*Spoilers Ahead*
Ladders
There was a distinct moment about halfway into this episode that I just felt pure joy in getting to see the Greendale crew, minus about half of them, doing their thing. It’s great to be back!
Community, no matter how this season turned out, will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first TV show that I truly fell in love with and my views and tastes in both TV and comedy in general were shaped by it. So, for me, it was great just to know that I could spend some more time with this great cast of characters again. Thankfully, “Ladders” ends up being a solid premiere.
The show has gone through quite a lot in the past few years and despite numerous cast departures, including one that needed addressed this episode, the remaining crew is more than up to the task of making this show worthwhile.
The majority of this episode goes to introducing Paget Brewster’s Francesca “Frankie” Dart and while her current role is to serve as the rigid foil to the rest of the group, I imagine it won’t take her long to fit in. She immediately starts causing problems when she takes alcohol out of the facility lounge leading Jeff to drink in the back of Shirley’s Sandwich Shop, now being run by Britta due to Shirley being “spun-off.” To the surprise of no one, Britta is very bad at making sandwiches.
To add to the tensions, Frankie has an honest conversation with Abed where she admits that she is the worst kind of “TV character” a boring one. Abed is charmed and decides to work for her which puts him at odds with the rest of the group. Of course, Frankie is not willing to put up with Abed’s shenanigans or his constant attempts to turn things into montages.
Elsewhere, Jeff, Britta, and Annie have created a speakeasy for them and other Greendale folks to hang out in. This is where the episode kicks into flat out absurdity, the type of gear Community runs best in. It even has a random cameo by Nathan Fillion so that he and Jeff can make Miller’s Crossing references. Eventually, Abed finds his way there and remembers how much he enjoys Greendale and his pals by getting hammered with them (in yet another montage.) Frankie eventually finds out about the place but leaves in embarrassment when the rest of the group stands up to her.
Despite losing their insurance the whole of Greendale does what it does best and celebrates in the most insane ways possible. This all ends badly, naturally, when the drunken teacher of the Ladders class fall off his ladder into the first row of students, including Annie. Facing a mountain of legal fees Jeff and Abed are forced to track down Frankie and apologize, in the only way that would make sense, via montage.
“Ladders” isn’t the smoothest episode of Community. The long runtime makes the episode feel a little padded and not all of the story beats totally work but I’m just happy to have this show back in my life. Community is probably never going to reach the highs of it’s earlier seasons but being consistently entertaining is enough for me.
Lawnmower Maintenance and Postnatal Care
This second episode isn’t as packed with wall-to-wall jokes as the first but it gives us some of the best physical comedy from this show in a long time.
The main story of this episode comes into play when The Dean mentions that he purchased a virtual reality machine and becomes immersed in it. Frankie and Jeff try valiantly to get him to give them the serial number with plans on returning it but The Dean will not be fooled. The scenes inside the virtual reality device, which looks as minimal as possible and consists of activities like setting the time and sorting files, are some of the funniest parts of the episode.
Meanwhile, Britta moves in with Annie and Abed but becomes curious when the couch that the two bought for her has her last name on the shipping tag. She eventually discovers that they got it from her parents (played by Martin Mull and Lesley Ann Warren) the most loathed entities in her life. Things only get worse when she finds out that her parents have actually been using her friends to funnel money to her.
Jeff, with no other option left, tracks down the creator of the wannabe Occulus Rift. The wonderfully named, Elroy Patashnik, Patashnik explains that his device was meant to create whole new worlds and he seems to be quite proud of his achievements. Jeff returns and creates a new plan of just taking The Dean out of the machine. Elroy makes his way to Greendale however and enters the reality to distract The Dean. He admits that his machine was lame and is unsure what to do now. In an unprecedented moment of competence, The Dean hands him a check for $500 for the enjoyment he got out of the machine. When Jeff presses him that the school can’t even afford to hand out that much, Elroy mentions that he is unsure what to do with his life now and The Dean kindly recommends Greendale’s wide variety of classes.
Britta eventually confronts her parents and we learn that she actually has a somewhat decent reason for not wanting to be around them. When she was growing up her parents were very strict which caused her to rebel and leave them. Now, they’ve mellowed out but she still sees them as the overbearing people they once were. She refuses her parents money and steals a kid’s Green Machine when her car won’t start just to get away from them. Eventually, Britta speaks with Frankie and learns that what she’s going through is commonly known as the “Jimmy Fallon Syndrome.” Everyone around her thinks her parents are awesome because they weren’t there for when they sucked. She eventually reconciles with her parents and realizes all that matters is that inevitably they will die, so why not make the most of it.
While this episode falls a little flat compared to the premiere it offer some much needed development for Britta and gives us Jim Rash running in place in a goofy outfit shouting “Jesus wept!” So, I don’t think there’s much ill will I can give it.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- Chang is mostly stuck on the outskirts of the stories this week but that’s kind of where I prefer him. That said, he has taken up Donald Glover’s old place of being able to get a laugh out of the specific delivery of a certain line.
- I’ll admit it, I was sold on this new season the moment we got that flashback to Leonard in the 70s.
- Shirley gets to show up in the tag for the first episode as we see the end of an episode of her spin-off The Butcher and The Baker.
- “In marketing it’s what we call ‘The Good Belushi'”
- “You guys every hear of the Slenderman?”
- “A living fart from the butt of a lesser god.”
- “I set the timezone!”
- “To use a phrase I coined in the 90s, ‘I’m goin’ in'”
- “All that matters is that we’re all going to die!”
If you’d like to give me feedback or just chat about Community you can email me at theSuperAlbino@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter @JesseSwanson