It’s either a very good or very bad sign that watching Community has never made me consider Humor1 until tonight’s episode. Possibly bad for obvious reasons. Possibly good because with its Chevy Chase B-plot, “Romantic Expressionism” pretty much begs that we take a look at different styles of comedy. But also probably bad again, because it’s led me to open the question of why micronippled, free-spirited Vaughn just isn’t funny.
Basically it comes down to (were you paying attention?) differing styles of comedy. Vaughn’s character is based on a college stereotype that has actual truth to it2; truth that's been exaggerated past the funny threshold, but that stops short of the infamous Larry the Cable Guy Valley. In other words it should be funny. In the same way, the things Vaughn does (for he is more a doer than a sayer) are amusing in theory...
What has been more consistently funny are the jokes Jeff, Shirley, and Britta tell about Vaughn3. That's because Community is a show which excels at being funny by being smarter than its characters; even at times its audience. Hence the fact that so much of the humor is based in wordplay and dialogue. To say that that's its preferred style isn’t the same as saying that Community can't get laughs purely out of dumb characters or physical comedy, but then again... it's almost like saying that. Some will argue that it's worth watching Vaughn’s activities just so the group can dissect them in a clever way afterward. They’re wrong. It hurts the viewing experience to have two full minutes of awkwardly sincere guitar ballading, even if they are followed by a few snarky comments about how stupid and pointless guitar ballads always always are.
Amazingly, all of this doesn’t mean that “Romantic Expressionism” fails as an episode. That’s because the plot thread which brought out such an unnecessarily detailed analysis of 2D Vaughn (his hippie collared wooing of Annie) only appears to be the A-story. More than any episode to date, the real focus was on relationships (mostly romantic) within the study group.
As proof I offer the look Britta gave right before the first post-title sequence commercial break. No not that one. The other one4.Seriously, Britta's patented "and-let's-go-to-commercial" look of anxiety after Annie asks her permission to date Vaughn changed the episode for me the 2nd time through. Viewed in the context of The Look, "R.E." isn't about Annie <3-ing Vaughn, it's about the psychology of Britta and Jeff interfering.
Sure, on the conscious level Britta and Jeff are sabotaging Annie because they see themselves as the “mother and father of the group”5 but their real motives . This is the first time we've seen the First couple together since Jeff grew a conscience (you know, episodes 2-12) and I like them more together after the changes they've both gone through. In addition to Jeff turning into bizarro-Season 1 Sawyer from Lost (scheming-for-good every week, I mean), Britta has undergone a personality transplant of her own. I can't imagine Britta letting herself be referred to as a "groovy hipster, turning high-fives "into the snake", or even giving so many goofy Stevie Wonder smiles. Their dynamic as a couple is noticeably different even while they've remained likable as individuals.
Tonight’s side story, in which Abed, Troy, Shirley, Professor Chang and last but least Pierce get together to rag on old action movies, lends itself to a few quick observations:
- For a show as obsessed with pop culture as Community is, couldn't they have sprung for the rights to a real movie? Troy and Abed could have killed riffing on literally any movie from Steven Seagal's career.
- I prefer Prof. Chang in laid-back situations outside the classroom, even when his sudden appearances are forced and implausible as they were tonight.
- Clearly Community is accelerating down the Scrubs road to “guy love between two guys” when it comes to Abed and Troy.
But mostly it was about Pierce, that physical comedy genius, coming to terms with the fact that while his brain may have dulled with age and he probably never possessed much wit, he will become more and more inherently funny in motion until the day he dies. To Community's great good fortune it's something he shares with Chevy Chase.
Episode Grade: B+
Standout Character: Pierce
Standout Moment: "And Tom Selleck just stood there and watched."- Pierce
1. Capital "H" for emphasis/douchebaggery.
2. Stereotypes with actual truth to them: (1) many college students who play guitar and are shirtless act like Vaughn; (2) Irish people and their damn "Irish chins" [see "Debate 109" review].
3. They're actually the best explanations of why Vaughn could be funny that I've heard.
4. Yeah, that's it.
5. Actually that's pretty freaking Freudian in itself...
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