Chagnesia: Real Or Fake?

Community, S04E06

Abed shot a documentary about Chagnesia to submit to the MacGuffin Institute so that the school would get a grant to pay for Chang's, aka Kevin's, recovery.  Jeff pretended to join the cause only so he could expose Kevin the moment that he slipped up and showed his true colors.  Despite geting his friends to unknowingly investigate Chang's activities before his amnesia and his current behavior, Jeff struggled to find any incriminating evidence to support his theory Kevin was faking it.

As much as Jeff has good reason to doubt Kevin, it was hard to take his side when his friends had already been won over by Kevin.   When Jeff is acting by himself, especially if he's trying to hurt someone else, he looks more like a bully than a lone hero.  In fact, I felt a little bad for Jeff because he looked like such an insensitive ass throughout the whole documentary.  The worst was when he was trying to make out with Chang's ex-wife, in the hopes that Kevin's jealousy would reveal his lies.  Instead, Jeff looked like some kind of sex-crazed animal, attacking a woman who had only come to help her former husband.  I liked that Abed didn't show us how bad it had gotten before people were able to stop Jeff from embarrassing himself further.

Some other things that I liked included the comments at the beginning from Dr.  Kedan.  I thought he gave the funniest line when he mentioned that Kevin didn't remember being Chang, yet was still making puns:

Why Changnesia affects the memory, not the ability to make forced puns is all things we can study now that someone finally has it.

I kept thinking about that myself.  If Kevin has such a huge memory loss, why is he making those Chang puns?  Although, I'm glad he is.

My second favorite line was when Abed and Jeff were reviewing the footage that Britta had taken and Jeff was hopeful that they would see Chang slip up now that he was alone:

Doubtful.  When he's alone he mostly practices smiling and frowning.  We've all done it.

I loved the way Jeff looked at Abed when he said that as much as I like picturing Abed staring in a mirror practicing smiling and frowning appropriately.  It's a nice nod to that fact that Abed usually appears very expressionless in almost all situations.  If any emotion ever shows in his face, it's usually surprise/horror.

In the end, it was interesting that Jeff came to understand a little bit of how it felt to be Chang and be isolated when he friends were surrounding their new friend Kevin, while Jeff had to sit by his lonesome.  It was what he deserved, and it taught him an unexpected lesson.  However, I loved the irony that Chang was in fact lying all along.  Jeff hadn't completely been won over, but it looked like he was going to give Kevin a chance.  This all seems to be going according to Chang's plan, which I'm excited to learn about.  Also, who was Chang talking to?  Was it his wife?  Or someone else that has reason to get back at Greendale as much as Chang does?  Super glad that Chang hasn't turned as good as he seems.

This was a good episode.  I wish that it had been a funnier documentary, considering that Abed was the head of it.  However, he does tend to let stories play themselves out and keep himself neutral from the actions going on around him.  He did sort of help Jeff, but Jeff definitely didn't have any true allies with him on the quest to expose Chang.  After learning what seemed to be a valuable lesson about giving people second chances and walking in another person's shoes, Chang revealed that he was doing exactly what Jeff suspected he was.  It's unclear what Chang's evil plot is this time, but hopefully Jeff will catch onto it before Chang puts all their lives into chaos or worse, in danger.

Fattening Up Nelson? Good Plan

The Simpsons, S23E20

Homer got time off from work after Burns gave him a concussion, but he decided not to tell his family because they were all too uninterested in his stories to listen (or just generally mad at him).  He sent the time with his Dr. Cain, a movie character that he envisioned from the blow to his head.  With Cain's help, Homer learned how to be a better husband, but attracted the attention of a jealous husband with a gun.  The husband came after Homer again when he was romancing Marge on a date, but he was able to charm himself out of death with one of the techniques that Cain taught him.  Bart tried to get rid of Nelson's bullying by fattening him up with Krusty Burger food.  However, thanks to Lisa complaining to Krusty, Nelson was trained into an even more powerful bully than before.

Homer's story was mostly strange than it was funny.  I liked that he was hanging out with a movie character voiced by Bryan Cranston, but it was weird that a hallucination was giving him helpful advice (and being kind of creepy when he was watching Homer make out with Marge).  Before Homer started listening to an invisible man, I liked when he and Mr. Burns were discussing Homer's compensation for the concussion Burns had caused: 

[Burns] Fine.  8 weeks off with pay. 

[Homer screams]  

[Burns] That's a good thing.

[Homer] But you said it so mean.

Since that was about the only amusing thing in that story, I liked Bart's story slightly more.  My favorite line from it was when Bart was complaining to Milhouse about Nelson:

[Milhouse] My mom says bully only bully cuz they're scared. 

[Nelson] Your mom's next!

 I just didn't expect Nelson to be listening  their conversation, nor to go after his "creator" for a comment she had told her son.  Then he actually went to her and insulted her son and poured out her hair dye.

What I liked most about Bart's story was that he got the idea to fatten up Nelson from a Supersize Me spoof documentary that he saw in class.  That documentary was nothing too amazing except the part at the end where Decland had to have nuggets IV-ed into his arm to survive.  That was really gross!  But I applaud Bart for actually learning during class and coming up with a cruel, but effective plan to get Nelson out of his hair.  I mean, if you think about it, Bart was doing a nice thing for Nelson, who probably never uses the money he steals for food anyway.  If Nelson had just used the free coupons he had been given more sparingly, he could have eaten free food for a long time.  Instead, I'm sure that he probably blew through those coupons in like a week or two.  It's a sick plan to endanger someone's health like that, but Nelson, too, endangers children's health (though not to such a crippling degree).  I kind of wish that Lisa hadn't intervened because Bart's plan was working so well for everyone and in the end they all had to be pummeled by a ripped Nelson.  Good job, Lisa.  I don't think there was much of a lesson there at all, except that learning at school can be dangerous if you're evil enough.

Not one of the best ones this season, but not too bad for one that had a guest star.  Seeing Homer reinvent himself to make Marge a happier wife is nothing they haven't done a million times, so it wasn't the most inspired story, but I think that Bart's was a little more creative and enjoyable.  I just wish that there had been a more satisfying ending.  But at this stage of this show, you can't expect the writers to have deliver the complete package like viewers were accustomed to back in the day.

Pillows Versus Blankets, Part Two

Community, S03E14

The conclusion of Abed and Troy's epic pillow fort battle was told to us in a mock documentary style, narrated by Keith David.  There seemed to be no reasoning with the two commanders of Blanketsburg and Pillowtown, even with Jeff's weakest attempts.  In fact, Jeff was content to stay on the sidelines, texting and occasionally giving speeches to the two sides to prolong the battle as long as possible to keep himself out of class.  Thanks to Annie, he gradually changed his position to be neutral and tried to get the two friends to reconcile.  Meanwhile, Pierce was battling Chang's army of kids, and Shirley was knocking down as many people as she could with her mighty pillow attacks.  It was Jeff who got Abed and Troy to eventually put down their pillows, but it was them losing their chance to get the world record that made the rest of the "soldiers" throw in the towel (or blanket, if you will).

Hearing Keith David's voice and watching the format of this episode, made me feel like I was back in class for a minute.  I really enjoyed that since they were mapping out Greendale like a real battlefield.  The serious way that they presented the story emphasized how little meaning the fight had at all.  It was easier to laugh at it, instead of getting annoyed about how Troy and Abed were acting like kids who just needed to make up already.

I particularly liked that the narrator was making fun of Greta's photographing skills.  He made a good point that just because it's in black and white, doesn't mean that it's good.  Greta's pictures looked like the stuff people take by mistake from their pockets with their camera phones.  He gave her credit for capturing the moment that Abed and Troy became one again, but she just got lucky when she was trying to get the light hitting off of a stack of pancakes.  What??  Who takes pictures like that?? I loved the stupidity.

What I didn't love was the cheap shots that Abed and Troy were making on each other.  Abed wrote an email that listed all of Troy's weaknesses, making it seem like he didn't have an ounce of respect for him or his feelings.  Troy, in return, told Abed that Troy was his only hope for a friend because no one else would have the patience.  They were being so mean to each other!  The worst kind of mean where it's nothing but the ugly truth.  But I guess it's good they got some things off their chest.  A friendship without any arguments sounds a little too good to be true (even for TV).

Usually, when Jeff comes to "save the day," it just makes me roll my eyes.  But this time, when he used Abed and Troy's child-like nature to prove they valued their friendship, I thought he was sweet.  I mean, he didn't just pretend to put their friendship hats on them again, he went back to the dean's office, pretended to find them, fixed them, and then brought them back to place on their heads.  Way to go above and beyond, Jeff.  He may never stop being self-centered, but he does care about his friends on some level.  Even if Annie needs to push him (though, I feel like he's always trying to please her because he wants to date her), he'll eventually get it through his thick skull what the right thing is to do.

On a random note that I meant to mention last time, it's pretty annoying that Subway is sponsoring Community.  Advertising on shows is nothing new, but I absolutely hate it when it's so obvious (an example that comes to mind is recent episodes of Psych where they practically have a commercial within an episode).  I suppose now with Subway being a part of the cafeteria, we will have to see a glimpse of their brand in every episode now.  Boo.  It might be necessary for funding or whatever, but can't we make these things subtle??  Ugh.  I'm not going to go to Subway because I like this show.

Anyway, as long as Troy and Abed got back together (and we got to see them doing their routine extra at the end of the episode--pledge drive), I liked the episode.  I wish their battle was a little more exciting and less of a joke, frankly.  It was good, but it could have been better (I'm shooting for the stars because the paintball episodes were so good).  Also, I liked how it ended with Jeff talking with the narrator and him asking if he was in The Cape.  The narrator pauses and says no, but we know that Keith David surely was.  Good ending to a good episode.