To be honest, it’s hard to remember what is supposed to be going on here.
You know that scene in The Shawshank Redemption when Tim Robbins triumphantly emerges from that tunnel of shit into the rain? That’s pretty much how I felt during “Alternative History of German Invasion.” Finally, an episode that felt right; not necessarily one that was similar to the previous seasons, but an episode that, without qualification, worked.
The study group, after giving up their History of Ice Cream seats, head towards the other, actual history class. Lo and behold, those German dudes from that foosball episode with incredibly authentic accents are taking the same elective! And their professor is a cranky, old Alex DeLarge!
The Germans, still reeling from the foosball episode and inspired by one of Professor DeLarge’s lectures, decide to occupy the study room. The study group decides to retaliate, first by trying to beat the Germans to the signup sheet (they fail) and then by exploiting one of Dean Pelton’s arcane, racist anti-racism policies.
The foosball jocks, refusing to admit defeat, decide to rally the rest of the school into an angry protest against the study group, accusing them of obsessing over the room too much and for being just mean in general.
It’s difficult to pin down why exactly “Alternative History of German Invasion” succeeds where other episodes this season have failed. I think that the new showrunners and new writers are still figuring out the characters, so basing whole stories around compromised versions of the characters threw off the earlier episodes.
“Paranormal Parentage” was mostly enjoyable, but the version of Pierce at the core of its story was so muddled and poorly sketched that the episode couldn’t stick the landing. Similarly, the regression of Annie and the defanging of Britta in “Conventions of Space and Time” left a bad taste in my mouth and killed a bunch of (theoretically) funny ideas.
“Alternative History of German Invasion,” on the other hand, treats the study group more as a unit and revisits an interesting notion from last season. Positioning the study group as Greendale’s primary bullies actually does go a long way to both maintain/acknowledge continuity with Dan Harmon’s seasons while making the episode feel less, well, sitcom-y. I liked this twist the first time around in “Competitive Ecology,” and I liked how “Alternative History of German Invasion” logically expanded on the idea.
I also happened to like the episode’s exploration of how much the study group has grown attached to the study room. It’s a neat way of going back to the senior-year theme that ran through the season premiere.
Admittedly, the second act developments do prevent the show from tying up the German foosball arc, potentially leaving room for them to (shudder) return. The ending was another disappointment. The montage of the study group redoing some of the more decrepit study rooms felt too pat, too insubstantial to actually appease the rest of the school.
Dean Pelton and Chang’s side plot doesn’t even warrant a summary. In fact, despite having watched the episode several times through, I don’t think I remember anything about their lame shenanigans. So, Chang’s got Changmesia and, uh…the Dean’s dressed as a sexy nurse…yeah.
The problems I have with last night’s episode are, at the end of the day, nitpicks. They didn’t get in the way of me enjoying the episode, unlike everything else from this season. While the writers still have a ways to go, Community finally feels like it’s back, for reals this time.
Tidbits:
– Although I did like this episode a good deal, its title may be the show’s all-time worst. And I thought last week’s was pretty lazy.
– If you, like me, were wondering why Chang didn’t pop up sooner after the season premiere cliffhanger, it’s because the producers moved around the episodes. “Alternative History of German Invasion” was originally the second episode.
– “It’s like a Darren Aronofsky film.”
– I laughed when the study group finds out that they missed their history exam and received Fs. Community has always played fast and loose with the whole community college conceit, but it’s nice to see the characters get a dose of reality every now and then.
– The episode was a bit of a mess, visually. A better director could have probably worked those stylized title cards and the flashbacks naturally into the show, but tonight’s director really didn’t.
– “Look! There must be nearly 100 luftballons!”
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