by Katt Birdsell, Guest Reporter

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dan Harmon is back on Community! After the fall of the Fourth Season, the question lingered, “Is our favorite study group really going to end as a classically disappointing sitcom?” Luckily for fans, the Fourth Season was not the end. Harmon heard the cries of his cult and has been gently placing the pieces of our favorite study group back together.  It is time to rebuild, and Harmon is the man to do it. Community The Complete Fifth Season is now available to own on DVD.

Episode Highlights:

“Introduction to Teaching” was indeed an introduction, not only to “Buzz Hickey” (Pierce’s replacement) but also to a dynamic of Abed we rarely get to see.  Hickey and Pierce have things in common but thankfully they are obviously differentiated characters.  Hickey is still gruff, blunt, and rude but doesn’t posses the not-so-subtle racism Pierce did.  Nor does he seem to be ecstatic in the group’s involvement whereas Pierce would’ve killed for the chance to feel accepted. 

As for Abed, it’s been known since the first episode and has been supported throughout the show that Abed is on the autistic scale.  He’s aloof but also has quite a bit of control when it comes to interactions with the study group.  It’s not often we get to see a situation dealing with his main specialty (pop culture) that he can’t handle. When he’s told by Professor Garrity that there is no answer to the question, “Nicholas Cage: Good or Bad?” he obsesses on where to locate Cage on the talent scale.  “Every actor has something.  Robert Downey Jr, good.  Jim Belushi, bad.   Van Damme, the good kind of bad.  Johnny Depp, the bad kind of good.  There’s a spectrum and Cage is on it- I just have to find him.”  The end of the episode features Abed “Caging” which could quite possibly be the best scene of the season.  It’s also always wonderful to see “Fat Neil”, Garrett, and Magnitude (Pop Pop!) if only for a riotous moment.

“Cooperative Polygraphy” proves that Harmon is back on the grid.  It’s the study group we know and love so well.  When finding out Pierce has died, we wait for his inevitable Pierce scam, which usually involves him popping out at random as soon as the study group has dismantled themselves and turned against each other.  Instead, the moment never comes and we realize Pierce is really gone.  “Troy and Abed are in mourning.” 

Through the interrogation of the group with the aid of a polygraph test, Pierce’s character bows out of the show with grace and an awkwardness that only his character could provide while also allowing the group to come closer together in their understanding of who Pierce was as well as their understanding of each other.  It’s one of those episodes where you’re laughing the whole time then get chocked up out of nowhere and wonder, “How did that happen?!”  Pierce’s departure also preps to Troy’s around-the-world experience with none other than LeVar Burton, thus releasing Donald Glover from the show (although leaving the possibility for him to return.  Six season and a movie!)

Special Features:

Re-Animating the 80’s:  Although this episode was great to watch visually, the psychology behind it was a bit off.  However, in this special feature, Dan Harmon expresses his want to delve a bit into the stigma of youth in television.  At that point, you have to admire his conviction regardless of how strange the episode ended up being.  Other than that, it’s a nice look at how the caricatures were created for animation as well as using modern technology in order to achieve a nostalgic style.

The Rest:  Other than that the special features are pretty bland.  “Advanced Television Production: 5 Days, 2 Scripts, No sleep” reminds us how thankful we should be to have a 5th season at all.  Thankfully, the content is in the episodes and that’s where it counts.

Overall:

I hadn’t remembered the Fifth Season of Community incredibly fondly, but watching through it again in succession made me once again raise my fist in the air as only Judd Nelson can do and heed the battle call, “six seasons and a movie!”  With Harmon back, there is hope.

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives Community The Complete Fifth Season 3.5 out of 5 seasons without a gas leak!

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