Community - Ladders

Previously: "We'll definitely be back next year. If not, it'll be because an asteroid has destroyed all of human civilization. And that's canon." 

Like the rest of the world, my relationship with Community has been unique. Some people don't get it. Some people watch the episodes obsessively, studying each frame for subtle Easter eggs. When I'm watching a new episode I tend to think it's one of the greatest sitcoms ever. But if I happen to grab a random episode, I start wondering what I found so appealing.

Still, I was pleased when a sixth season was announced, even if it was to be on the heretofore unknown Yahoo Screen. Because 1) it meant more episodes of Community, and 2) it meant that all of human civilization hadn't been destroyed by an asteroid. But what would Greendale Community College look like on Yahoo instead of a major network? Nothing like this has ever happened before.

The good news is, Greendale is still weird. The episode opens, as so many have, with Dean Pelton (Academy Award winner Jim Rash) making an announcement over the school's PA system. It's the same device M*A*S*H used for many years to set the tone for each episode, and it works very well. The dean, using a script written by Abed (Danny Pudi), reintroduces the campus, and us, to the characters, and there's a heavy sense of nostalgia. And then the roof collapses in an avalanche of Frisbee discs... because, Greendale. 

In the study room, the Save Greendale Committee is once again faced with the school's impending bankruptcy. At this point, one has to wonder if Greendale's perpetually precarious position isn't just a metaphor for the show itself, which has faced more adversity than any other television show in history. Just kidding. Community is so self-aware, there's no reason to wonder. It's totally a metaphor.

Anyway, Chang (Ken Jeong) has a bigger concern. The two black members of the study group, Troy and Shirley, have left, prompting Chang to ask if he and Abed should be concerned. Jeff (Joel McHale) assures him, as leader of the white people, that they have no cause for alarm. At that moment the dean breezes into the room with as white as Wonder Bread Frankie Dart (Paget Brewster), introducing her as "new Shirley." Listing every instance of lampshade hanging in this episode alone would fill several pages, but it's cleverly done and what the audience of this show has come to expect. 

Frankie has been hired to get the school's money problems under control. Doing so is going to require her to cut a few classes from the catalog, including Magic Wands, VCR Repair, and Ladders. The group already doesn't like her bossy attitude, but when she takes the liquor out of the teachers' lounge they decide that she must be evil. 

This leads Jeff, Britta (Gillian Jacobs), and Annie (Alison Brie) to open a Prohibition style speakeasy (complete with costumes) in the school's basement... because, Greendale. Abed, meanwhile, has decided that Frankie isn't so bad, but is torn when he reconnects with his old friends over illicit drinks. His increasingly erratic behavior forces Frankie to acknowledge the speakeasy, which she knew about all along. But when she confronts everyone, she's the one who breaks and leaves Greendale.

Jeff, thinking he's won, encourages the entire school to get drunk. This leads to a near-tragic accident in Ladders, injuring Annie. Seeing the error of their ways, Jeff and Abed search out Frankie to apologize and beg her to come back. When they find her we get the fifth(!), and best, montage of the episode.  

Seeing how Frankie fits into this group of misfits will be interesting. She's the sanest person in the room at this point, but I don't know that that's saying much. Chang, the character who has undergone the most bizarre transformations of anyone on the show, seems to be filling in for Troy this season and it works well. All of the originals have grown over the years, and that can be a tricky thing to do in comedy, where characters are traditionally static. But as an audience, we want more complex stories right now, and that requires more dynamic characters. 

Greendale feels a little emptier on Yahoo. It's hard to explain how, but in past seasons one got the feeling that there was a busy college campus outside the study room. Now it has the feeling of a campus on the weekend, and the only ones around are the people we can see. The drinking montages, filled with happy revilers, do their best to show that there are still people around, but it never quite feels the same. 

Favorite Quotes:

• Don't make it more dramatic than it is. It's a blood oath to defy evil. 
• Tacos!
• The entire closing tag