Season 4, more like Season SNORE! AYOO!

When I am asked what my favorite TV show is, I, with a stroke of pride, reply "Community". Well, until tonight that is. Now, I am preemptively appending that response to "Community Seasons 1-3".

I do not envy the position that the Community writers faced entering this season. With cult-worshipped and studio-hated showrunner Dan Harmon gone, those in charge of the show were left with the predicament of satisfying the studio's demands while also emulating the unique voice of the show's creator.

The first episode without Harmon was funny, don't get me wrong. But it was missing something.

To be honest, it felt like the show was tied up to a chair, and the writers kept beating it to death with rulers while yelling "CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! MAKE IT META! THESE ARE THINGS PEOPLE LIKE!". In short, characters became caricatures, as did the show.

Community worked for three amazing seasons building up these complex, funny, multi-faceted characters, the shining example being Abed, a fan favorite. This first episode turned his entire personality and made it a meta gimmick (a decision that old Abed would have look down upon as well).

The first three seasons of Community taught me something as a writer. Character development doesn't equal change; sometimes it is about how characters don't change. In Season 3's "Virtual System Analysis", Annie spends an entire episode exploring Abed's mind in a very literal way. At the end of the episode, we are left with a better understanding of Abed, and the knowledge that he understands himself better as well (he never uses empathy). This helps explain his actions throughout the rest of the series.

In this first episode of Season 4, we also journey into Abed's mind. He is upset about everybody leaving Greendale (a conflict introduced this episode) and learns that everybody will grow up eventually (a resolution reached in the same episode).

It is hard to pinpoint exactly what the problem I had with the episode was, but I imagine it resonates with "change". Abed's drastic change in character over the episode more or less represented the drastic change the show has undergone.

Before I found myself wishing for "Six Seasons and a Movie!". Now I found myself begging for "Three Seasons and Nothing Else".