Reviews

In Game of Thrones the entire War of the Five Kings happens because of the stupidity of House Stark. Despite having been dictators of the North for 5000 years they're completely incompetent when it comes to even the most basic strategising and politicing. It seems that the same thing is happening in House of the Dragon, with another blundering leader with shoulder-length hair.

Other than the idiot plot there are several problems. We see people being tortured by... crabs? Because those eat humans? The Hand "kinda forgot" Daemon had a dragon? A 14-year-old picks the King's bodyguard?

I haven't read Fire & Blood so i don't know who to blame for this. In any case, the writing is weak. On top of that it feels like too little and too much happens. There's a 6 month time time jump which results in the show "telling" us what happened instead of "showing" us - a rather basic mistake. I understand you cannot devote time to everything but there should have been at least one single step between where Alicent and Daemon start and where they end up.

Apparently the next episode will also feature the adult versions of the girls. Hopefully this will fix the pacing and provide a much-needed B-plot.

The theme of this episode is intolerance. Jeff learns to tolerate Chang, the gang learns Pierce does tolerate homosexuality, Britta learns she can't even tolerate herself and Troy learns he can't tolerate someone who can't tolerate Abed.

It does leave quite a lot to be desired. Why didn't Annie tell Britta? Why does the librarian wear such a weird top? Who thinks Andy Dick is funny? Why does this review have to be 600 characters when others have written much much shorter ones? Does Britta not know how to kiss? Would Annie really have gone for it? Why does Paige dress like Blossom despite not being 15?

Overall, pretty average with some fun moments.

The scene with Annie playing Hector the Well-Endowed "making a deal" with the Elf is one of the most memorable in all of Community. Her gesturing and Troy's reaction (taking notes, asking questions) are absolutely hilarious.

Other than that it's a bit of a mixed bag. Chang is crazy in a fun way and Pierce throwing a snack at Garrett is hilarious, but the latter being so mean seems out of character even for him.

I had trouble picking a line to use as a title. That says a lot because Community always has funny lines, even in average or below average episodes like this one. Aside from the Dean being the Dean episode 13 really lives up to its unlucky number.

This is really just an "average" Community episode, but that still means it's better than most comedies out there. There's a couple of really good jokes, there's a silly, there's personal growth and there's the characters we've come to enjoy. And while i really don't care for Rich, Chang is actually a net positive here to make up for that.

Lots of people really like claymation and love this episode. Both don't do anything for me. I did laugh a couple of times but i generally dislike when animated shows do a "big sad thing". It almost always feels cheap because it does not involve real people visually responding.

Pilot episodes are hard. You have to introduce everything, make people care about it and tell a story too. But even when taking that into account "Heirs" is bad.

*The Problems*

First of all, there is too much exposition - especially for a prequel. Martin loves naming things a bit too much and they should've shown more restraint here. Also giving every other character an "ae" in their name is awful.

The CGI is shockingly poor. The dragons look alright but the buildings look like a video game. I have no idea why they decided to do aerial shots if they couldn't afford to make them look good.

Then there is the issue of Matt Smith. He's a perfect Doctor Who but terribly miscast as a violent hedonist. He is too goofy to be menacing.

Another problem is that some things really don't make sense. The dragon keepers, the ones maintaining the most important weapons, look filthy and poor. People didn't get killed on purpose during real-life tournaments and they definitely wouldn't kill nobles. The summary execution also made no sense from a practical POV.

The worst part was the violent birth. We really really really didn't need to see that. I love bloody violence but this was just exploitative.

*The Rest*

There were some redeeming elements. The physical production value is amazing. Most of the acting was good. The girls, played by Alcock and Carey, really carry the episode. And there's still some promise to it all. Let's hope this was just a false start.

This is a fairly typical episode about what it means to (be) mature. It's not very funny, Annie actually made me cringe and it's a bit too sappy. Also they already did Pierce's wheelchair being clunky.

I was wondering when the giant blanket fort would show up and it did not disappoint. On top of that the main plot is hilarious, constantly keeps you guessing ánd involves the Dean-Annie-Jeff triangle. Not sure why they went with Dutch for a name that ends with "son" though. We use "sen", "son" is a typically Scandinavian thing.

Annie's pen is missing and the entire episode is one plot in one room. It's okay, but hardly the second coming of Abed. It's Community at its bare minimum - literally.

Who knew you could mix Robocop with The Secret Garden and get something light and fun? Both stories show how people deal with unpleasantness. Troy and Jeff go for "ignorance is bliss", the girls + Abed go for "offense is the best defense". It's goofy and entertaining. Thankfully, Andy Dick only has a tiny part.

It's a basic zombie movie condensed into 20 minutes. Not very creative or interesting or even funny. The few good jokes (Shatner, key phrase, Troy's quote above) are just enough for me to give it a pass.

Abed is Wig Jesus in a brilliant episode that contains all of the key elements of the series:

• Being meta about being meta.

• Absurd premises executed perfectly.

• People do everything at Greendale but learn.

• The group as a family headed by Jeff and Britta.

• Interpersonal conflict resolved by forgiveness.

It's hilarious and bizarre and endearing.

A fun parody of space rescue movies with some extra Galaxy Quest sprinkled on top. Love the absurdity of training people in a simulator to use a simulator. Even better is how the actual simulator is just a lengthy ad in the form of an obnoxious video game.

Rewatching the series i'm really enjoying Alison Brie's performance as Annie. No matter how ridiculous it is to cast a bodacious 27-year-old as an innocent 18-year-old, she really does sell it. The conflict with Britta in this episode once again highlights the makers of the show are in on the joke too.

Other highlights include John Oliver actually being funny for the first time in the series, Pierce's religion and (of course) Abed having his own sideplot in the background.

A lot of Community episodes involve some sort of celebration or other event at the school. Here it's a dance contest that is barely there. Not a lot to go on. The same goes for the lawyer party the group attends.

The whole bit with the chloroform is just enough to make up for it.

At this point Community is strong enough to stand on its own premise. The storylines may not be very interesting, but the interactions between the characters make up for that. Betty White as a kooky professor is a bonus.

This is a fairly typical season finale. There's important choices to be made, there's some personnel changes and there's a big event. Two people fighting over someone feels a bit tired, but at this point the characters have been established well enough that their charm, interactions and humor make up for it.

ESL is fun throughout with some of the best bits of Community ("you didn't get hot until after high school"). It even sets up a number of future plots involving Chang, Troy and Annie in a way that feels natural. The silly Good Will Hunting misdirect and parody cracked me up, as did the reveal with Pierce at the end.

Modern Warfare is the start of what might be Community's finest tradition - the paintball parody. Taking elements from The Walking Dead, Battle Royale (the movie), The Matrix and every 80s action movie ever Justin Lin gives us a hilarious, creative and ridiculously over-the-top episode that also manages to work in some character growth. Absolutely love it.

The group learns to grow up in various pairings and ways. It seems to be generally disliked because of the annoying children, but them being annoying is kind of the point.

Because the point is that tropes exist for a reason - they're aspects of fiction that have been tried and tested and can work when utilised well. Trying to deal with the bullying cool kids, doing stereotpyical US collegey stuff, hatching ridiculous revenge plots, two characters feuding before bonding at the end, et cetera. The writers are basically saying "yes, we know, Simpsons did it". You can't always be original.

Near the end of the season we get one of the first episodes which present an alternative movie-inspired reality throughout. It's goofy, it's unrealistic, and it works, somehow. Also the first episode to feature Troy's pet monkey called "Annie's Boobs". A stupid joke like that could easily have bombed, but it works... somehow.

This episode has 3 plotlines; Britta wants to be funny, Jeff & Troy mess with Pierce and Annie & Shirley play cops. These range from mildly amusing to somewhat annoying. Thankfully there are some solid jokes (like Annie running into her own pepper spray) and decent character work to make up for it.

Episode 19 dials down the soapy sappiness we've seen too many times in the "tens". There's still some left, but they remembered they were making a comedy and added a bunch of solid jokes. I expected more from the pottery storyline, but the boating makes up for it. Bonus points for Troy calling Shirley a racist for thinking he can't swim, didn't see that one coming.

As the title unwittingly implies, Basic Genealogy is a bit simple. Nothing particularly clever or funny (except for my headline) but nothing overly offensive either. I think it's a bit vile to imply burqas are by definition a woman's choice.

Katherine McPhee saves the episode. Not just because of her looks, but also because it ironically features her hanging out with a guy old enough to be her grandpa for his money.

The father-son dynamic between Pierce and Jeff is a bit tired at this point already though. That barely works in moderation.