Dan Harmon, the creator of "Community", has announced he will return to his post as show runner for the upcoming fifth season. Harmon left his position after creative differences between the executives at Sony and himself. Many fans are overjoyed at the news of his return, and see this as an opportunity for the show to once again be the critical cult hit it once was. Many fans considered the fourth, "Harmon-less" season a letdown, and the worst season so far.
I believe that while the fourth season was not up to par with the past three, it still had some quality episodes. When Season 4 was bad, it was bad (Changnesia, anyone?). When Season 4 was good, it was good.
With that being said, here are my Top Five Episodes from "Community"'s Fourth Season.
#5: Episode 4.7 "Economics of Marine Biology"
The side story of Abed's fictional fraternity ("Delta Cubes!") was classic "Community". Jim Rash was given some great lines as The Dean in this episode, and the return of Board Members Clark and Richie was a funny moment. The Jeff and Pierce storyline was classic and true to the characters, furthering their development and relationship. While I felt the season finale (and the episodes that follow this one), didn't properly conclude Pierce's story*, this episode acted as a nice little consolation for everyone's favorite Greendale grump.
*Chevy Chase, and presumably the character of Pierce, will not be returning for the fifth season.
#4 Episode 4.1 "History 101"
While not the greatest episode of the series, "History 101" was a solid start to the season. The Hunger Games parody was underdeveloped, and nothing more than a setting for the episode, but it provided some great laughs. Abed's "laugh-track sitcom" illusion of the study group was spot-on. It was meta, and classic "Community" humor. The Muppet Babies illusion, within the illusion, was just icing on the cake. Reading this all on paper make this episode sound like a mess, but in truth this is real fun episode to watch.
#3 Episode 4.8 "Herstory of Dance"
You could place this episode in the middle of a Season 1 DVD, and if you didn't tell me it was from Season 4, I probably wouldn't have noticed. The humor felt very traditional and true to the roots of the show. It displayed the characters and their relationships as the fans have known them the past three years, while moving their stories forward. It's an episode I think Dan Harmon himself would be proud of.
#2 Episode 4.11 "Basic Human Anatomy"
A brilliant episode written by Oscar Winner Jim Rash (Dean Pelton himself). It features some truly wonderful performances from Rash, Donald Glover (Troy), and Danny Pudi (Abed). Not only in this episodes does "Community" mock the body-switching film genre, it puts its unique twist on it, that serves the episode and the characters well
1. Episode 4.9 "Intro To Felt Surrogacy"
I'm a sucker for "Community"'s theme/concept episodes, and this is really one of the best. Maybe it's my fascination with The Muppets, but you can tell that the cast and crew treated this episode with care. From the attention to the detail in how the puppets move and interact, to the musical numbers. Like "Basic Human Anatomy", or "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas", the concept/theme isn't there for the hell of it. It services the plot of the characters, in a fun and unique way. It may not have furthered the overall arc of the show, but it was an emotional and satisfying episode, that showed how the group has grown in four years. "Intro To Felt Surrogacy" will possibly become known as the highlight of Season 4.
So with that we close the books on an uneven, but still enjoyable season of "Community". Now, onto Season 5...
Runners-Up:
Episode 4.9 "Intro To Knots" (The season's Christmas episode)
Episode 4.5 "Cooperative Escapism In Familial Relations (Jeff reunites with his father for Thanksgiving)
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