What's it about: Jeff learns how to seize the day....
Ensemble: Another great episode for Jeff who we come to
realise cannot behave in a spontaneous fashion (and therefore fails to impress
Mr Whitman) because everything about him is image-driven and pre-planned. It's
even more apparent when he tries to seize the day by enacting a number
of life changing events. The guy who appears to be the loosest member of the
ensemble and appears to run through life like liquid is in fact the most
uptight and regimented. Go figure. Jeff is putting some serious work into
trying to impress Whitman and prove that he can live life to the full...but the
simple answer is to truly achieve that you don't have to put any effort in at
all. I love how this show explores Shirley as a loving Christian (with all the
warmth and forgiveness that comes with that) but also staunchly intolerant at
times of any other perspective. It's her imperfections that make her so
interesting. Britta learns an important lesson about involving herself in other
peoples lives in this episode, how thinking you know what is best for other
people can sometimes be damaging (I have heard a very persuasive argument
elsewhere that passive left wing enforcement is actually more frightening than
a forceful right wing dictatorship - telling everybody what is best for them
with a smile is far more insidious). Britta involves herself in the Nadir
family machinations, paying for Abed to take a film course that his father
expressly forbade. Gobi has always had to break into Abed's fantasy world and
now he has a camera between them recording everything. Britta thinks she has
been kind to Abed but she has made Gobi's job as a parent ten times harder. One
of the joys of any ensemble show is the mix and match approach. How you take a
group of diverse characters and stick any two of them together and get very
different results each time. One of the least used double acts on this show -
Troy and Pierce - gets it's inaugural outing in this episode as the older
statesman of the group teach the youngest how to assert himself with a sneeze.
It's hardly the most thrilling of subplots but bringing together these two
still produces something rather unique and enjoyable.
Introducing: Eustice Whitman - an eccentric (which seems to
be the employment requirement at Greendale) teacher who runs what appears to be
the ultimate blow off class (which naturally attracts Jeff). He'll get you to
throw away your textbook, stand on your table and burst into moments of
exclamatory love. He doesn't care who you seize the day and live your life in
the now as long as you do. That pretty much makes him Jeff's nemesis because he
is somebody that he cannot impress. The sad truth of the matter is, no matter
how appealing it might be to seize the day as many times as possible, Whitman's
lifestyle simply isn't sustainable. Unless you wanted to be certified ('I
want a birthday cake!').
Great Gags: 'All media is western propaganda that negatively
stereotypes Arabs' 'Then he should see Aladdin. Jaffa was a badass!'
Pierce thinking that Shirley and Troy are mother and son is
both hilarious and horrifically racist.
Funniest Moment: This was the point that I realised that
this show could literally make anything funny, even a girly sneeze. Poor Troy.
End Tag: Abed, Troy and Jeff indulge in a bit of crumping.
Which is basically dancing like you are standing on an electrified carpet. So
exactly how I dance normally.
Tonal Shift: The Abed storyline walks a fine line between
being very funny and achingly poignant to anybody who has had difficulties with
their parents (yes) and disconnecting fantasy and reality (yes too). We learn
that Britta and Jeff are both estranged from their fathers and that neither of
them are particularly suited to playing that role, especially with Abed (who
joyously is pretty much unmanageable). The piece de resistance of Introduction
to Film comes at the climax where Abed shows his assembled group of parents the
film that he has been making. With a heavy heart we realise how Abed sees the
world (everybody running out on him and blaming him), Gobi realises how he has
treated his son and Jeff and Britta learn something profound about how being a
parent isn't the walk in the park they imagined it to be. Considering the film
is pretty sloppily put together it generates an astonishing response from the
audience. Suddenly Community goes from being a show that entertains to one that
really makes you feel.
Result: The most confident episode yet, despite the
nonsensical subplot about Troy and his girly sneeze. You've got two superb
plotlines running side by side; Jeff attempting to learn how to be spontaneous
and discovering the heartache that lies in Abed's family history. It's quite
daring to open up your characters this early in the run and show what makes
them hurt but it pushes Community to another level of comedy, one that has the ability
to say very profound things about its characters. I'm making this all sound
very serious but the Whitman plotline ('I have to plan in advance how to
live in the moment!') is laugh out loud funny in parts. Jeff is really
rather rubbish at letting fate take care of things and taking risks despite his
image screaming that is his lifestyle choice. He's outwardly so relaxed but
he's the one person in the room who has plotted his entire day. McHale plays
both sides of his character with ease and it is clear that he is far more
complex than he first appeared in the Pilot. Plus he gets his first snog from
Britta. Engaging, heartbreaking and chucklesome, Introduction to Film
highlights Community at it's best: 9/10
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