On Leaving Greendale - Finishing Community for the Second Time
Last year, when we all went into lockdown, I did what most of us did: I reverted to a younger version of myself. Living in my childhood bedroom again, I became my thirteen year old self. All I did between daily walks and weekly video calls was play video games and watch Community. To this day, Community is still my favourite show, but I discovered it when I was thirteen and I hadn't rewatched the whole show in full since the season 6 finale. So yeah, I had very little to do with my days and I thought that a comfort watch of my favourite show was appropriate. Most of us did similar, avert thy judgement. The question you're probably asking is why this is relevant a year later. In fairness, a great question.
In my rewatch, I failed to finish the show, leaving it hanging on the final three episodes. For an entire year, I have left those episodes untouched and as a sort of closure, I wanted to finally watch those episodes. In the UK, we're coming out of lockdown next week, ending a sixteen month liminal state. If I'm to finish Community again before leaving lockdown, it has to be now. So that's what we're doing. I'm going to talk about these final three episodes, why it hurt to say goodbye then and why it's important that I do say goodbye now. This could be a little indulgent but it's my blog, what do you want? Another Fast and Furious post? Because I will, don't tempt me. Today though, this is about me leaving Greendale Community College.
If I'm to finish Community again before leaving lockdown, it has to be now.
Quick moment to lay groundwork, in case somehow you are on this blog and don't know what Community is. If you don't, incredible work, it comes up almost every week so you should have been annoyed by the amount I bring it up by now. Community is a show about a bunch of characters who attend a community college in a fictional city called Greendale. They form a Spanish study group together and have fun antics. As the show progresses, the antics progress to the point that by season 6 some of the original group are teachers, some are two-time graduates and some of them have been captured by pirates. Plainly, we're not in Kansas anymore, this has evolved into much more than a show about a study group.
Outside the narrative of the show, it's also been a ride. Before season 4 Dan Harmon, the creator of the show, was fired which lead to a noticeable drop in quality. Then at the end of that season Harmon returned but Chevvy Chase quit. He was soon followed by Donald Glover halfway through season 5, a season whose end also saw the cancellation of Community by its network NBC. However, that was also not the end, as former streaming service Yahoo Screen (you'll never guess why it folded) picked up Community for one last season, a season for which Yvette Nicole-Brown did not return for due to personal matters. Finally, that has marked the end of Community, even as a much hoped for film remains a possibility. Said film may never happen, but that doesn't matter so much because the place we leave our characters is one that is intensely satisfying.
Finally then, let's discuss these last three episodes, which work wonderful as a trifecta to send off a show I love so dearly. First of the three is "Modern Espionage", a final hurrah to the paintball episodes that made Community famous. Under the helm of Fast and Furious veteran Justin Lin we've had action filled homages to Die Hard, spaghetti westerns and Star Wars, all of which delighted viewers. There was an attempt to do paintball again in season 4 that didn't work so well, only highlighting that we can't keep going back and doing the same thing over and over again, instead of providing any actual thrills. Which is where another paintball episode comes in.
As is the way with Community, it is an intensely meta commentary on the fact that paintball is over. No one wants to do paintball anymore, so instead this has to be underground. That's right, new homage, we're doing spy films now! It works great, the characters are so well established by now that all you really need is a compelling situation to throw them in and it's entertaining. Partly I think because of the smaller budget, it doesn't get to have the all out action finales of the other episodes, instead ending on a more sombre note. That's appropriate though, the show is right, we can't keep doing this. All of these characters are adults, significantly older than when they first turned campus into a battleground. To continue doing paintball would be to shoot yourself in the foot. Community is aware of this fact and literally shoots itself in the foot.
Community would be merely great were it just its core of seven main characters, but it is excellent because of its periphery characters.
Our penultimate episode is "Wedding Videography", a tender episode about fan favourite character Garret. In this episode, we see him getting married, documented by Abed in his usual style. Our main characters are invited but soon have to spend the wedding trying their best not to make it all about them. Unfortunately, in their quest to make it not about them they realise that Garret is actually cousins with his bride. The day is saved by Chang making a heartfelt speech and Garret accepts his slightly incestuous marriage because of the happiness it brings him. In true Community style, happiness is complicated and a bit perverted, but still worth the effort.
The main thing I love about this episode is that it emphasises the importance of the side characters in Community. The main cast, whoever they may be in a given season, are always brilliant, but it's the side characters that make the show click and deliver many of the best lines. There's elderly student Leonard, human party Magnitude and Star Burns, whose defining feature should be obvious. Community would be merely great were it just its core of seven main characters, but it is excellent because of its periphery characters. Our main gang will get their celebration next episode but before we end the show, it's important to celebrate one of the many characters who made this show feel like an actual community.
And so, the final episode, "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television". Our main characters (currently in the guise of the Save Greendale committee) head to the bar Britta works at and deliberate on what a potential season 7 would be like. Of course, it's a bitter sweet discussion because in their world and ours, we know that there isn't going to be a season 7. Even so, it's entertaining to see the show tear apart its own formulas and patterns one last time in an attempt to put off the inevitable; to put off the end. Annie is leaving, so is Abed, we can't keep doing this forever.
"I love that I got to be with you guys. You saved my life and changed it forever. Thank you."
Annie and Jeff get one final goodbye in the study room, an incredibly sincere one aside from a few jabs at the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They share one last kiss because hey, Annie's young, she'll get over it in a week, and then there's a beautiful little group hug. Two things in particular about this last section knock me down. First is the use of the song "Ends of the Earth" by Lord Huron. It's a beautiful song by a band that Community introduced me to. Since the show ended, I've listened to all their albums, enjoyed their songs in other shows and even seen the band live. They're a favourite recent discovery of mine and I owe that initial encounter to Community.
The final exceptional part of this moment is something Jeff says to the group during a final classic Winger speech. He says "I love that I got to be with you guys. You saved my life and changed it forever. Thank you." I love this line because it's how I feel about Community. The time I had with the show feels special and I got to discover it at an incredibly formative time in my life. It helped shape the person I am today. If you've ever spent more than an hour with me in person, you know that I'm quoting the show almost constantly, because it occupies so much of my brain. This is me saying goodbye to Community, but only for now. Even though it's over, it's forever going to be part of me.
Comments
Post a Comment