S06.E04: Queer Studies & Advanced Waxing

[formerlyfreedom]

Dean Pelton is asked to lie; Chang auditions for a stage adaptation of "The Karate Kid."

 

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[godonlyknows]

I'm never a fan of episodes where Chang and the Dean take over (except the documentary one in season 3) so I didn't like this one either. It's weird Jeff hasn't had much to do yet this season. 

 

This episode was more than 30 minutes long and I really felt it showed - the show dragged and there was so much of the press conference and Karate Kid that could have been cut out without any trouble. Same with the scene between Annie and Britta - I though it was nice Annie went to her for a change rather than Jeff when she had a problem and it gave Gillian something to do but it could have be skipped without losing anything from the plot.

 

Does the director (who will always be Dennis Feinstein to me) ever play likable characters?

 

On the bright side, I'm going to have Jolene stuck in my head for the next week.

[VCRTracking]

Loved this episode. Jim Rash wrote one of the best episodes of the 4th season IMO. Great to see the school board members back. Yep, as we suspected the Dean is beyond just gay. Homosexuality doesn't even cover it! Loved Jeff and Dean silently commiserating to each other over Frankie's sexuality. The "Gay Dean"/"Jolene" montage was great. I'm very impressed that they did a Whiplash parody so quickly. This had to have been made before it got all the award nominations and buzz. It even managed to question it's message. Laughed at Annie's attempt at a Ralph Macchio impression. Nobody plays a better douchebag than Jason Mantzoukas. Seeing the play actually made me remember why I loved the original Karate Kid. Annie was replaced by Annie Kim! That was awesome.  The bird plot was nice. Nothing makes the tears flow than remembering Abed's mother andandonment issues. Elroy is starting to find his niche. So glad the bird didn't die at the end. They even managed to put in a "Milord, Milady" for the Jeff/Annie shippers.

[MrWhyt]

Paget/Frankie complaining about the IT Lady/Paget. HA!

[TeeVee329]

Paget/Frankie complaining about the IT Lady/Paget. HA!

 

I'm so glad someone else caught that!

 

I also loved Jeff and Britta's "Huh?" facial expressions when Annie said that line about Meg Ryan being cast because of her race.

Edited March 31, 2015 by TeeVee329

[arc]

I'm very impressed that they did a Whiplash parody so quickly. This had to have been made before it got all the award nominations and buzz. It even managed to question it's message.

Whiplash had buzz since it won Sundance, right?  It was already buzzy when it first was released to theaters, which is the main reason I went to see it.  Yeah, I'd say it's a Whiplash parody, but OTOH a relatively subtle one for Community.  (I mean, shoot, Chang's already established as somewhat musically inclined, with the keytar, so they could have gone much more on the nose.)

 

I really liked the Karate Kid plot.  Jason Mantzoukas can do no wrong IMO, and Jeong did great too.

 

Didn't love the Dean plot. It felt lazy and poorly thought out, but then again I feel that way about a lot of Harmon's political ponderings and I even lean the same way as him anyways.

[CletusMusashi]

As a long time viewer, I found this to be the most emotionally satisfying episode of the season. Chang's sanity seemed a little bit out of character, but since huge fluctuations are part of his character, I can shrug it off. Overall, everybody was actually acting like themself, which has been a problem for me up to this point. While I've been a fan of the dumbing down/crazying up of Britta, Chang, and Dean Pelton because the actors are so funny at it, I've been afraid recently that they were trying to sink Jeff and Annie to that level as well, using Abed, weirdly and wastefully, as the straight man. This one could still have used a bit more Zany Abed, but at least the ending reinforced that he's still there. It was a smart episode, and the story lines worked for me.

However, as a new viewer, I would not like this season at all. First of all, the "laughs per episode" count this season is the lowest it's ever been. For most seasons, I'd talk about "laughs per minute," but nowadays it's more like dozen laughs, at most, in half an hour. It's just not succeeding that well as a comedy any more. I'm starting to feel like one of those people who admitted "Friends" wasn't a funny sitcom,but kept watching anyway because they cared what happened with Ross and Rachel.

God damn you, Dan Harmon. I know you can do better than that. Do not make me feel like a "Friends" viewer!

In other news, Yahoo finally fixed whatever glitch was blocking me out and forcing me to settle for crappy pirate torrents of the show. So now I can watch it in HD without juggling popup ads. Between the streaming issue and the overall weak start that this season's had, I was pretty much expecting this to be the last week that I bothered with it. But now I think I'm in for the duration.

Edited March 31, 2015 by CletusMusashi

[Maximum Taco]

I love that once again the Karate Kid is interpreted so LaRusso isn't the hero. He's the worst guy in that movie.

 

He's a jerk who tries to steal someone else's girlfriend and then uses illegal crane kicks to win a tournament he shouldn't have been able to enter in the first place cause he isn't a black belt cause he started learning karate less than a month before the tournament started.

 

Miyagi is the hero cause he somehow trained a kid to win in less than a month against actual black belts, even though he trained a cheater.

 

Good work Community for getting it right.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Maximum Taco

[VCRTracking]

 

of all, the "laughs per episode" count this season is the lowest it's ever been. For most seasons, I'd talk about "laughs per minute," but nowadays it's more like dozen laughs, at most, in half an hour. It's just not succeeding that well as a comedy any more. I'm starting to feel like one of those people who admitted "Friends" wasn't a funny sitcom,but kept watching anyway because they cared what happened with Ross and Rachel.

God damn you, Dan Harmon. I know you can do better than that. Do not make me feel like a "Friends" viewer!

 

Well as someone who does find "Friends" funny(Joey in particular my fave) and didnt' particulary care for Ross and Rachel's romance3 I laugh a lot in these new episodes but also like the depth of Chang and Dean in this episode. I've seen a lot of sitcoms stop being funny in it's later seasons, but I wouldn't put Community up there which is amazing since it lost a lot of it's cast.

[Latverian Diplomat]

uses illegal crane kicks to win a tournament 

Can't tell if you're kidding with this whole bit, if it's illegal, how did he win a refereed match with it? You lost me there.

 

Miyagi, is awesome, but Daniel is the protagonist, because he grows and learns throughout the movie. It's not an accident that he's not terribly likable at the start. See also, Obi Wan/Luke, Dumbledore/Harry Potter, The Ancient One/Dr. Strange etc.

 

This was a really fun episode. There are so many landmines around the Dean's sexuality, but I thought they really handled it well.

 

Chang has been understated all season, and it has really worked for me. The Dean got that same treatment here really, and that also worked for me.

 

The theater director never stopped being funny. And the board members were also fine. Those are the types of characters that can be written over the top without grating, IMHO.

 

I hope the IT job for Patashnik is an ongoing thing, there's some potential there. 

[Maximum Taco]

Can't tell if you're kidding with this whole bit, if it's illegal, how did he win a refereed match with it? You lost me there.

 

Ref was letting LaRusso get away with everything. Clearly the fix was in.

 

LaRusso steps out the ring in that fight (usually a free point for the other guy) without penalization even though he was warned against it previously. Also when the match is tied 2-2, Johnny Lawrence lands a clean, controlled (non full power) punch to LaRusso's head and is for some reason, not awarded the point, even though he should be, because head shots are legal in this tournament.

 

Anyway in most karate tournaments you aren't allowed to strike at full power, you could seriously injure or kill someone that way; you need to land controlled pulled strikes (like the kind Johnny Lawrence hits LaRusso with which should've won him the trophy.) The Crane Kick was a reckless, full power strike directly to a kid's face. LaRusso could've broken Johnny's nose if he missed, heck he could've killed Johnny if he snapped his neck (also very possible.) This should've resulted in immediate disqualification, at the very least he shouldn't have gotten the winning point.

 

LaRusso's a cheating jerk.

 

Here's an article that explains it better: http://www.overthinkingit.com/2008/12/08/disqualify-daniel-larusso/

 

Obviously Miyagi knew about none of this or he probably would've committed ritual suicide. As Miyagi said "No bad student, only bad teacher." It's not your fault though Miyagi, Daniel-san is just a jerk. 

Edited April 1, 2015 by Maximum Taco

[CletusMusashi]

Ah, but if Miyagi were Chang, I think he'd be just fine with the way it turned out.

[JayKay]

I cannot believe the stealth meta of Annie talking to Chang about actors of color "making the most of their small roles" or whatever and then ruthlessly replacing her with Annie Kim in the play. Brilliant, especially considering that the character of Annie was originally conceived of as being Asian. I feel like the whole episode was laser sharp commentary on faux-progressive entertainment and I was so on board. I'm genuinely surprised that the show managed to successfully navigate the choppy waters that are addressing the Dean's sexuality and how its been portrayed and the real life racial issues that have cropped up around the show. Not to mention the Wahlberg burn that came out of nowhere and yet was perfect for the episode.

 

Watching them all watch the play and enjoy it made me so happy. And I never was a Chang fan in previous seasons but I finally think I've warmed up to the dude. Like, a lot. It was sweet when he thanked Annie for sticking up for him.

 

I'm not gonna lie; I'm enjoying this season more than the last two. I pretty much love everybody now, and I don't think I can say the same for any other season, despite its absence of some of my faves. It's kinda weird.

[tennisgurl]

Loved how into the play everyone got. Chang was actually doing a good job. Go figure. 

 

So far, I like this season, even though the last few episodes haven't been quite as funny as past seasons. Love that they decided to do a Whiplash parody, and in a pretty subtle way, at least for this show. If I had never seen Whiplash, I probably wouldn't have even gotten the parody. In fact, the conversation everyone had afterwards pretty much matched the conversation I had with everyone I saw Whiplash with. What is the lesson here? Was the abusive guy right? Or maybe Elroy is right. Sometimes, we all lose a button. 

Edited April 1, 2015 by tennisgurl

[Amarsir]

I miss the plot-irrelevant jokes of last week. The premises were fine but there was nothing particularly funny.* It's like the skeleton was right but the script was never fleshed out.  

 

* The exception being Jason Mantzoukas as the director, who I know best from his podcast "How Did This get Made" with Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael. He was funny and even though I expected the twist it was still well done. But a guest star in 1/3 of the plots isn't enough to carry the show.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I love that once again the Karate Kid is interpreted so LaRusso isn't the hero. He's the worst guy in that movie.

 

He's a jerk who tries to steal someone else's girlfriend and then uses illegal crane kicks to win a tournament he shouldn't have been able to enter in the first place cause he isn't a black belt cause he started learning karate less than a month before the tournament started.

 

Miyagi is the hero cause he somehow trained a kid to win in less than a month against actual black belts, even though he trained a cheater.

 

Good work Community for getting it right.

I thought that HIMYM's take on Johnny being the titular character was funny but I also liked the crazy director's take on Mr. Miyagi being the true hero of the movie. But everyone agrees that Daniel was garbage.

[VCRTracking]

Even though I watched The Karate Kid Part II on video an incredible amount of times as a kid, and despite it giving Kreese, the evil sensei in the first movie his comeuppance, it still bothers me that they threw Elizabeth Shue's character completely under the bus just so Daniel can get with a new girlfriend when they go to Okinawa! Like they couldn't just break up mutually like a lot of teens do, she had to leave him for an ex-boyfriend when they went to the prom! I guess life evened out for Shue since she replaced a girl in another franchise when she became Marty's girlfriend Jennifer in Back To The Future Part II and III.

[arc]

Was it a WHIPLASH parody? Dan Harmon tweets:

 

Inspired by my excitement about whiplash trailer but I wrote it before i saw whiplash. I like my story better. Less banging.

[tennisgurl]

Huh. Leave it to Harmon to do a great parody of something he just saw the trailer for. 

[Conan Troutman]

Now that's more like it! I already liked the first three, but this ep is the first since "Cooperative Poligraphy" that really got the seasons 1-3 Community feeling down. This was also the best use of Chang since season one. I never saw Karate Kid (and haven't seen Whiplash either), so I didn't really get the finer points of the parody, but I think the story worked well nonetheless. Jason Mantzoukas was great as always and the Annie Kim cameo was a nice surprise.

Keith David's character finally felt like he belonged, maybe he can even fill some of the void Troy has left. The Jolene parody was awesome and I like that they are back to using Jim Rash for something other than costume jokes. I also felt like this was the first time the show did really benefit from the longer running time, didn't feel like 30 minutes at all.

[Zahdii]

What is this 'Whiplash' you speak of?  I'm pretty bad at movies, usually I only watch after they've been out a while, unless they're in a couple of specific genres I'm really into.

 

I had no idea that Karate Kid had people who didn't like LaRusso.  I always thought of both the Kid and Mr. Miyagi as co-stars, and never felt that the Kid was more important than Mr. M.  I also can't believe that the Kid won the match with an illegal kick; he'd have been disqualified if that were true.  I also assumed that he was allowed to compete because he signed up for the match.  If he wasn't as good as he needed to be to advance, he'd have lost long before he ever got to the end game, but I don't know how karate competitions operate...

 

And the Kid didn't 'steal' someone else's girlfriend.  She wasn't being held in some kind of maximum security facility and he broke in and took her away like she was some sort of possession that had no free will or even consciousness.  They're high school students, most of ones who date don't stay with the same partner until they're old enough to marry.  Of the four couples from my graduating class who did that, three couples divorced within five years, and the last couple lasted 15.  Instead, most of the kids drop into and out of relationships.  It's all part of growing up.  They date for varying degrees of time and then they move on.  Sometimes there are hard feelings and sometimes they just move on.  I won't go into the situations where a spurned lover turns into a stalker or worse, because that's a different subject.

 

Now back to the show.  I thought the director was being abusive, both to Annie and Chang.  Annie thought that she was a great actor and got shot down big time when she finally objected to the abuse of Chang. 

 

Chang has been shown to have a personality disorder that made him fragile, and the whole premise didn't fit.  He's been shown to have a really hard time being seen as Asian, to the point that he's constantly accused people of being racist over the most innocuous things.  I always assumed that early on his personality turned people off and instead of addressing his personality issues, he decided that any time someone didn't like him they were being racist because he was Asian.

 

It's like the director has found the perfect victim, a self-loathing man who wishes he were of another race.  Chang wanted to be LaRossa, but was ordered to by Mr. M while Annie played the role Chang wanted.  It looked like the only reason that he put up with the abuse was because he liked Annie and she encouraged him to play the role the director wanted him to play.  When Annie was being fired for finally sticking up for Chang, he still looked gutted because of all the abuse heaped on him by the director.  It didn't make sense to me that he stayed, because even though the director said he was being hard on Chang because he was capable of being a great actor, who would want to go through that to excell in a community college play?

 

Whatever.  Annie found out that an asshole director thought she couldn't act, and Chang brought in a stellar performance.  It felt to me that sociopathic Chang finally got to be on top while Annie got to relive her high school years.

[DrSpaceman73]

I didnt really care for the bird plot. Seemed to much like a Phoebe move from Friends.

Loved the rest though. ANd I do think its funny some people don't like Daniel in Karate Kid. I thought it was just a Barney thing from HIMYM, but apparentely some people seriously feel that way. I never did. I thought the story was about both him and Mr M, equally.

Gary Gulman does a great bit about the Karate Kid and how the Crane is such a stupid move. In the first move Mr M says if its done right, no one can stop it. Then in the second movie, the one guy stops it pretty easily. Very funny commentary on the whole thing.

[Amarsir]

Gary Gulman does a great bit about the Karate Kid and how the Crane is such a stupid move. In the first move Mr M says if its done right, no one can stop it. Then in the second movie, the one guy stops it pretty easily. Very funny commentary on the whole thing.

Yeah I always thought it was stupid too. Apparently ther's a lot of us. But I'd never heard Gulman's take on it. Just tracked that down and it is really funny. So thanks for that recommendation!