S06.E05: Laws of Robotics & Party Rights

[formerlyfreedom]

Jeff squares off against a charming prison inmate Willy who’s attending Greendale via telerobot. Britta enlists Abed to get around Annie’s rules against parties in their apartment.

 

Please note - the topic will be locked until the episodes have dropped on Yahoo! Screen at 12:01 a.m. PT, 1:01 a.m. MT, 2:01 a.m. CT, and 3:01 a.m. ET. This topic is for episode discussion only please.

[godonlyknows]

I'm always the first to post here so I'll try to keep my post positive this week - I liked that Britta and Annie had a story line together, it was nice seeing Brian Van Holt back on my screen and the laugh of the night was the janitor joining in with Abed's "Eradicate".

[CletusMusashi]

There was plenty of positive to enjoy. I agree that this one was funny. But I felt like it should have been hilarious.

In the DVD commentaries for other seasons, I'e often heard about how many great ideas had to be cut out, and how long the old 22 minute eps would have been otherwise, so I was really looking forward to this season's longer run time. But I don't think it's turned out to be a good thing. Besides the fact that there have been weaker plots that dragged on forever, the new time structure doesn't seem to be doing the better scripts any favors either. If this had been tightened up into an "old-length" size, the jokes would have snapped along at a much more Community-esque pace.

Stretching out longer didn't make it bad, but it does kind of dilute something that I preferred seeing in a purer form.

[VCRTracking]

Of the two storylines I liked the Jeff vs the prisoner more but I loved the resolution of the Britta/Annie/Abed plot.("Girls? Girls.") Jeff getting jealous and coming in to interrupt the ceremony like a guy trying to stop a wedding was great. Love Abed's Seinfeld impression: "She's a 'coucher'! She sleeps, on the couch!"

 

Edited April 7, 2015 by VCRTracking

[Danny Franks]

Too much Dean. Way, way too much Dean. Treating him like a real person just drags the show down, and having Jeff be concerned about his feelings just makes Jeff himself feel less like a real person. I've honestly never understood why Jeff has any time for the Dean, in terms of the show's universe. He's the incompetent, dimwitted, inappropriate and creepy presence in the corner, and not even a Jeff Winger softened by five years of community college should be encouraging to that sort of person. Definitely not to the extent he was in this episode. I found it rather offputting.

 

I've not been wowed by any of these season 6 episodes, but I didn't even make it all the way through this one. As the scene where Jeff interrupts the ceremony played out, I realised I just didn't really want to watch the rest of it.

 

Annie and Britta having a storyline together was nice, and highlighting more of Abed's weirdness in a way that made the others uncomfortable was good too. But not good enough.

[Amarsir]

I don't understand what they felt the episode gained by Willy's "falsely convicted" reveal at the end. It undermined everything: his willingness to push Jeff down the stairs, Jeff's heartfelt plea, the Dean's acceptance of it, Willy's speech in class, or even why he'd be picked for a class spot when he'd be out before the semester ends.  It's an idea that never should have made it to final script cut.

 

Which is why I agree with @CletusMusashi that the longer episodes haven't done them any favors. As Blaise Pascal said, "I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter." What we're getting is not added content; it's reduced editing. And that's not good.

 

That aside, the episode had a nice integration of comedy and plot. Elroy is fitting in very well and had a number of good lines. (Better than Frankie even, who seems to only be used as a catalyst.)  And Britta's issues in the apartment were handled well, via an issue we can all accept would come up but wasn't overwhelming.

[TwistedandBored]

Another boring episode. I honestly didn't like the main storyline. I like the Britta/Annie/Abed storyline more. 

[tennisgurl]

This season might not be as brilliantly hilarious as Community in its prime, but I still like it a lot, and still have plenty to laugh at every week

 

The imagine of Willie and his machine gently ramming into Jeff on the stairs, while accomplishing nothing at all, while Jeff just stands there, going "are you trying to murder me?!?!" incredulously made me legit cackle. As did the janitor joining in with Abed in his rule the world chant at the end. 

 

Elroy and Frankie fit in well, I think. But I do miss the original cast a lot. The opening credits seem kind of sad these days.

 

I love the Dean, but there has been a bit too much of him lately. He`s at his best as a supporting character, with the occasional episode focused on him. 

[elzin]

I think this was my favorite so far, but it's been a mediocre season by its own standards.  The new cast members are great, but too much has been lost. 

 

So, does Bobby Cobb/Willy just appear remotely on tv now?

 

Penny can!

[Zahdii]

I was confused.  Why did Willy hate Jeff so much?  At first I thought that he was mad that Jeff really wasn't teaching, and Willy was hoping to learn enough to mount an appeal to his conviction, or a reduction of his sentence, or something.  Then we find out that Willy was already going to be released as soon as the paperwork wound it's way through the system.

 

So why did Willy hate Jeff so much?  As Abed would ask: "What was his motivation"?  I feel like information important to the story was left out.

 

I liked the party part of the story better, and I'm glad that Britta got knocked down some.  Who moves into an apartment and immediately tries to take over like that?  At least when she had her party it didn't seem to be getting out of hand or anything.

 

True story:  When I was in college a girl I knew got her parents to borrow a seaside house from some family friends for a weekend so she could host a party for her birthday.  There was only supposed to be her and a few of her girl friends, no booze, no drugs, don't get too loud and annoy the neighbors.  It ended up with about 30 people of both sexes, alcohol, loud music, lots of hooking up, and drugs (one person mildly OD'd on something and his friends thoughtfully dropped him off outside the ER before returning to the party [he was fine, and refused to rat out his friends so the party continued]). 

 

On the final morning a guy decided to fry some eggs, but he was still drunk and set the pan on fire.  Someone tried to put the grease fire out with water, only to spread the fire to the immediate area.  Some other brainiac tried to smother the fire with flour, resulting in the whole kitchen burning.  The people who were awake were trying to wake up the people who were sleeping, and they had to carry some passed-out people who they couldn't wake.  By the time the fire department arrived, the guy who started the fire and a couple of his friends were trying to put the flames out with beer, although they were kind of conflicted on the waste of perfectly good alcohol, so they were chugging, and pouring, then chugging again.  Most of the other party-goers had left by then, so the birthday girl and a couple of her close friends were left to explain themselves.  The guy who started the fire and his friends melted away when the authorities arrived so strangely enough, no one was arrested.

 

The house sustained thousands of dollars worth of damage.  Birthday girl had to go home and in total silence her family gave her her birthday cake and made her open her presents.  Her parents paid for the damage to their now former friends, and she dropped out.

[MartinKSmith]

So, does Bobby Cobb/Willy just appear remotely on tv now?

 

Penny can!

Hah, I came here pretty much just to ask this.

[wingster55]

I'm glad that Britta got knocked down some.

 

When does she not get knocked down?