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Community: Season 4 Premiere February 7, Old Timeslot
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Nice strawman, there.
Being in character simply means that the character behaves plausibly in the context based on what we know about him. Pierce surprising everyone with a heart felt speech at the end of season 2 was unexpected, but it fit within the context, because it explained things we already knew about him but didn't understand. Jeff reversal with Pierce at the start of season 3 was different, but that was explained because we already knew that Jeff was insecure and we already knew that Pierce was done with his self-destructive phase. Annie intentionally attempting to fail a class is very different from what we expect from her, but it makes sense that she would value friendship as being more important. On the other hand, the writers agreed that Annie wanting to transfer to City College was out of character for Annie, and the rationalization for it was weak at best. They agreed that Abed walking away after hearing a teacher shoot himself was also unrealistic, and the scene didn't belong.
Abed already knew the teacher was crazy. He was already scheming to fix the problem. Then he discovers the teacher was a mass murderer who planned to kill him next, and he suddenly stops caring about the situation.
What's the reason for the change? You can say that Abed is coming to terms with the darkness he created, or something. But that part already happened the first time he realized the teacher was crazy.
If I were Abed - someone who was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and whose sole motivation in the episode was to try and get everyone together for Christmas in a happy way - then yes, I think I would have done the same thing. Abed's actions were completely in-character to me. It makes total sense to me that he would feel disappointment at how things turned out and not really give a shit about the Glee club teacher. And the rest of them were all still under the Glee spell, just breaking out of it by the time the Glee teacher had already flown.
he was focused on his friends
He never cared about the creepiness of the teacher. What he cared about was breaking the Glee spell that he unwittingly and indirectly inflicted on his friends, so they wouldn't get suckered into doing it for eternity which is what the Glee teacher wished. The Glee teacher was totally irrelevant. What mattered was that he wanted t make sure his friends were not stuck under the Glee spell.
And prior to that, his sole motivation in the episode was to prove that his friends could stay together for Christmas happily. Which is what he was concerned with at the end of the episode.
Abed acted in total consistency with both his character and the episode.
Realism is a bad word to use. What people usually mean is internal consistency. And it's fine to argue with respect to that. Fiction is fiction, but that doesn't mean it doesn't adhere to its own self-defined rules. For instance, Superman can fly. He can't teleport. If suddenly he could teleport with no explanation, then that would be "unrealistic" in the sense that it would be internally inconsistent within the Superman mythos. (Bad example, I know.)
I just don't agree that how Abed acted at the end of this episode is inconsistent with his character.
If I were Abed - someone who was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and whose sole motivation in the episode was to try and get everyone together for Christmas in a happy way - then yes, I think I would have done the same thing. Abed's actions were completely in-character to me. It makes total sense to me that he would feel disappointment at how things turned out and not really give a shit about the Glee club teacher. And the rest of them were all still under the Glee spell, just breaking out of it by the time the Glee teacher had already flown.[/quote]
What disappointment?
His plan worked. Britta not defeated the villain, but Dean's "let Britta sing!" speech saved Christmas. The spell was broken when the group got together and defended Britta for the first time ever. Everyone was cheering in the spirit of the Holidays, but in a way that they were no longer in control of the teacher.
The only "disappointment" is the revelation that the teacher was a murderer who was planning to murder the team. And if he hadn't let that slip, he likely would have cut Britta's brake line the next day in order to salvage the rest of the group. But if that's the part where Abed was disappointed, then why wouldn't he stay behind?
So Abed wanted to save his friend from a teacher who wanted to hold them captive, but not from the same teacher who was planning to murder them?
seasons 3-9 of the SimpsonsCommunity.really hoped you had come along on that at this point.
Abed is my favorite character on the show. In three seasons, he has done a lot of different things, and surprised us in a lot of different ways. And all that time, I never once complained that his character behaved inconsistently, or that he defined internal logic.
This episode is the first time I made that complaint.
Abed's character is one that is malleable enough to essentially do anything. My personal analysis is that his brain lacks an intuitive filter, so he processes a lot of information without structure, meaning he has to seek out a means to organize information externally rather than internally. So Chicken Fingers mafia makes sense. Han Solo makes sense. Vampire Abed makes sense. Row Boat Cop makes sense. Evil Abed makes sense. Dark Knight makes sense. Claymation makes sense. etc.
But even then, I'm still at a complete loss to explain any reality that would explain his total lack of caring. This is a man with no built-in filter. How does a man with no built-in filter filter out something like "mass murderer"?
didn't he have trouble filtering things out in the episode where he acted like a dick to everyone? the robot one? haven't seen that in ages but I'm pretty sure he is asked to stop and doesn't? the bitch episode
totally realistic. Back in college I would have thrown a box of adorable kittens in a wood chipper for early registration.
#FreeScheck
#FreeSKFM
My mother was the office manager of the biology department, which means she was just an 'upper secretary'. However, this gave her access to the registration system and she just added me to whatever classes I needed way before they opened.
Abed's lack of filter is mentioned in Chicken Fingers and Mean Girls. In the first one, Britta tries to encourage Abed to keep that to himself. In the second, Britta encourages Abed to be more open about it.
That's also the reason for his Claymation Breakdown. Abed needed rituals to help him process holidays and family. When the ritual was taken away, he no longer had the filter, so he regressed to find a new one (Claymation).
edit - I feel like you're using filter in 2 different ways in that post.
All of the characters had a pretty clear motivation, either stated or implied. Annie is an overachiever. Abed wants to be in a movie. Troy wants to have fun with Abed. Pierce just wants to be part of a team. Britta and Jeff are the most petty. They have stated motivations, but they also hate to lose, and you can justify their behavior just on that.
And let's face it: The idea of gunning down your fellow students is fun, even without priority registration. I'm sure lots of people were playing just to be jerks, and others in self-defense.
If you had a chance to participate in a school wide paintball tournament, wouldn't you want to be part of it?
not that I would question it, it's a weird school
Filters, structure, organization, etc. A filter is basically saying, "Some pieces of information are important, and some pieces aren't." Abed has trouble making that distinction. He takes in information without an intuitive sense of meaning. That's why the real world makes no sense to Abed. That's why his Halloween story includes details that most people find unimportant, like the time between turning on the radio and hearing the key broadcast. He relies on TV and movies for structure, because that's what he's used to. But in chicken fingers, he no longer needs that, because he finds structure in chicken. In D&D, he finds structure in the game. So the idea that "Abed can only connect to people through TV and movies" is actually a misconception. That's the method he's most familiar with, but it's not literally the only way. What he really wants is less the movie itself, and more the structure that movie gives him.
In this episode, Abed's brain is already primed for, "Wow, Glee Club director is crazy, time to fix the problem." The organization is already there. But then he abandons it.
And then served the same meat the next year?
http://troublethinking.wordpress.com (Updated Wed) http://twitter.com/#!/Durandal4532
but yeah you used filter like 'filter what you say' in that other post, then used it the way you just described.
it's also sort of unfair for you to develop this whole perception of abed and then blame the show for not keeping up with it (even though it does... my post goes through the exact formula you mentioned about last year's christmas although you didn't directly reply to that)
The problem isn't "Glee club director is crazy" it is "my friends are under the spell of Glee." His actions fixed that problem by breaking the spell.
I don't even think the Glee club director was relevant to Abed. All that was relevant was that his friends were under a spell he wasn't affected by and he needed to wake them from it.
And you've argued that Abed has no filter. So why isn't it consistent for him to treat disappointment at another failed Christmas as more important than anything else? That was his only focus in this episode.
Harmon already admitted that he stretched credibility a lot with that episode, so he acknowledged the problem.
And that the reason for giving everyone amnesia was so that it would have no impact on the characters, other than the pregnancy scare.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/dan-harmon-walks-us-through-communitys-second-seas,57085/
The writers went through a lot of work to make the zombie episode work. And that's the thing: They tried. My problem with 3x10 is that it feels like they gave up.
Literally, 3 seconds of Chang chasing after the teacher in the background or Abed saying, "I'll call the police on the way out" would have made a huge difference. They didn't do anything like that, and it feels lazy.
People can make all the excuses they want on why the episode didn't need this. But is there any reason at all not to include some acknowledgement? If we spotted Chang running after the teacher in the background, what exactly would the episode have lost?
On Annie acting out of character in Rocket Science:
On the teacher shooting himself:
edit - them not showing 3 seconds of footage = giving up. WOW.
http://troublethinking.wordpress.com (Updated Wed) http://twitter.com/#!/Durandal4532
Wasn't your argument specifically that it was out of character for Abed not to comment? Now you're talking about Chang.
So I will repeat/rephrase my earlier question: Why is it necessary for this to be resolved on camera, in the manner you believe it needed to be? What internal consistency did the episode violate by not having a character apprehend the Glee club teacher? Your answer before was about Abed. Since you are now talking about Chang, your earlier answer was inadequate.
Also, what happens when they make some kind of reference to the Glee club director being arrested or whatever in one of the post-hiatus episodes. Will that exonerate the writers and characters in your eyes?
edit - from hours ago, maybe the reason you didn't notice it at first but had a problem on subsequent viewings is because you were looking for proof it was bad so you were reaching? just a thought.
"I usually have one foot outside of reality, and even I'm freaking out right now."
Abed has a problem with arbitrary distinction. Which is why he failed at Duck/Duck/Goose and why he had trouble picking a side on the see-saw. He's fine when distinction and organization is self-evident, like "Hey, Annie chloroformed the guard, that's bad" or "Hey, mass murderer. Loss of human life. Pretty important."
Also, we actually see his shocked reaction when the teacher mentions cutting the brake line. So obviously it registered. He simply chooses to ignore it.
it's this whole thing you've built up about abed and the best part is this even works within it! and yet, no you just can't believe it
edit - I'm gonna have to watch the episode where jeff is swinging the axe around. he mentions it in this episode at the end as a sign that they've gone to a 'dark' place. hopefully everyone acts in line... if abed doesn't disarm him I'm going to be very concerned. (heh, he might I really don't remember)
The problem is that Abed changes the subject and leaves without any attempt to resolve the problem.
If Abed had seen Chang chase after the guy and stayed behind for the police to question him afterward, then you could argue, "Well, Abed knew that Chang would either catch up to the guy, or call the police. So all he had to do was wait for the police to show up."
But not only does Abed witness no one taking action, but then we see Abed go home, as if the storyline has been resolved.
The problem isn't simply that they didn't resolve it on camera. The problem is that they closed the door on it, by having Abed change the subject and leave.
Chang wasn't there. I'm not complaining that Chang was out of character. I'm complaining that they could have literally added a 3 second scene where we see Chang chasing after the teacher in the background, and we would know that actions were being taken. Since we see Chang at the beginning of the episode, it's not like he was unavailable. The fact that they neglected to do even that much shows that the writers were being lazy.
It wouldn't change the fact that Abed walked away without giving the situation a second thought.
1) This is the only post I've made mention of it and 2) I never said you were the only one that disliked the episode. I said you were the only one who hated it.
Maybe that's not enough distinction for you, so I'll break it down - everyone else who disliked it just said "this episode didn't work for me" and more or less shrugged their shoulders and moved on. The same thing that has happened on many an episode before this one that some people didn't like. Whereas you've been going on for pages and pages about why it's a terrible episode and we're terrible people for liking it and OH MY GOD THE WORLD IS ENDING. I wish you would just, I dunno, go to your therapist or smoke a doobie or do whatever it is you normally do to wind yourself down once you start having these little attacks. Because this is getting downright silly.
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but abed was focused on his friends
I get that' he's your favorite but do you not see that this is pinning a lot on him? and limits what he's allowed to do in any given situation pretty severely?
Abed joins the rest of the group running away from Jeff. He doesn't simply change the subject and walk away, even though that particular action would have made a lot more sense in that scenario since Jeff was only attacking the table and not the other members (and he left the ax in the table when he was done.).
Heck, in the pilot, Jeff names a pencil "Steve" and breaks it in half. Abed gasps in horror.
and the phrasing "simply change the subject and walk away" really makes me think you don't appreciate that the entire episode is about him trying to make a merry christmas for his friends.
Yeah, you're just relying on circular logic there.
"Abed didn't call the cops because he created a reality of not calling the cops."
We could justify the alternate ending of the suicide episode for the same reason. "Abed didn't care about a teacher blowing his brains out because he created a reality of not caring about teachers blowing their brains out."
You haven't explained why this particular reality is actually consistent with his character.