If the end tag of last week’s “Contemporary Impressionists” represents the height of Community’s self-indulgence, then “Digital Exploration of Interior Design” is a much-deserved apology, if not exactly a compensation.
“Contemporary Impressionists” ends with Abed in the Dreamatorium speaking to his evil, goateed alter ego. Abed acknowledges the scene is inaccessible and dark, to which evil Abed responds, “Maybe to them, but not to us.”
Here, the audience is introduced to the dark extreme of meta-commentary that Community has skillfully circumvented for quite some time: recognition with no payoff. Dan Harmon’s characters are all intelligent, self-aware people, and learning the difference between what is accessible to him versus what is accessibly to others is definitely an important realization for Abed. This exchange also serves as an acknowledgement of all the television viewers out there who find Community hard to invest in. Here we see the recognition of the problem, both for Abed and the show’s efforts to attain higher ratings, yet, for reasons unknown, no conclusion is drawn from this now explicitly-stated knowledge. The episode merely ends.
This is where “Digital Exploration of Interior Design” – the half of a two-part series – comes in (because of NBC’s decision to switch the airing order of the first three post-hiatus episodes). By all accounts, this was a very entertaining episode. It shied away from indulgence, and returned to straight humor and smart satire.
The episode told three stories, each given relatively equal screen time. The first plot, picking up from the end of “Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts,” detail Pierce and Shirley’s quest to sabotage the Subway that has opened in the place of Shirley’s proposed sandwich shop. When it is revealed that Greendale’s bylaws require any property in the school cafeteria to be at least partly owned by a Greendale student, the Subway executives introduce a corpo-humanoid named Subway, a man who has legally adopted the identity of the corporation and enrolled in Greendale. Pierce and Shirley then decide that it is up to Britta to seduce Subway, but upon learning that Subway is not only a humanitarian but also a fan of Orwell, Britta falls in love. The strongest of the three stories, Britta’s budding romance with Subway stands out as a current season highlight.
Meanwhile, Jeff discovers that he has had a locker for the past two and half years that has accumulated a wealth of letters. One such letter is a hate note from a mysterious woman named Kim. I would say more, but this plot, being by far the least exciting of the three, doesn’t really merit much summary. Suffice to say that it turns out Kim is a man who Jeff constantly forgets about. Oh, and Annie has unresolved gender role issues.
The final conflict arises when Vice Dean Laybourne drives a wedge in Troy and Abed’s beautiful friendship. Troy, convinced by the Vice Dean that he should be tired of always being Constable Reggie to Abed’s Inspector Spacetime, defects from Abed’s pillow fort project in order to pursue the Guinness World Record for largest blanket fort (a dream of the Dean). Abed, persuaded by the Vice Dean to believe Troy is holding back his lofty quality standards, refuses to sacrifice his pillow fort to give Tory’s fort the necessary space in the library needed to break the record. What follows is a build up to an all out war between blankets and pillows. By itself, this conflict was only mildly entertaining, but I have to hold off final judgement until next Thursday.
On it’s own, tonight’s episode functions quite well. However, it still seems as though in the context of this season Community is skirting around larger questions concerning the responsibilities of artists in general. To what extent should an artist sacrifice his/her personal interests in favor of a larger audience if it becomes central to the work’s survival? Is it justifiable to recognize that one’s work might be alienating its audience and yet not change that fact?
For now, the show seems content just to ask the questions and make no attempt to answer them. And if next Thursday’s “Pillows and Blankets” is as entertaining as tonight’s episode built it up to be, I guess I can accept that for now. That said, I know Community has the power to serve both as great entertainment and brilliant commentary (consider the hilarious and surprisingly insightful “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux” or tonight’s episodes funny and poignant corpro-humanoid plotline). By the season’s end, I hope to see these issues addressed, not just acknowledged.
To be continued…