Community had its third annual Halloween episode. I thought it was a brilliant, very funny episode that only had one major flaw: it aired right after “Remedial Chaos Theory,” an episode with a very similar structure that also happened to be one of the best episodes they’ve ever done. “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps” is only a weak episode compared to the one that preceded it. On its own, it was great.
One thing I love about this show is the way it uses comedy to examine these complex characters and how they all relate to one another. Abed being the only person in the group without homicidal tendencies was predictable, but still funny, because it makes perfect sense. I thought Annie’s story was the most interesting one and gave a new insight into how she feels about her relationship with Jeff: a part of her naively clings to the hope that she’ll be the woman to change him, but the twist with her morphing into a werewolf indicates that, deep down, she knows he won’t actually change, and if they ever date, she’s more likely to hurt him than the other way around. (And in the spirit of talking about problematic characters I love anyway, I have to admit that Jeff/Annie still hits all of my romance buttons despite the growing feeling that the relationship is very wrong. I watch this and see the sexual chemistry between Joel McHale and Alison Brie just bounce off of each other and I desperately want them to make out again.)
Anyway, I wanted to use this post to talk about how much I love all of these characters, because it’s impossible for me to have a favorite (although I probably relate to Abed and Britta the most), but instead, I want to focus a little on Shirley. If there’s an underused character on this show, it’s Shirley, and these last few episodes have had me thinking about her place in the group and if we’re going to see an interesting arc for her this season.
Almost every character in the study group has felt isolated from the others at one point, with the possible exception of Troy – I think he’s had issues with individual members of the group, but not the group as a whole, and he’ll never feel lonely again as long as he has Abed. Annie feels isolated due to her youth, and possibly her academic intelligence. Britta feels like a buzzkill who sucks the fun out of the room. Abed often can’t relate to people except through a pop culture lens. Pierce had an entire arc last season about his isolation from the group. Jeff seems on a darker and darker path to the point where he could wind up becoming even worse than Pierce – for all of his faults, Pierce actually expresses emotions while Jeff denies having any, and Pierce also did a very compassionate thing for Jeff in the season premiere by reclaiming the villain role just when he finally felt accepted.
But then there’s Shirley, who I have come to see as the most overlooked, forgotten member of the Greendale study group, and this episode only confirmed that feeling.
Shirley is different from the other group members in some very fundamental ways. She’s the only religious one, the only one with children, and the only one in a married, (newly) stable relationship. As the group grows closer together, Shirley seems to grow farther apart from them. In fact, I think her reunion with her husband has made her more isolated from the group. When she was divorced, she was emotionally wounded and fit right into the gang of lovable misfits, all of whom had deep emotional scars from their lives before Greendale. Now that she’s back with Andre after he redeemed himself, she’s still lovable, but less misfit-y.
As such, the group doesn’t think about Shirley so much. Maybe they can’t relate to her anymore because they’re still working through their issues and they assume she’s conquered hers. She’s more of their group “mother hen” than ever – and since they’ve cast her in the mother role (and she has, to a point, adopted that role), they don’t consider her feelings, because children typically don’t think about their parents’ feelings as much as parents think about their children.
Heck, just look at the characters’ ghost stories. Pierce was the only one who even included Shirley in his story at all (I don’t count Jeff because he just characterized the entire group as an insane pack of which he is the sane leader). In a strange way, Pierce respects Shirley more than anyone in the group does! In a pack of “horny toads who can’t stop making googly eyes at each other,” Pierce tends to be the one who actually remembers that Shirley exists and doesn’t just see her as a mom. Maybe that’s the reason Shirley didn’t put Pierce in her story at all – she doesn’t resent him for leaving her out, and therefore doesn’t need to punish him the way she punishes the others.
The group (except Pierce) sees Shirley as the one who takes care of them. But Shirley came to community college because she was trying to be something other than a wife and mother. Instead, the group has re-cast her in the same role she has lived all her life. She’s tired of it, and the woman is about to snap.
Are we going to get an arc for Shirley similar to Pierce’s from last year? I don’t think Shirley could ever be as cruel as Pierce was (especially to Jeff, ye gods), but the show seems to be setting up an arc for her to finally make an impression on the rest of the group. They need to know that she’s not just their mother figure and she just wants them to be her friends.
At least, I hope that’s what the writers have in store for her. I have faith in Dan Harmon and his crew.
Articles
Interviews
Novels, Fiction & Silliness
Reviews
You are absolutely correct in knowing that parents think more about their kids’ feelings than vice versa.
>>Pierce was the only one who even included Shirley in his story at all<<
Interesting I don't know that I faulted the episode for this though since the structure was such that like a campfire song each person added on or mutated the original story and *injected themselves* and their issues into it. Britta only includes Jeff, because she only feels like she has issues around him and because she's a bad storyteller.
Abed adds himself, but subtracts Jeff, and Britta is more of a prop for his issues with the (horror film) world and it's nonsensical narratives.
Annie subtracts Abed, and brings back Britta/Jeff because of her issues around them.
Troy doesn't care about that drama because his ongoing triangle revolves more around his soul mate ish thing with Abed and his frienemy issues with Pierce.
Pierce includes her in the show no one is old enough to have heard of, but leaves out Jeff, his younger avatar, and vanquishes Troy/Abed's friendship.
But I don't disagree that Shirley has been given the shortest character shrift, I think it's because reuniting her with Andre was "good" for her, but bad for her role on sitcom. The groups largest "issue" with her is that she bakes too much (something that was repeated here in Britta's hilarious party spread: Fruit Loops and taco shells hahahaha), but yes I hope this leads to an arc where the group not "seeing" her and that she is still searching for who she wants to be is addressed.
Oh no, I didn’t fault the episode with that at all. Britta’s, Annie’s, Troy’s, and Pierce’s stories all dealt with underlying issues and resentment they had against other people in the group. I don’t think the group really has that many issues with Shirley – they don’t like when she gets too Christian and judgmental around them, but that’s something they treat as an annoyance, not something that truly hurts them or makes them resentful.
And when I watched this episode again – and “Remedial Chaos Theory” – I was struck by how much Shirley seems to resent Britta in particular. She disapproves of Britta’s lifestyle as much as she seems to be intensely curious about it and envious of it. At the same time, Britta (and Pierce in a very weird, gross way) is probably the one who treats Shirley most as a friend and equal rather than as a mom figure. There’s a potential for a real, close friendship between the two of them, and they’ve gotten there a few times, but that difference seems to keep them from getting super close.
Whatever the case, I want them to use her more. When I rewatched the early first season episodes, back when Jeff and Britta were still insufferable and painful to watch, I realized that their interactions with Shirley – Jeff getting gossipy with her, Britta resolving her “ladies bathroom” issues – were the first times I liked either of them.
Oh, and continuing with the Gillian Jacobs appreciation fest – her breaking into Shirley/Yvette’s inflection during Shirley’s story was spot-on and hilarious. “Thanks, Shirley! Wait, this isn’t Shirley, this is a story about strangers, ANYhoo…”
Great review. I love Shirley! She’s my favourite character. Please feel free to check out my review of this great episode: http://lukerutledge.wordpress.com
So I disagree a little bit with the Jeff/Annie analysis (but maybe it’s the hopeful shipper in me!) since I read it a little bit as how Annie views the situation between herself, Jeff and Britta but also how Annie thinks Jeff and Britta view the situation. There is the very likely potential that I’m totally off-base of course. I think Annie is immature enough to hope she’ll change Jeff but I also think she likes Jeff as she’s gotten to know him (gross, jerk-like behaviour and all). I think Jeff believes Annie wants to change him, whether or not he’s willing and/or able.
That aside, Shirley is definitely a character that gets left behind. I think your take on the Shirley/Britta dynamic is interesting – envy is often displayed as disapproval. If you can’t have it, then nobody gets to enjoy it. I think that in first season, prior to group roles being firmly established, Shirley was treated evenly across the board by everyone. But in second season, she did take on a mothering role even when it wasn’t welcome. While there have definitely been real moments of friendship mostly between Britta and Shirley, I don’t think any members of the group accept her in the mother role either – it’s just that there doesn’t appear to be room for her anywhere else.
There’s supposed to be an upcoming episode about Andre wanting to remarry Shirley and I think that has the potential, if handled correctly, to be a great Shirley-centric episode but also the beginning of a great development arc for her.
So I disagree a little bit with the Jeff/Annie analysis (but maybe it’s the hopeful shipper in me!) since I read it a little bit as how Annie views the situation between herself, Jeff and Britta but also how Annie thinks Jeff and Britta view the situation.
No, I agree with you on that. Annie’s jealous and judgmental of the Jeff/Britta FWB situation, and she sees it as Jeff treating Britta like crap and using her, while Britta’s okay with being treated badly. It’s a little messed-up!
I used to root for Jeff/Annie because I thought a relationship would be strangely good for both of them. Now, I’m starting to think that Jeff is being put on a darker path – but I’m still rooting for Jeff/Annie anyway. I just don’t know if it will be a healthy relationship! I think the writers are leading there, anyway. Five episodes in and we’ve had Jeff/Annie moments in all of them – Jeff imagining that they were going to sleep together, their subplot in the second episode, being lab partners, their kiss/chemistry in some of the alternate timelines, and this whole horror fantasy.
It’s good to hear about upcoming stuff for Shirley. I’m intrigued to see how things go with Andre.
No, I agree with you on that. Annie’s jealous and judgmental of the Jeff/Britta FWB situation, and she sees it as Jeff treating Britta like crap and using her, while Britta’s okay with being treated badly. It’s a little messed-up!
She is jealous and judgmental which is regular ol’ socialization… Jeff, in previous seasons, seemed to believe that Annie wanted something that he wasn’t (romance and roses and the American Dream) but Annie has never actually said that. He has, instead, gone to Annie for moral grounding and made self-aware confessions to her – I read the “Look how much I’ve changed you!” line as Annie acknowledging Jeff’s fears about them together. She may well view herself as someone who can change Jeff but I don’t necessarily believe she wants to. I’ve discussed this episode in numerous places…
I could do without Jeff and Annie being together but you’re right, I don’t know how healthy the relationship would be at this point. I think they’re still good for each other but their dynamic has changed a lot and the characters themselves have changed a lot.. It’s interesting because I think the least amount of growth has happened with Shirley.
My real concern with the upcoming storyline is that it won’t be handled well (see previous storyline: Shirley’s pregnancy) or that it will be a vehicle for other character’s story arcs (see potential future storyline: “Jeff and Annie discuss marriage!”)
Great review – can’t wait for Community to return on March 15! Please check out my own review of this episode on my blog: lukerutledge.wordpress.com and feel free to leave a comment. Thanks!