Excellent. The Goonies homage was perfect, from the dean talking over Abed about how the goonies all talk at the same time, to Abed's speech to Annie. Russell Borchert was funny, especially when saying things like, "someone would have to have stronger feelings than I get when I rub my nipples. Good luck with that." The secret door song was clever, and Duncan made an appearance (something I always appreciate). Richie the school board guy is among my favourite side characters because of his mind reading abilities, and the reveal at the end that Hickey was thinking of hang gliders was genius. The only things that do bother me are the fact that Shirleys swept to the side with Hickey, and the implication that his feelings towards Annie opened the door. I love the idea that his love of all his friends and the school and his fondness of what they've given him is strong enough to open the door. Honestly, if it was meant to be interpreted as his love for Annie, I think that undermines what the shows been about. The bonds and connections between people, romantic and platonic.
6 Reviews
Here we are
sharky_5517 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
It's a very weird feeling coming up to what may be the last episode of Community ever. Whatever it would give us, it was on the back of a fresh new Harmon season and a reinvigorated cast. So I came into this finale expecting the best.
I guess it did come at the cost of some characters in this episode. Britta and Jeff's marriage was always going to be called off in the event of Saving Greendale, so Britta didn't really get to do much. Duncan was hilarious in his little bit, but I was disappointed that Hickey and Shirely were roped off (heh) from the whole scene and instead got their own lacklustre segment. That being said, it was funny what Hickey said to Shirley about the hangliders when the cliché thing to do would be to profess love.
Richie, Carl and Change provide the villain aspect. As Harmon has stated, he never wanted Community to ever have a villain without a reason, which I thought Chang might be guilty of. He hasn't been as in depth as I would have liked this season, but damn, he has been funny. Best part was him slamming the table and having his glasses fall off. Richie killed it with his bizarre mind exploration bit, and the almost ridiculous magnetic fruit.
Chris Elliot as Russell Borchert was perfectly eccentric and over the top. He gave the new character feel no preparation at all and stole the scene from the word go. Not only was his beloved ignorance of the new century whimsical, but the way he made the Dean look almost normal was exactly what I expected of Greendale's founder, and I loved it. Cats on YouTube? I too would be horrified.
Annie grew so much in this episode which seems almost weird in that she hasn't had that many moments of growth in S5. Her little side tangent with Abed perfectly encapsulated how much they care about each other and even if Abed's speech went on a bit into the unknown, we do know that he cares deeply about Annie and that, like I predicted, the Jeff-Britta marriage would fall apart. We also see the most human moment of Abed so far at the end there with his chuckling, really out of the blue but surprisingly touching.
The scene with Jeff and the machine reading thoughts was really really great. It perfectly characterised each of them with only a few lines of thought and the call back to Season 1 with the my-lady and my-lord was really great and built on the Annie moment where she let go of Greendale for not wanting to hurt Russell like the school board had hurt them.
The ending was probably a bit rushed. Jeff and Britta called off the marriage in two lines of dialogue, while shippers will be furious that Jeff and Annie didn't even get a moment together. I was actually banking on a Jeff speech at the table, but only got a gavel bang. Oh well. The star that Annie finally hung up was a nice touch.
This episode really did feel like a short movie to me. The darker tones, the more dramatic entrances, and the feel good ending were crucial to that. If we ever do get a Community movie, it's safe to say they know what they are doing.
And so begins the agonising wait for renewal. Looking back at five great years of Community, I can't even think about it being over. I know we might never get a perfect finale only because we don't know whether we get renewed, but this episode tried it's hardest and it should be commended for doing that. We've had characters grow so much, we've had some of them leave (but not before making us all emotional) and we've had the zany and over the top moments with the study group we all love. Fingers crossed for that to go on next year. Thank you Dan Harmon.
#sixseasonsandamovie
I guess it did come at the cost of some characters in this episode. Britta and Jeff's marriage was always going to be called off in the event of Saving Greendale, so Britta didn't really get to do much. Duncan was hilarious in his little bit, but I was disappointed that Hickey and Shirely were roped off (heh) from the whole scene and instead got their own lacklustre segment. That being said, it was funny what Hickey said to Shirley about the hangliders when the cliché thing to do would be to profess love.
Richie, Carl and Change provide the villain aspect. As Harmon has stated, he never wanted Community to ever have a villain without a reason, which I thought Chang might be guilty of. He hasn't been as in depth as I would have liked this season, but damn, he has been funny. Best part was him slamming the table and having his glasses fall off. Richie killed it with his bizarre mind exploration bit, and the almost ridiculous magnetic fruit.
Chris Elliot as Russell Borchert was perfectly eccentric and over the top. He gave the new character feel no preparation at all and stole the scene from the word go. Not only was his beloved ignorance of the new century whimsical, but the way he made the Dean look almost normal was exactly what I expected of Greendale's founder, and I loved it. Cats on YouTube? I too would be horrified.
Annie grew so much in this episode which seems almost weird in that she hasn't had that many moments of growth in S5. Her little side tangent with Abed perfectly encapsulated how much they care about each other and even if Abed's speech went on a bit into the unknown, we do know that he cares deeply about Annie and that, like I predicted, the Jeff-Britta marriage would fall apart. We also see the most human moment of Abed so far at the end there with his chuckling, really out of the blue but surprisingly touching.
The scene with Jeff and the machine reading thoughts was really really great. It perfectly characterised each of them with only a few lines of thought and the call back to Season 1 with the my-lady and my-lord was really great and built on the Annie moment where she let go of Greendale for not wanting to hurt Russell like the school board had hurt them.
The ending was probably a bit rushed. Jeff and Britta called off the marriage in two lines of dialogue, while shippers will be furious that Jeff and Annie didn't even get a moment together. I was actually banking on a Jeff speech at the table, but only got a gavel bang. Oh well. The star that Annie finally hung up was a nice touch.
This episode really did feel like a short movie to me. The darker tones, the more dramatic entrances, and the feel good ending were crucial to that. If we ever do get a Community movie, it's safe to say they know what they are doing.
And so begins the agonising wait for renewal. Looking back at five great years of Community, I can't even think about it being over. I know we might never get a perfect finale only because we don't know whether we get renewed, but this episode tried it's hardest and it should be commended for doing that. We've had characters grow so much, we've had some of them leave (but not before making us all emotional) and we've had the zany and over the top moments with the study group we all love. Fingers crossed for that to go on next year. Thank you Dan Harmon.
#sixseasonsandamovie
ENOUGH WITH THE BLOODY SUBWAY
daisyisabaker7 February 2021
I love this episode, but the blatant repeated attempts at product placement are so annoying.
The finding treasure plot was SO GOOD and I would have rated this episode 9/10.
But it just felt like a really long Subway Advert.
I don't even like sandwiches, but I'll never go to Subway because I'm so sick of it being plastered all over this show. Clearly the directors had lack of funding but they should have just made up a fake sandwich brand and instead capitalised off of selling fan merch. Similar to have the US Office now has loads of t-shirt, mugs and posters etc of Dunder Mifflin
But it just felt like a really long Subway Advert.
I don't even like sandwiches, but I'll never go to Subway because I'm so sick of it being plastered all over this show. Clearly the directors had lack of funding but they should have just made up a fake sandwich brand and instead capitalised off of selling fan merch. Similar to have the US Office now has loads of t-shirt, mugs and posters etc of Dunder Mifflin
Basically
safenoe10 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Is it possible to reflectively look askance at season 5 maybe. I watched season 4 for the first time a few years after the season 4 hullaballoo with Dan's departure and so on. But surprisingly I found season 4 quite a reasonable season. Season 5, closing off with a Subway-themed two-partner, has Dan's DNA in it, but I wonder if season 5 would have ended differently if Dan knew there would be a season 6 for sure.
This is a very corporate episode with Subway being in many shots whether you like it or not.
Season 5 isn't the same without Donald Glover and Chevy Chase.
Six seasons and a movie please.
This is a very corporate episode with Subway being in many shots whether you like it or not.
Season 5 isn't the same without Donald Glover and Chevy Chase.
Six seasons and a movie please.
S5: Feels more in touch with what makes it work, even if it pushes the "event" idea a bit much
bob the moo19 November 2016
Hardly a revelation that the fourth season of this show was not much good at all. The fifth season is a much better one though, and it feels like it knows what works whereas the fourth felt like it was just trying to copy what had worked without really understanding it. The narrative here sees the group mostly reformed on the basis of improving Greendale, however mostly this is all just a device to get the characters back together and have not too much change while still having a forward motion to the episodes.
Mostly it works, not because of the plot, but rather because the show treats the characters well, allows them to be true to themselves (rather than delivering lines that sound like they were written for them – even though they were). The comedy feels more genuine then, and the performances benefit from it too. At times the high number of 'event' episodes did feel a bit much, but they mostly did work so it was not a massive problem even if it seemed like it was trying too hard to get back to its core strengths as a show.
The cast are very good throughout. Impressively the show manages to cope well with two big changes – one being Chase not being then, the other being Glover dropping out after only a few episodes. The heavy use of famous faces in cameos is a little distracting, but is mostly done in a restrained way, and they deliver – thus avoiding feeling like their name and a ratings bump was all they brought to the party. The addition of Banks is brilliant – he really has great timing and delivery and makes great things with his character.
Season 4 had a lot to be disappointed with, but season 5 is not only a strong recovery, but it also deals with the challenges of losing cast members, trying to keep the plots fresh, and making guest stars work for their supper. Fans will be pleased and many casual viewers will too.
Mostly it works, not because of the plot, but rather because the show treats the characters well, allows them to be true to themselves (rather than delivering lines that sound like they were written for them – even though they were). The comedy feels more genuine then, and the performances benefit from it too. At times the high number of 'event' episodes did feel a bit much, but they mostly did work so it was not a massive problem even if it seemed like it was trying too hard to get back to its core strengths as a show.
The cast are very good throughout. Impressively the show manages to cope well with two big changes – one being Chase not being then, the other being Glover dropping out after only a few episodes. The heavy use of famous faces in cameos is a little distracting, but is mostly done in a restrained way, and they deliver – thus avoiding feeling like their name and a ratings bump was all they brought to the party. The addition of Banks is brilliant – he really has great timing and delivery and makes great things with his character.
Season 4 had a lot to be disappointed with, but season 5 is not only a strong recovery, but it also deals with the challenges of losing cast members, trying to keep the plots fresh, and making guest stars work for their supper. Fans will be pleased and many casual viewers will too.
See also
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