At long last, it's October 19th, and Community is back on the air. Since it's their last year at Greendale, Abed's having a little trouble dealing with it. In order to help ease his anxiety, Britta uses her community college psychology skills to get him to go to his happy place, which just so happens to be a three-camera version of Community where Pierce is played by Fred Willard.
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| It's nice to see Fred getting some work after that whole 'jacking it in a porno theatre' thing. |
Back in the real world, the study group reunites at Greendale, excited to be taking History of Ice Cream together. But, when they get there, they find that it's been overbooked and is now first-come, first served. Fortunately, Jeff has turned over a new leaf, and arrived early to save seats for all of them. However, his plan is foiled when Dean Pelton arrives to explain that someone forged the class' admission tickets, and now the only fair way to decide who gets to take it is through a series of competitions known only as The Hunger Deans.
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| I should really get around to seeing that movie. |
The rest of the group is out, but it's the only history credit being offered that semester, so Jeff needs to take it. He took some online classes over the summer, and now he only needs a single history credit in order to graduate. The rest of the group is a bit miffed that he didn't tell them that, but he really wants them to believe that he's New Jeff, so he enters The Hunger Deans in hopes of winning seven red balls, which are good for seven seats in the class. While he's doing that, Britta and Troy go to make wishes in the fountain in front of the school, Annie and Shirley head off to pull a senior prank, and Abed and Pierce stay to watch Jeff compete.
Abed's still upset that things are changing, so he retreats into his happy place. There, Dean Pelton has lost their student records and they're all going to have to repeat their first three years. Apparently, in Abed's mind, Greendale is the happiest place on Earth.
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| Screw Disney World. |
Jeff wins his first ball by beating up Leonard and disabling Annie Kim, and four more through feats of strength and grace, including beating up Fat Neil with a pugil stick. The sixth and penultimate ball comes via the ancient art of the Tango. For his partner, he chooses Dean Pelton, and while they dance, he gets the Dean to explain why the other history class mysteriously disappeared after he took online classes, and how the forged admission tickets were so perfect. As it turns out, Craig's just not ready to let him go, and he'd hoped that Jeff would bail on The Hunger Deans with the rest of the study group.
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| But he didn't account for the unmatched grace and altruism of New Jeff. |
As Jeff racks up the balls, a small slice of reality manages to bleed into his happy place, so happy place Abed is forced to retreat to his happy place: An animated version of their lives called Greendale Babies.
When everyone returns from their various antics, they find Abed nearly comatose, and they're forced to join hands to try to use their combined powers to snap him out of it. The five of them aren't quite enough, though, so Jeff has to abandon his quest for the seventh ball to help save their friend. Animated baby Jeff gives a speech that brings happy place Abed back to happy place reality, then happy place Jeff gives a speech that brings real Abed back to real reality. It's some Christopher Nolan-level stuff.
With only six balls (which are quickly stolen by Leonard), Jeff has to give up on his dream to graduate early... until the Dean follows him home to tell him that he's reinstated the other history class... and he's moved in next door.
The episode ends with this nonsense:
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| He's suffering from changnesia. |
Oh, and there's some more nonsense with happy place Troy and Abed dressed as women so they can get into a class. But that was the premise of a terrible sitcom that aired two episodes last year, and it's really more sad than funny.
What I Liked
-The interstitials for other shows in Abed's happy place. The show ideas themselves weren't all that great, but it kept the network from putting up too many real ones.
-Greendale Babies. They're happy and they're free.
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| Greendale Babies forever! |
What I Hated
-All those hashtags they were putting on the bottom of the screen, including #TroyAndAbedBackFromSummer, #HungerDeans, #NewJeff, and #Changnesia. Yes, hahaha they did a parody of shows that use hashtags. Except Community did just that at the end of last season, lest we forget #sixseasonsandamovie. Once a show descends into self-parody, it's time to wrap it up.
-Chang. If they couldn't fit him in organically, there was no reason to shove him in at the end. His character hasn't really worked since he stopped being a teacher.
Final Thoughts
The whole Hunger Games thing probably would've seemed more current if the show had actually aired back in October, but there are at least three more movies coming in that series, so it shouldn't seem dated until at least 2016.
I'm really hoping that there isn't too much emphasis placed on Britta and Troy's relationship. I still don't buy the idea that they'd be interested in each other. Aside from going to the same school, they don't have much in common.
In my mind, Community hasn't been the funniest show on TV since the second season, so anyone who says this premiere episode shows that it's going downhill obviously wasn't watching last year. It won't deliver as many laughs as it used to, but it's still doing things that other shows can't or won't do. Therefore, I say that season four of Community is off to an average start.
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