After Chang's masterful performance of The Karate Kid this is the second episode of Community's 6th season to really embrace the half hour runtime. A typical Community episode would have ended with some nice music while the comedian expresses his gratitude at getting a show. That would have been a fine ending too. The storyline features several acts which are nicely paced and as a result each character gets a fair share of lines which then makes the episode feel more natural. After all, the hacker is threatening all of them, not just the ones that the writers feel would get in the most one liners. That's not to say that each of the committee gets perfect 'secrets'. Community has visited the whole group fighting dynamic before, most successfully in the season 2 bottle episode "Cooperative Calligraphy", as well as the less successful season 4 puppets episode and "Intro to Knots".
Ultimately the issues that are brought up in these kinds of episodes are supposed to be futile because they are not discussed outside of them. When they venture in the serious category and get tossed aside next episode that's when it feels off, like Jeff confessing he's not ready to date a woman with a child, or in this case, Frankie writing emails to her dead sister. It's furthermore complicated by the somewhat less characterisation Frankie has had in comparison to the other members and the fact that she is the least 'wacky' of the group. Which means her issue of Jeff being a functional alcoholic is a bit less dramatic and trivial than the other stuff that is aired out. The last line I think sums this up quite nicely; Elroy's models are of course completely inappropriate but outside of Annie's reaction they won't be mentioned again.
At first I was taken aback by Britta's role in this episode, which came close to the cringe worthy and over the top anarchist role that hits rock bottom in "Heroic Origins". But although the whole American and free speech thing was slightly exaggerated the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Britta's original purpose was to protest the racist comedian but once she finds out they are being blackmailed to shut it down she motivates the group to protect his freedom of speech. It's an important distinction that Britta would never go that far, even though in the end they are the bad guys. That was more of a group choice which feels like a natural study group option akin to say, barring the doors and missing a cute puppy parade to find a stupid pen.
Chang and Elroy fit in but a bit less than the other group members. At this point Chang's role is pretty undefined and though he's one of the most consistent funny characters on the show along with the Dean (because they can be fitted into any scene seamlessly), when you try to give him a role in the plot it's hard to find a legitimate use for him. Him being the star actor in Karate Kid and him being the muse behind the bear dance are good examples of not just using his character's over the top reactions or wackiness for the sake of being wacky but still being a funny character. Elroy has pretty much taken over the grumpy lonely old man role from Jonathan Banks and fill similar roles. It'd be interesting to have an episode focused on him and his background but in a 13 episode season it's a lose lose situation.
Overall the characters gel quite nicely in a formula that Community is familiar with. I really liked the cameos from Officer Cackowski and slightly less fat Neill, as well as the two child actors in the hacker and the cyber crime division. The end tag isn't quite as good as the earlier one with Shirley and the detective but is still very funny. I wonder if Craig will take the kid to see Avengers.
Ultimately the issues that are brought up in these kinds of episodes are supposed to be futile because they are not discussed outside of them. When they venture in the serious category and get tossed aside next episode that's when it feels off, like Jeff confessing he's not ready to date a woman with a child, or in this case, Frankie writing emails to her dead sister. It's furthermore complicated by the somewhat less characterisation Frankie has had in comparison to the other members and the fact that she is the least 'wacky' of the group. Which means her issue of Jeff being a functional alcoholic is a bit less dramatic and trivial than the other stuff that is aired out. The last line I think sums this up quite nicely; Elroy's models are of course completely inappropriate but outside of Annie's reaction they won't be mentioned again.
At first I was taken aback by Britta's role in this episode, which came close to the cringe worthy and over the top anarchist role that hits rock bottom in "Heroic Origins". But although the whole American and free speech thing was slightly exaggerated the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Britta's original purpose was to protest the racist comedian but once she finds out they are being blackmailed to shut it down she motivates the group to protect his freedom of speech. It's an important distinction that Britta would never go that far, even though in the end they are the bad guys. That was more of a group choice which feels like a natural study group option akin to say, barring the doors and missing a cute puppy parade to find a stupid pen.
Chang and Elroy fit in but a bit less than the other group members. At this point Chang's role is pretty undefined and though he's one of the most consistent funny characters on the show along with the Dean (because they can be fitted into any scene seamlessly), when you try to give him a role in the plot it's hard to find a legitimate use for him. Him being the star actor in Karate Kid and him being the muse behind the bear dance are good examples of not just using his character's over the top reactions or wackiness for the sake of being wacky but still being a funny character. Elroy has pretty much taken over the grumpy lonely old man role from Jonathan Banks and fill similar roles. It'd be interesting to have an episode focused on him and his background but in a 13 episode season it's a lose lose situation.
Overall the characters gel quite nicely in a formula that Community is familiar with. I really liked the cameos from Officer Cackowski and slightly less fat Neill, as well as the two child actors in the hacker and the cyber crime division. The end tag isn't quite as good as the earlier one with Shirley and the detective but is still very funny. I wonder if Craig will take the kid to see Avengers.