

The one part of the episode that unquestionably worked was the element which is probably the most divisive. Sure, little moments like the crowd aligning with Teams Britta, Slater and Coco were a lot of fun, and distinctive of this particular show, but much of the episode just didn’t feel the same way. However, I just don’t think that anything they did to get there felt like it was inspired, or felt like it was something that only this show would be able to do. I don’t think the show should avoid romantic subplots, as the end of the finale indicated that they have a pretty good handle on where these characters stand in their lives plus, I think we all need to give the show credit that we aren’t entirely grossed out by Jeff and Britta together after it seemed like such a predictable and lazy development when it was introduced in the pilot.

Now, I’m not a robot: I liked seeing Britta confront her feelings for Jeff in a rare moment of honesty from the character, and I liked seeing Jeff confront his own emotions about both Britta and Slater in a realistic fashion.

It didn’t feel like they found a particular novel way to get to the point where Britta and Slater were fighting it out for Jeff’s love, and that kept me from really embracing the episode as I have previous stories that felt like they were aiming higher. I don’t think the show always has to go all-out with its reference humour, and in fact would suggest against it, but this was one instance where they seemed unwilling to avoid the temptation of the all-out love quadrangle at episode’s end. The sudden focus on the Transfer Pageant (and the race for Tranny Queen) comes out of nowhere, and Slater’s return into Jeff’s life feels very conveniently timed there’s a point where the show sort of comments that this all seems pretty convenient, just as Abed points out that Annie’s sudden decision to spend the summer in Delaware is your classic last day at school plot twist, but then they sort of just let it play out. After “Modern Warfare” managed to make a giant pile of cliches feel like a story about characters, it seems strange that this episode would actually feel less organic as a whole, but that’s just sort of how it played out. I felt a little bit like the characters in the Video Tearbook Coda: while these people may be funny, I don’t particularly know them very well, and the lack of connection to the characters made it all seem a bit hollow. I didn’t need that character to be a part of these stories, just as I didn’t need quite so much time spent with Dean Pelton. I think the episode’s biggest problem was honestly John Oliver’s Ian Duncan, not because he isn’t funny but because I don’t particularly care: the character’s long disappearance did not make our hearts grow fonder, but rather made the character feel like an artifact of an older show. I don’t necessarily think that the events which transpire are bad, and I had a few good laughs in the episode, but the show I love was purposefully placed into peril, and I don’t really think that it resulted in a particularly great half-hour of comedy even if I respect the show for some of the choices it eventually made. Instead, it feels like Dan Harmon and company have taken a small network note and delivered a slightly exaggerated, but never quite subverted, take on what you would traditionally expect from a sitcom finale.
#PARKS AND RECREATION FREDDY SPAGHETTI MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT SERIES#
Throwing the group dynamics out the window, and focusing a lot of its time on supporting characters who aren’t part of the core group, the episode places the group’s future in chaos and delivers a traditional “shake up the status quo” finale that doesn’t feel like it reaches any of the series heights. “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited” also feels like a finale, but I’m not entirely convinced it felt like what I anticipated a Community finale to feel like, or even what I want a Community finale to feel like. It was a confident statement on which to head into a second season, emphasizing the dynamics that we’ve enjoyed thus far and would continue to enjoy into the future. It felt like it solidified the group dynamics, offering evidence that the show has grown a great deal over the past season. Last week felt like a finale, or at least how I had anticipated a Community finale to feel like.
