episode, but you still want to believe that the show isn't going to cut corners every chance that it gets. 

I don't know if I buy that the episode neatly wrapped up the whole Nazi and Germans twist of humor. It was cute to see McDowell confused for a minute, but it still was pretty bad. I mean, this episode just expected us to take broad stereotypes, blatant World War II references, and expect it to have the profound nature of the more subtle episodes. I am kind of glad that Abed has at least fallen into the background, because there is little to enjoy in the show. Even when Pierce (Chevy Chase) got electrocuted and didn't let go, the logic felt gone. It felt like a second tier version of the Big Bang Theory.

I hope that I don't keep making that comparison, but the show needs to convince me that it is something more than pointless gags and get back to the characters and establish what matters. Though I guess, this was nice to see: