Community - "Economics of Marine Biology" - Review

To be quite honest, I’m not really sure what’s going on in Community anymore. There are plenty of series that decline in quality in their fourth season. On tv right now, there’s Cougar Town, Archer, and The Vampire Diaries, all diverse series that haven’t lost their sense of purpose but aren’t operating at the same level of output they were at their peak. And yet I really just don’t know what’s happening on Community anymore.

Part of it is the natural evolution of a television comedy. Shows are often weaker in later season and pushing to squeeze out any jokes they can, and fourth seasons are a common time for this fatigue to start setting in. The show probably wouldn’t be as good as it was in the past even if Dan Harmon was still showrunner. The third season had a lot of problems that were very clear, but even with those problems the series was still producing some of its best episodes. And even in the episodes I had qualms there were plenty of funny moments that made up for their flaws.  And yet, the series isn’t all that funny anymore. Humor is subjective and tastes will vary, and so it’s a little unfair to judge a series on how funny it is, and that’s why when I review I try to get at the other matters at hand that make something work or not. But when something is funny it can raise a series above its shortcomings and when a series is not funny, well it just stinks. 

Part of it is that the episodes are overstuffed, and this is the most overstuffed of them all. Abed is hardly even in the episode, and none of the storylines are given enough room to go anywhere. But the series has been overstuffed before and made it work. And being overstuffed isn’t bad when in the hands of capable talent, but when done wrong very glaring. A lot of these stories could have become bigger premises but they’re never fleshed out enough.

I like the idea of Jeff and Pierce making an unexpected connection, and this is the most engaged Chevy Chase has appeared to be all season, but it’s barely given screentime. The Troy and Shirley storyline is incredibly pointless and never given enough room to make an impact or provide a purpose for itself.

The Annie-Dean storyline is so broad and unfocused that it doesn’t really work. While I like the idea of Magnitude being forced to retract his catchphrase, the sentiment never hits the emotional note it ought to.   

    

These are very good performers but they’re stuck in stories that even they can’t save.

Grade: C+