Community S3E4 “Remedial Chaos Theory”
It takes a lot of work to make even a single episode of television. Think about your average Two and a Half Men - hundreds of people (maybe for them, tens) of people contribute their efforts over a week or two to create one 22-minute long show. Most of these shows (like tonight’s Parks and Recreation) have a firmly established A-, B-, and C-plot, and try to execute them in a way in which they will all come together at the end.
The thing to remember with Community’s “Remedial Chaos Theory” isn’t that the writers took a lot of time making this, or that editors took a long time cutting this episode - it’s how simple it all looked on the screen. Not just the logistical elements, but the themes, some of which have been coming since the pilot, the characters, the excellent jokes across timelines, and the actual development of a continuing plotline. Add it all up, and we don’t just have a great Community - it’s a landmark episode of comedy.
Damon Lindelof said “The Constant” took over a month to crack, and that surprised me. Only after trying to write more seriously can I understand why it took so long. He wasn’t just creating a 42-minute long story; he was creating an outline for time travel to come and paying off a phone call two-plus seasons in the making. Community might not need to worry about if they adhere to “whatever happened, happened,” but there’s a lot of the same concerns. The episode is perfectly plotted and structured - it lays out the opening, closing, and seven completely different and important timelines. In about 20 minutes. And it’s not confusing at all. Strictly through the structure, this is an important piece of television.
The jokes are piled on as well, some taking the entire episode to appreciate. I thought the Norwegian troll bit was funny, but when I realized the payoff was in Timeline 1 when Troy saw the destruction the troll wreaked, I laughed even harder. The episode used the structure to its immense benefit here, as almost no joke (outside of the opening) works just as a joke. Almost every one plays in to a detail of a different timeline and how the timelines are different with different characters.
There was a lot of talk on Twitter that Terra Nova’s third episode was just terrible placement, and not really a terrible idea. There’s no reason to do an amnesia episode when we don’t know the characters. But Community, now past 50, can do something like this. Making one character get the pizza sets up the structure, sure, but it also allows us to see the dynamics of the group without that person in it. The show isn’t too forward about this and lets us make our own judgment about what, exactly, each character brings. Sure, Troy keeps the group from death and physical harm, but what are the nuances between the Britta and Shirley timelines? More importantly, Pierce and Jeff?
Those two characters have been related from the first episodes, and only now is the show beginning to take a deepening look at Jeff’s detrimental impact on the group. For me, Pierce was a problem for S2 - making him a constant villain undermined a lot of the bubbly thematic stuff the show usually goes for. But what Jeff, and we, see at the end is a much better way to go about this. He keeps Britta from singing along with the music in every timeline, and it’s tough to argue with him - Britta isn’t exactly Bocelli. But by doing so he’s keeping the group from what they really want to do - sing and dance to Sting like idiots. It’s one of the show’s most powerful moments, as Jeff stands on the sidelines and silently watches. It’s worth noting Pierce is also not dancing, dealing with the troll on the fringes of the shot. (Also telling: Pierce, when someone specifically mentions “airplane bathrooms,” does not bring up Eartha Kitt. Every other time he makes a tangential bridge to the story and calls it “organic.”)
I was happy when they started dancing and then crashed down when I realized where Jeff was, and would be going, this season. In this way, the episode’s core reminded me a lot of “Mixology Certification” in the way it examined each character outside of school and looked at their importance to the group. Likewise, I was disturbed of the way the group treated Todd last week, but not like the show wanted. I’ve written before that the show often stays too detached for me, keeping a cool distance for when something bad happens and the characters can say, “Yeah, I didn’t need them anyway.” This is at the heart of Jeff’s character, and it’s something the show seems to be dealing with head-on this year.
And Jeff will finally need to deal with Pierce in a definitive way, not just shrug him off and accept him back into the group. He needs to understand that Pierce is very similar to him (as Pierce keeps telling everyone), and that he needs to change in order to avoid becoming “lonely and crazy.” I suspect Annie will be a big part of this. I’m not much of a shipper, but Jeff and Annie do have dynamite chemistry, and I am eager to see them together. But there’s no way it can happen right now. Jeff can’t sustain any type of a relationship right now, even with individual members of the study group, much less a romantic relationship with one. Take his invitation to Abed’s perfectly-crafted fake club. He’d rather go to this super cool person club than hang out with his friends. He’s just not ready for that level of friendship. Thankfully, Jeff understands this. But it is coming to a point he’ll have to deal with it that he didn’t in the pilot.
Annie’s role here was delightfully understated as well. We first see her Chekhov’s gun, and it plays into the funniest part of the episode, the hellish Timeline 1. But it’s paid off later, much more importantly, when she says she made a tourniquet last week. Jeff doesn’t need to evaluate his priorities to understand he doesn’t want her hurt, and she seems to settle this by moving in with Abed and Troy at the end of the episode. It’s a storyline that’s almost entirely in the background of this frenetic episode, but it’s essential to her character and serialized.
I love how Gillian Jacobs has engaged Britta’s weirdness in the past season or so, but I do feel there’s little development. (I’m scared she could be Community’s Ann - a character important in S1 and kinda in S2, but without any real good character episodes.) Hiding her smoking is a good step in the right direction. The episode almost seems to acknowledge she wants to get caught, since Troy guesses and Shirley could have figured it out. And Britta’s right - Shirley chews her out in multiple timelines. But it shows a vulnerability behind the “me so hung-ees,” which supposedly was improvised by Jacobs. I am thinking that every time I have pizza from now on.
And her relationship with Troy is getting quite interesting. Their dynamic isn’t fleshed out but is still incredibly intriguing, and I demand more now, please. It reminds me slightly of an April/Andy pairing, except Troy is more adult and Britta is more childlike. I would still love a full-on Troy/Abed pairing though, just to see what it looks like, although it’s probably best to just keep it as a running joke with googly eyes.
I haven’t gone into how flat-out hilarious this episode is, but it’s amazing there’s this level of laugh-to-character in an episode so concept-focused. I loved “Mixology,” but it wasn’t as funny as “Chaos Theory.” Maybe a better analogy is with “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons,” which combined hilarity with an almost invisible dark, sentimental side. Either way, I have no problem placing this immediately into the Community pantheon. I watched it twice tonight and laughed the same amount during both viewings, often noticing different things. Do yourself a favor and watch it again - the craftsmanship is compelling, at the very least.
Another reason to watch it - settle down, Internet. People have been freaking out because ratings aren’t great and the season didn’t start with, well, an episode like this. The first three episodes of S3 were good, but not really memorable. This is perfectly fine. Every episode cannot be a “Chaos Theory” or “Modern Warfare,” even not thinking about the budget. We need “Biology 101”s to get new things settled and move the characters forward a little bit. This is where we get the payoff, but there has to be well-done set-up. In other words, there can’t be a “Face Off” without a “Thirty-Eight Snub.”
Some writers were discussing on Twitter whether this is an inevitable off-shoot of episode-by-episode television criticism. For some shows, this doesn’t really matter. For Terra Nova, whatever comes next, episodes 3 and 4 will be remembered as pieces of crap. But for Breaking Bad, was enjoyment of the beginning of the season dampened because of constant writing and hand-wringing, hoping the end of the season will justify those “slower” episodes? Community doesn’t function in the same fashion, obviously, because laughs are usually the most important thing with a good episode. But since this is one of the best comedies on television, and the show constantly seems to be breaking the sitcom mold, people demand more and more.
I talked a little about how the premiere of this season felt like a bridge between the concept episode people (with the 2001 riff) and more traditional people. The last two episodes were for the latter group - this one is for the rest of us. But just because we remember “Cooperative Calligraphy” and “Mixology” and “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” and everything else doesn’t mean the other, more traditional ones were bad. They were all there, and they were important, and good, and essential. Community isn’t just about the concept episodes - it’s about all the episodes.
This is an excellent show and will continue to be, as long as NBC has it in their hearts to let it linger with mediocre (for NBC) ratings. All we can do is promote the show, talk about the show, and love the show. And with episodes like this, it’s hard not to.
