Just Do It Online

Parks and Recreation, S05E16

Leslie wanted to keep a failing video store going by using the government's help, but her good intentions only made others want payouts too and turned the video store into an adult establishment. Ann forced April to hang out with her as friends in exchange for a vetenarian school letter of reccomendation.  Chris gave Tom some advice in order to test how well he'd be a father.

Leslie's attempt to save Videodome was amusing for three main reasons.  One was because the owner of said store was played by Jason Schwartzman. He was really oblivious to how his depressing attitude and niche-audience selection of goods were damaging his business. He didn't have all that much screen time, but he's a funny guy simply to look at.

Leslie also made an enemy out of Ron with her bailout plan, adding another interesting element.  He was so against her plans that he actually came to a town council meeting to speak against what she was doing. You hardly ever see him get so involved on his own, so I liked seeing his rare passion. Ron didn't have many good lines in this story, but Iiked when he spoke about Dennis without sparing his feelings:

This man is a failure. He is not up to snuff.  His business is failing, and you're bailing him out. 

It's funny how Dennis didn't make one sound or expression even that disagreed with Ron.  Maybe this was because he agreed with him wholehearted or that he was just terrified to argue with Ron.  Either way I liked how honest Ron was being at Dennis' expense.

The last part of the story that I loved was the random guy who kept aptly pointing out that video stores and the like were a bit outdated now that there are some many outlets available on the Internet. I liked how  he asked why would he bother to rent anything from Videodome when he was watching a movie for free on his phone.  My favorite line from this guy was when he spoke out against the guy from the hardware store after the random guy had already been kicked out before:  

[Store Owner] And people need places to buy tools. 
[Online Guy] Uh, you can just buy tools online.
[Leslie] Bailiff, why is he back in here?  How did you get back in here?

He cracked me up with his unsolicited comments and how he frustrated Leslie. 

It was weird that Leslie's plan caused Dennis to start renting porn videos.  He refused to sell Pixar films, but he had no problems supplying dirty wares.  Also, strange enough, the renewal of the store contributed to a porno about Leslie bailing out the store. It was funny in the bit we got see that Ron was played a black guy. Wow.

In Ann and April's story the only thing I really liked was when April felt awkward hearing about Ann's worries about Chris agreeing to be her sperm donor.  They started singing together like they were besties, and the icing on the cake was when Donna joined in too. They all were pretty good singers and that scene was adorable.

I didn't like the introduction of Jean-Ralphio's psycho twin sister who eventually became Tom's girlfriend.  She actually made her brother look ten times less annoying.  I was glad Tom chose to be firm with her even if it didn't calm her ass down.  Someone needed to at least try to stand up to her.  I just hope that Tom doesn't find himself in trouble messing with an unstable girl like that.  He could do better.

What I liked best was Chris taking up Tom as his " bag of flour " and how Tom had little clue that Chris was trying to parent him.  I loved when he first spoke to Tom and sat right next to him on the couch at the far end, despite all the other seating available:

[Chris] Tom, I have something to talk to you about.[Tom] Do we need to sit like this?

Chris had another funny moment when he told Ben about his uncertainty to Ann's request:

I am one hundred percent certain that I am zero percent sure what I'm going to do. 

 Finally, I loved when he talked about how he had failed Tom as his father:

If Tom were a bag of flour, that flour would never grow up to be a happy, well-adjusted loaf of bread.  Much less a bran muffin, which is the highest honor that flour can achieve.

Chris' test run of being a father was wonderful.  I wish that he could continue to look after Tom.  With Mona Lisa in his life, he could probably use the help.

This was an unexpectedly good episode.  I didn't think I would have enjoyed a story about Leslie trying to save a little business, but it was as good as Chris' story.  I enjoyed the guest star, Ron opposing her, and of course, the guy who wouldn't be quiet about how some businesses were irrelevant with the internet available.  Ann and April ended up being very cute when they got the chance to bond, especially when singing was involved.  Finally, Chris kept making me laugh with his numerous good lines and moments.  He was surprisingly a decent "flour" dad to Tom.  I sort wish that it were possible for Chris to adopt Tom, so their father-son relationship could go on.

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.