Azaelia

I didn't get Bruce's reactions at all. Female clergy and taking a wife's last name are hardly new concepts. They're still more rare, but freaking out about it that much seemed like something from a 1980's sitcom. You could argue that some of it's Bruce's parents being old fashioned, and maybe even Bruce being a little sheltered, but he was working with celebrities in New York City and has a former client casually ask him to buy pot, and he actually assumes it won't be a problem. So I don't buy that even for an American, he's completely sheltered. I actually liked the season up until the past few episodes. I'll stick to a friend's real account of being an American in Sweden. (I think she has seen WTS and was not overly impressed.) As far as Aubrey goes, I think it would work better if A, she wasn't just playing a crazy version of herself (i.e. dialed it down a bit and made herself an actual character as opposed to a joke cameo), and B, if she were a mutual friend of Bruce's and Emma's. Because then I could kind of see them tolerating her a little more, and even why she might resent them moving back to Sweden, if they were people she actually cared about.

I wish they'd at least air the last episodes, honestly. I'd like to see how it ends, even if the show wasn't perfect. And I was actually beginning to enjoy it, too.

Yeah, I agree. I actually think this season could've easily been last season. You can't have a show about someone getting used to a foreign country, but spend the entire season wishing they weren't there. It gets annoying, and Bruce's personality was awful. I was really getting into the characters here. Oh well...

I was a little worried they were going to end Gustav's arc this episode with the poor dog being abandoned, and was glad that wasn't how it ended. However, did Gustav know the dog was dognapped? Or did he just assume it was a stray? Or am I trying too hard to find logic in a character who severely lacks it? ;)

Am I the only one who thought they changed actresses for Emma? She looks really different, at least she does to me. This isn't a criticism, she looks great either way, just different. Maybe the actress is wearing more makeup?

It also sounds like they've gone overboard with guest stars. But I wonder if that's what's keeping it alive? Which might also explain the quality, if the focus is more on the winking and nudging. I'm just surprised it's this bad with Amy Poehler. I know she's an actress and not normally a director (producer?) but still.

I'd like more positive interaction between the female characters. Parks and Recreation was so great about that, and I've missed it in this show. I'm not saying they need to all be best friends - to be honest, none of them seem like the sort to have a lot of close friends anyway, and it's completely realistic that you often aren't close with your colleagues. But I'd like them to team up more. Definitely agree that I want to meet Amy's brothers. And Kylie. I also want to know what happened to Jake's mother...

That would actually be brilliant. And maybe a more relaxed Amy would secretly find it a bit refreshing not to have to try so hard to please? Although I feel like her constant need to impress Holt was more pressing during season one... of course Amy would miss Holt, it could just be a fun contrast. I do think even if this Captain is competent, Jake will have a very "you're not my real dad" reaction towards him. (Or her, for that matter. We don't know that it's a he...)

Seriously. That aside, she was in middle school when she was kidnapped, and this is one of the (very rare) occasions where the show makes it seem she was much younger. I knew at twelve that if a stranger told me to go into his van, it was not a good idea to take him up on that offer.

Wait, Danny Pudi is really doing a show (or trying to)? Yay. :) I have to admit Community was a bit lost on me in the end, in a way I'll always see season three as where it really ended, but this was pretty good. Though I do feel bad for Allison Brie, two shows she's in ending at once! I do hope Community gets a movie though. That really would be perfect. Then maybe Shirley and Troy could come back.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who got an 80's vibe! Honestly, I think some of it might also reflect the ages of the writers and possibly Tina Fey - not sure how old she is, but she looks young enough to have have grown up during the 80's. This happens a lot with media. (I'm a writer Kimmy's age and I have to watch that with younger characters. "Okay, so she'd listen to Avril Lavi - Lady Gaga?") However, I think YMMV when it comes to technology, too. I have friends who never really grew up with computers and stuff.

I still don't think S1 was as bad as it was... different. I like it too, it's just a different kind of show. And that I'm glad of, honestly - I think while S1 was good, the show itself wouldn't have been nearly as excellent if they'd continued down that route. I also think Leslie's apparent lack of competence in S1 can be explained by the fact that the pit gave her a clear focus. Beforehand she was just as qualified, but stuck in a box where no one else was interested in doing much. Then she found an actual cause and was able to get everyone on board, if reluctantly at first, and they also started respecting her more as they realized she wasn't just babbling, she was onto some pretty important things. Also, she implies that her mother got her the job, which sounds like a contradiction - until you learn in season seven that she never knew why she got the job, because her interview with Ron went so horribly. It's possible that she assumed her mother pulled a few strings and got Leslie hired anyway. (Because Marlene does seem the type to parent like that, maintain a sort of distance while also occasionally providing little favors. Which is actually a little sad, but luckily Leslie seems well-adjusted enough.)

What I've also noticed is that the show used to cover multiple generations; now it seems they only cover one or two generations. That definitely limits a lot. But it's also possible they just didn't hit the jackpot this season they way they have in the past, although I found a lot of the stories interesting nonetheless. I DO think they've sometimes rushed them, though - there's been a times times I knew there was a story, but was utterly confused because they rushed through it.

I liked seasons 1 and 2 Britta better myself. I mean, she wasn't without her flaws and serious hypocrisies, but it wasn't as cartoonish as I feel it became later on. If anything it rang true to me, as someone who knows a handful of Britta types - they really mean well, but they also aren't necessarily as progressive as they want to be. I'm of the unpopular opinion that season one was one of the best, with season three as a tie. I liked that season one - up until halfway through - had a lot of references to things, but wasn't as much of a meta parody as it would become. After the chicken episode, it got cartoonish. So while I like that the show makes fun of a lot of things (war movies, sci fi, rom coms, what have you), I also wonder what would've happened had they maintained the first half of S1's more subtle version of that. S3 also seemed more subtle, whereas the other seasons just went way past "suspension of disbelief" for me. Ouch... yeah, there was another line too somewhere, I forget what episode but it was similar, possibly also about Robin Williams (but I don't think so).

For me, the problem with Britta's storyline was that it didn't have any real... backing. She's implied they were pretty terrible people before, and if the point was that she's exaggerated, that needed to be developed more; if they really were weird and had her drug tested (and possibly didn't believe that she'd been molested), her friends' willingness to forgive them and her own needed to be better developed. Also, I can't believe Jeff would be down with the arrangement, given that he has his own family issues. It didn't feel true to his character. Was the Portuguese Gremlins commercial part of the episode? Or what? I really didn't get that, and it didn't help that (as others have pointed out) Yahoo ads played at some random points.