COMMUNITY Nails The "Repilot"

Article first published as COMMUNITY Nails The "Repilot" on TheTVKing.

NBC's Community finally returns tonight with "Repilot." It's been months since the study group graduated from Greendale Community College, and all find their lives much worse than when they enrolled. Jeff (Joel McHale), a lawyer again, has an idea of what they can do about it. But confronted with his friends in the place they called home for the past four years, Jeff's first plan may not be the one he ultimately chooses to carry out.

"Repilot" is a reboot in a lot of ways. Things can't just return to normal from the first moment the show comes back. These characters have moved on with their lives, not very well, but still, away from the security of the school. It takes a twist to bring them back together.

What's remarkable about said twist isn't that it happens but that it unfolds so easily. Everything about this initial half hour makes complete sense. These people aren't ready to build professional careers for themselves, and so they can't move on. What else can they do but to re-enroll, bringing themselves back to the place where they actually felt like they could accomplish something?

Jeff's law office, which promises to help "good" people, goes under. Shirley's (Yvette Nicole Brown) business has failed and her husband has left her again, the working mother losing both things she has worked towards. Annie (Alison Brie) is selling pharmaceuticals, something she herself struggled against. Britta (Gillian Jacobs) has been reduced to being a bartender. Abed (Danny Pudi) still can't relate to people, making it hard for him to find work as a filmmaker. And Troy (Donald Glover) seems to be doing nothing. Yet, rushing to aide Jeff and the school, they find purpose and hope again.

This seamless plot is the first surefire sign that creator Dan Harmon has returned. While season four floundered about, extremely uneven, season five picks up right where season three left off. The story from last year counts (a "gas leak" explains why it was off), but the magic that had been lost has been found again, a brilliant mind tying everything together in a way no one else would have quite seen, no matter how hard they attempted to look.

Heart is bursting at the seams. The way the study group puts their faith in Jeff, letting him to decide how to handle Greendale, is both sweet and a culmination of a long arc, with their trust in him finally earned. Jeff getting advice, somewhat unintentionally, from hologram Pierce (Chevy Chase, no longer a main character) fills a void that I didn't realize I was missing until that scene. He just had to be included, and it hurts less to lose him because he comes back now. Watching the gang build a new table feels perfect.

It's also super funny. There are some wonderful in-jokes, especially concerning Scrubs and Glover's imminent departure from the series. Every character is back to acting authentically who they are, with terrific lines such as Britta's about owls and analogies. Seeing what the study room has been turned into and why ought to elicit a chuckle or two.

There's a lot of debate in "Repilot" as to what Greendale is. There is no arguing that there is a lot of dysfunction at the institution. The question is, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a safe place where people can take the time to figure themselves out? Or is it a crummy hall in which losers are taken advantage of? The viewpoint of the main study group is clear, but the jury is out on what the public may say.

The public may very well get a say because Alan (Rob Corddry) plans to sue Greendale. His first effort is thwarted when the Dean (Jim Rash) shreds the records of an alum who designed a faulty bridge. His second chance is blown when Jeff turns on him. But Alan may still show up to make trouble in the future.

What could save Greendale is Jeff, who, unlike the others, decides to come back as a teacher, not a student. Jeff has always been a leader of his peers. In the group, everyone listens to him, as they continue to do in "Repilot." It makes sense for Jeff to step up and take a larger role in the new year, and besides, he doesn't need more education for what he is doing with his life. Now, he'll be assisting the Dean in protecting the school, while also bettering his career.

This actually puts Jeff on a different path than the others. He'll still be their friend and he'll still care about them, but he also will relate to most of the characters in a new manner. He is working with the Dean instead of against him, wanting to give Greendale what Greendale gave him. Namely, a heart and soul and people to care about. Jeff may not be successful as a lawyer, but he has a place where he fits in and is (mostly) happy and that place is Greendale.

"Repilot" is a dark episode. It forces self-examination and characters, especially Jeff, consider doing things fans won't like to believe they'd do. It shows us our beloved protagonists at their lowest points. Raw pain and struggle are exposed. It's sad. It grows the series in a new and interesting way that remains entertaining and fresh.

It also makes one look at the Dean in a different light, one in which his incompetence is not just goofiness, but actually damaging. He has rehired Chang (Ken Jeong) as a math teacher, although Chang can't do math (insert Asian stereotype joke here). Why would the Dean do such a thing? Did he grow depressed when Jeff left and his ill-behavior is a self-destructive cry for help? Or is he really much more terrible than many assumed all along?

It's hard to think of the Dean as a bad guy or someone who hurts the group, but that may just be the direction Community goes in. There's a real heavy sense of reality in "Repilot," something not always existing (that's not a complaint) in the rest of the show. Will season five be when the series really takes a long look in the mirror, as Jeff sort of does here? If so, sign me up, because this is a very interesting concept.

Even with the new or enhanced elements, by the end of the episode, I was filled with a supreme sense of satisfaction and feeling of being back with an old, familiar friend. "Repilot" feels like the best of Community, with the spirit and depth returning intact and better than ever. This is exactly the kind installment viewers longed for throughout last season. Thank goodness it's back!

Community airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

#sixseasonsandamovie

COMMUNITY Season Five Preview

Article originally written for Seat42F.com

NBC’s COMMUNITY is back this week! And so is creator Dan Harmon! After three fantastic seasons, Harmon and the show parted ways, resulting in a not-so-good fourth year. But as the story picks up for round five, months later, it’s quickly clear that Harmon’s return heralds the show getting back to form quite quickly.

***This review contains light spoilers, with much more focus on tone and quality than plot. There are some fantastic, surprising bits in the hour, and those will NOT be revealed in this article. Still, if you’d rather not know anything ahead of time, please check back here after the show airs.***

Two episodes are presented this week: “Repilot” and “Introduction to Teaching.” Rather than throwing out a whole batch of episodes that aired in 2013, these installments attempt to reset the tale, taking into account developments such as Jeff (Joel McHale) graduating, and finding a way to move the story forward again. The first half hour is concerned with a realistic way of bringing the characters back together, while the second strives to establish a new normal, which should carry on for the rest of the season.

The biggest change by far, and it’s one made pretty early on, so I don’t feel it’s a big spoiler, is that Jeff becomes a teacher at Greendale. I won’t go into the circumstances that lead him to this point, but suffice it to say, he must return to the place he couldn’t wait to escape from. And he’s not alone.

It’s no secret that Greendale Community College is a haven for losers, those that failed at life in general, and have few options to better themselves. Still, it takes a bit of spirit and drive to go to college at all, and through this, we’ve found reasons to care about the students enrolled, making them underdogs to root for, instead of failures to pity.

Leaving the safe walls of the school, though, it turns out that our ‘heroes’ may not be exactly prepared for the real world yet. Jeff sure isn’t, and Annie (Alison Brie), Britta (Gillian Jacobs), Troy (Donald Glover), Abed (Danny Pudi), and Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) aren’t, either, leading them all to make their way back early in COMMUNITY’s return.

As one might imagine, this makes “Repilot” extremely depressing. COMMUNITY is first and foremost a comedy, and there are funny parts even in this premiere episode. However, there’s also a sadness that has always underlain the story. “Repilot” brings that up to the surface, really digging into who these people are and what they need. It’s gloomy, but there is also hope. More than most installments of the show, this one is a dramedy.

Now, many shows would have to do something hokey to contrive to keep a group of people together whose time has naturally come to an end, in this case through graduation. COMMUNITY does not. It builds upon who the characters portrayed in the show are and how they’ve grown, as well as how far they have yet to go. The way everything comes together makes total sense and promises that, while the series will still be what fans love, there is a trajectory that is being followed, and there has been movement on that path.

The Dean (Jim Rash) and Chang (Ken Jong) are back, too, of course, with the former taking a big role in “Repilot” and “Introduction to Teaching.” There is a definite arc to season five, which is only just getting started, and it will involve the Dean. We also get to see a side of the Dean we haven’t seen before, a raw, exposed nature that has always existed, but never focused on until now. It’s not that pleasant to think about, but it makes sense, and it makes me wonder what the endgame will be exactly.

“Introduction to Teaching” introduces one of this year’s big new players. Besides the return of Professor Duncan (John Oliver), which does not happen this week, another teacher who will fill a major role in year five is Buzz Hickey (Jonathan Banks, Breaking Bad). He’s gruff and stern, hinting at Bank’s infamous AMC character, but he’s also someone of layers. Intriguing from the start, Hickey lends a new dynamic to the cast that should shake up interactions for the foreseeable future.

All of this is great, but what viewers want to know is, is COMMUNITY fixed? After two episodes, I feel confident in unequivocally saying yes. The series was still funny and the characters remained the same people in season four, but the stories lacked depth and cohesion, with that intangible spark absent. Both “Repilot” and “Introduction to Teaching” are much improved, with the feeling one gets when watching the best of COMMUNITY fully restored. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why the Harmon-led installments are so much better than the others, but there’s just an overall depth and charm to the early years, and that is definitely back now, in a darker manner befitting the changes that have occurred.

COMMUNITY premieres Thursday, January 2^nd at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Be Careful Hanging Out With RICK AND MORTY

Article first published as Be Careful Hanging Out With RICK AND MORTY on TheTVKing.

Cartoon Network's Adult Swim's latest series, which premiered this week, is Rick and Morty. From the mind of Dan Harmon (Community), Rick and Morty is a twisted tale of a gullible, dumb, naive grandson, Morty (voiced by Justin Roiland, Fish Hooks), being taken along on dangerous adventures by his eccentric, compassion-challenged, alcoholic grandfather, Rick (also Roiland).

Some have compared Rick and Morty to Back to the Future, pointing to the strange relationship between an old man and a young boy, though this show makes the bond more understandable by having the two be related. It's true, the connection between Rick and Morty is the heart of the show, the latter being a willing participant, through more because of familiar duty than desire, in the schemes. But it doesn't paint Rick in a very good light to take advantage of the boy, and so their footing is not equal, making for an unbalanced duo.

This may be a good thing. Were Morty as into the travels and risks as Rick were, the two would likely be in big trouble even more frequently. Rick couldn't take the competition, and while Morty doesn't exactly reign in his grandfather, he doesn't encourage him, either. Thus we have two very different souls pushed together by a blood relation, rather than anything they share in common.

The animation is as crude as the plot and the jokes, which include things such as Rick wanting to smuggle giant seeds up his grandson's butt. They are well matched in rough lines, odd colors, and twisted creations. The places Rick takes Morty are literally out of this world, allowing the animators' imaginations to run wild. To their credit, they definitely get the tone, and provide pictures that match the words.

I actually like it, though, in spite of this. While super weird, it also has that charm and cleverness that is found well-seeped into Community. Harmon extends his talent in a second project, and though the two share little in common, they are likely to earn some of the same types of praise, with words like "original" and "groundbreaking" thrown around. I don't think Rick and Morty is likely to gain quite as large or as passionate a fan base as the live-action sitcom, but it is very enjoyable, more so than I expected it to be.

The voice cast is rounded out by Chris Parnell (Suburgatory) as Morty's father, Jerry, Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) as Morty's mother and Rick's daughter, Beth, and Spencer Grammer (Greek) as Morty's older sister, Summer. All are great, though they don't get a ton to do, at least in the "Pilot."

If you're on the fence about watching Rick and Morty, check it out. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Rick and Morty airs Mondays at 10:30 p.m. ET on Cartoon Network.

Community's Almost Finale

Article first published as Community's Almost Finale on TheTVKing.

For all of the complaints I've had about this fourth, Dan Harmon-less season of NBC's Community, and those complains have been numerous, as you'll see if you read my weekly reviews of the show, the one character that the writers have totally gotten right is Jeff (Joel McHale). Jeff, who starts out as a self-centered ego maniacal jerk, has grown into someone who is a true leader and team player. Working out the inner pain that causes him to be bad, Jeff is able to become good.

The fourth season finale, "Advanced Introduction to Finality," is a Jeff-centric story. Having taken the required number of credits, Jeff is graduating early, halfway through the school year. His former colleague, Mark (Joe Lo Truglio), offers him the chance to get his old life back, becoming a lawyer again with a fat paycheck, relying on his lack of scruples to make him rich and powerful.

When Community begins, this is what Jeff wants. He's annoyed at having to attend college, and is fine with using the people who can help him skate through, biding his time until he can return to his old life.

But along the way he has come to value those around him. His study group has become his family. These people see something in him that no one in the legal world did, and like Jeff for who he is, not just what he can do. That wouldn't have mattered to the old Jeff. The new Jeff, however, sees that his life is better for his friends, and resists turning back to his old ways, deciding not to take the job.

Which is why "Advanced Introduction to Finality" mostly takes place inside of Jeff's head as he battles with himself over the path to take. He imagines Evil Jeff and Evil Annie (Alison Brie) invading his world, soon joined by their evil companions, trying to make him go back to the law. They destroy his relationships and attempt to wreck everything he has built.

Jeff does build himself an escape hatch in the form of Abed (Danny Pudi) and Evil Abed, whom are now both good, working together to stop the Evil Study Group and save Jeff's soul. Together, they not only give Jeff the weapons he needs to fight back, but help him come to terms with why he should not go back to who he was.

Taken by itself, the main meat of the episode is goofy. Sure, it combines some fan favorite elements of Community such as paintball guns, the imposter Dean (J.P. Manoux), alternate realities, and both Annie and the Dean's (Jim Rash) crush on Jeff. Many of the recurring players attend Jeff's graduation / wedding, so they get to be present. But the story falls flat, especially in the paintball fight, in which everyone spends more time delivering witty banter than actually struggling to win. For all the great gags, such as hearing about The Cape season three, it doesn't add up correctly overall.

Since it's all in Jeff's head, though, it's OK. There was a time Jeff wouldn't even have engaged in fantasies, but now, influenced by his friends, this is how he chooses to work out his internal monologue. It's a testament to his maturation and development, and once the basic premise is understood, "Advanced Introduction to Finality" raises itself up as one of the best installments of the season.

That being said, I am very grateful it isn't a series finale. Choosing to put the spotlight completely on Jeff's own journey robs the rest of the cast of any sort of ending. Annie doesn't get to be with Jeff, Britta (Gillian Jacobs) barely gets any validation for her talents, Chang's (Ken Jeong) moments are wonderful, but too brief, and the Dean only gets a small, public exchange with Jeff, rather than the heartfelt, open discussion of feelings he warrants. And Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and Troy (Donald Glover) get even less than most anyone else.

The one other character, besides Jeff, who does get an ending is Pierce (Chevy Chase). Utterly wasted the back half of this year, with his absence of several episodes having to be explained away, Pierce grows jealous of the attention Jeff gets when graduating, and decides he wants to do so, too. So the Dean lets Pierce graduate from Greendale, too.

I can't say this is a satisfying way to let the old codger go. Having him lost in the woods would have been better. This is with little fanfare, and shows no growth for his character whatsoever. It's assumed Pierce won't return next season, since Chase quit the series, so this is probably the last we'll see of him. What a shame.

As much as it sucks to lose comedy legend Chase, and admittedly he is lost for much of the time he is actually on Community, his departure could be what saves the show. With Chase out, NBC is rumored to be interested in wooing creator Dan Harmon back. Considering how brilliant the show was when he worked on it, and how this season has been so comparatively weak, a Harmon return could be just would the series needs to revitalize and fix itself. Let's hope it happens.

"Advanced Introduction to Finality" is an almost solid episode, but not a fitting series finale. Since it doesn't have to be, it works well. The window is still open for the famed #SixSeasonsAndAMovie, if fans are lucky. For now, they can count their blessings regarding the unexpected renewal of season five.

Community has been renewed and will return to NBC, likely in early 2014.