Community: “Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality”- An Uneven Return
It seems like it's been months since we last spent time with the gang at Greendale. In actuality, it's been about a month since the last
Community episode aired, thanks to the Olympics. And while this first episode back has some really strong elements, "Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality" didn't quite work for me. It doesn't quite fully connect into a cohesive half hour.
Let's talk about the good. To begin, the episode offers some unconventional pairings, with Abed and Professor Hickey matching up in a battle of wits and Britta and Professor Duncan spending some quality time together. One of the things that can get a bit annoying when it comes to
Community is that the series often relies on tried and true character combinations a bit too often. While mixing things up a bit might not bring the same results as pairing Annie and Jeff for a storyline, variety is necessary to keep the series from becoming stale. And in this instance, the pairings certainly work, but don't deliver on much comedic success. Rather, much of this episode relies on exploring the sadness within each of these individuals.
With Abed and Hickey, we see both characters' deep hurt at their isolation. Hickey comments that Abed has been treated as "special" so often throughout the course of the series that people simply give him a pass when he should be confronted. And he's right, as it is a shock to see someone call Abed on his antics. Abed has, in many ways, become the show's puppy. He's just so darn charming and sweet that you can overlook when he does something socially egregious. After all, he doesn't know better, right? Well, it turns out he's far more aware of human emotions and social cues than any of us thought.
This realization threw me for a loop, as I had started to buy into the Abed is untouchable idea. And while I'm not a fan of how Hickey went about "teaching" Abed a lesson, I do think that Abed needed to learn that his actions have consequences and that not everyone is willing to make allowances for them. Having Hickey and Abed ultimately start bonding at the end of the episode is another nice touch, as both need to feel wanted and validated. While Hickey won't fill the Troy void (especially since he is only a recurring character), having Abed connect with someone new is necessary to keep the character growing and changing.
The episode's other unconventional pairing of Britta and Duncan serves more to enlighten us about Duncan than it does about Britta. We all know that Britta periodically defines herself as an activist (periodically as this facet of her personality comes and goes depending on the needs of the writers), and that she's often a pretty awful one. So, it isn't too big of a surprise to see that her former activist friends think she's not as good as them (seeing as she hasn't become a success out in the world- since they've all "sold out" in various ways). However, it is a surprise to see that Duncan truly is a good guy (much like Jeff, who also puts himself out there as a macho jerk only to show he really has a soft center), as he's been played as a complete jerk for so long within the series.
Duncan's motivation throughout the entire episode is to sleep with Britta. And just when everything looks like it will go his way, he decides to take her home. Professor Duncan may be an awful teacher, but he's a pretty great person. But the real gem of this storyline is that it isn't about Britta and Duncan at all. It's actually about the friendship between Jeff and Duncan. And that these two guys should stop spending so much time competing and putting each other down and focus on being actual friends. It's amazing that for all of her strange quirks and causes, Britta has an uncanny ability to get at the truth of the matter when she wants to.
I'm not even going to talk about the Chang storyline, as it just felt completely out of place in an episode that is so rooted in dealing with relationships. Just as Chang thinks he might be a ghost, the episode would be better if he just disappeared. But, since the story is included, it drags down the quality of the other two storylines. All-in-all, it was a rocky return for
Community. The episode was light on laughs, heavy on creating new relationships. I just wish it had more of a balance between the two.
Final Thoughts:
-- One thing I did laugh at? Annie's comment that her storylines have been heavy lately and she should share the focus, combined with Shirley's "Speak for yourself." More Shirley!
-- Reason number 1,353,963 why the Dean needs to be in more episodes? The episode tag was a brilliant show of comedic timing.
-- I, like many others, am tired of the idea that Jeff needs to be paired with Britta or Annie, and would like the show to move beyond that.
-- I never thought of it until it was mentioned, but Jeff does have some resemblance to Dane Cook. Whatever happened to Dane Cook?
This realization threw me for a loop, as I had started to buy into the Abed is untouchable idea. And while I'm not a fan of how Hickey went about "teaching" Abed a lesson, I do think that Abed needed to learn that his actions have consequences and that not everyone is willing to make allowances for them. Having Hickey and Abed ultimately start bonding at the end of the episode is another nice touch, as both need to feel wanted and validated. While Hickey won't fill the Troy void (especially since he is only a recurring character), having Abed connect with someone new is necessary to keep the character growing and changing.
The episode's other unconventional pairing of Britta and Duncan serves more to enlighten us about Duncan than it does about Britta. We all know that Britta periodically defines herself as an activist (periodically as this facet of her personality comes and goes depending on the needs of the writers), and that she's often a pretty awful one. So, it isn't too big of a surprise to see that her former activist friends think she's not as good as them (seeing as she hasn't become a success out in the world- since they've all "sold out" in various ways). However, it is a surprise to see that Duncan truly is a good guy (much like Jeff, who also puts himself out there as a macho jerk only to show he really has a soft center), as he's been played as a complete jerk for so long within the series.
Duncan's motivation throughout the entire episode is to sleep with Britta. And just when everything looks like it will go his way, he decides to take her home. Professor Duncan may be an awful teacher, but he's a pretty great person. But the real gem of this storyline is that it isn't about Britta and Duncan at all. It's actually about the friendship between Jeff and Duncan. And that these two guys should stop spending so much time competing and putting each other down and focus on being actual friends. It's amazing that for all of her strange quirks and causes, Britta has an uncanny ability to get at the truth of the matter when she wants to.
I'm not even going to talk about the Chang storyline, as it just felt completely out of place in an episode that is so rooted in dealing with relationships. Just as Chang thinks he might be a ghost, the episode would be better if he just disappeared. But, since the story is included, it drags down the quality of the other two storylines. All-in-all, it was a rocky return for Community. The episode was light on laughs, heavy on creating new relationships. I just wish it had more of a balance between the two.
Final Thoughts:
-- One thing I did laugh at? Annie's comment that her storylines have been heavy lately and she should share the focus, combined with Shirley's "Speak for yourself." More Shirley!
-- Reason number 1,353,963 why the Dean needs to be in more episodes? The episode tag was a brilliant show of comedic timing.
-- I, like many others, am tired of the idea that Jeff needs to be paired with Britta or Annie, and would like the show to move beyond that.
-- I never thought of it until it was mentioned, but Jeff does have some resemblance to Dane Cook. Whatever happened to Dane Cook? 
