A critique of Community Season 4 (AKA "The Gas Leak Year")

[@2leftframes]

I've learned a lot in the 2+ years since first making this video on 2 Left Thumbs. I had a lot of fun re-editing it, and adding to it. I hope people enjoy this even more than the original! And if you are looking for something totally new from me, please watch my Little Demon Season 1 review! ► kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJnUe3iohLqkg6M

[@fortwolfz1347]

You remade the video awesome

[@andrewmcelwee898]

❤😅❤

[@52Tmacfan]

The worst season is definitely 4, not 6. Not sure where you got the info that the opinion has switched.

[@StevenTLawson]

@@52Tmacfan Because Season 4 was better than Seasons 5 and 6. While Season 4 was pretty lack luster, it had an identity to it. Season 5 Opens with Jeff coming back to Greendale when he hears of a lawsuit, and it's a complete reset of the characters because they all have to take new classes. People want to complain about regression, that was the biggest one. You had a single episode around Jeff being a teacher with the second episode of the Season after that the entire season was more of the exact same nonsense that you got in season 4 all while ignoring Jeff being a teacher, it's brought up in offhand comments but in seasons 1-4 them being students had relevance to their actions. Pierce was gone after the first episode, Troy left five episodes later, not even making it to the halfway point. So the show was scrambling to find replacements for the study group. Season 6 had the same problem, Shirley and Buzz left, so that needed more people and the Save Greendale Commitee also ended up in the backseat for most plot points despite being the reason for the characters even being given things to do. Seasons 5 and 6 had most episodes not even take place in a classroom, no homework or any of the such was even mentioned anymore. So the cast that had all been students, suddenly lost the identity as more and more of them were replaced by nonstudents, and eventually the show stopped bothering to send the few people that were still students like Abed, Britta and Annie to classes anymore. The backdrop of a slice of life in a wacky third rate community college pretty much went away once you got halfway through the fifth season and you could have filmed each episode in a warehouse or walmart for how much the setting really mattered to the plot.

[@OzymandiasWasRight]

Pedro Pascal struggling to read "here's your sperm" is one of the funniest things ive ever heard.

[@dustinvanwinkle5078]

Him sitting in on the reading is the perfect example why community was magical. He knew the lines that were coming an still couldn't hold it together 😂. His frustration with himself was funny to see

[@daftwerk567]

Am I missing something? Mr. Stone was played by Walton Goggins

[@teneesh3376]

​@@daftwerk567he was on the table read to replace the lawyer

[@daftwerk567]

@teneesh3376 OHHHH right. Thanks!

[@pp-vf8ls]

thats season 5

[@anthonycates269]

One of the worst aspects of season 4 that I was surprised you didn’t bring up is how they brought back Annie’s infatuation for Jeff. The season 3 episode “Virtual Systems Analysis” gave really good closure to their relationship with Annie and Abed both working through their personal problems in the Dreamatorium. Then this season casually brings that dynamic back without a second thought. It felt like such a blatant recession for her character

[@2leftframes]

Great example! The Annie + Jeff stuff was always messy. The show starts with Annie ~18 and Jeff ~35. Nearly twice her age... But they at least showed us that it stemmed from Annie being young and unsure of what she was looking for, paired with Jeff being a rule-breaking womanizer. So it had a place in the show. Then they just start randomly crushing on each other again, after it feels they had both outgrown that phase and matured. I'm not at all a fan of how that storyline was handled.

[@memeboi6017]

Well for me, the way I see it, there is a place for some sort of relationship after Virtual Systems Analysis clears it up, it makes *some* sense how their whole relationship works in 5-6, but season 4 really dropped the ball.

[@kevinwg02]

@@2leftframes really gross? I just thought it was sweet

[@DHCVoLt]

@@kevinwg02 i always felt the jeff annie crush also stemmed from the idea that jeff had "wasted his life" in terms of not holding close relationships and that it made sense to re-introduce the crush but in terms of it being immature on jeffs end, this basically got confirmed by the final convo in the series finale too. i get why its gross bc of the ages but really its so smart as a development for annies character that turns into an exploration of jeffs insecurities and short comings.

[@snerdterguson]

I wouldn't say that was a bad thing. Without that, we don't get the platonic shoulder holding or the cutesy capers and semi acceptable scenarios like Jeff and Annie investigating the ACB.

[@Storyograph]

Magnitude's "pop pop" origin story is my favorite joke of season 4

[@AGameNetwork]

That was one of my least favorite moments funnily enough. I dont know why it made me so irrationally angry.

[@WlatPziupp]

@@AGameNetwork For me it's the giving a pointless concrete explanation for a joke that didn't need explaining. "pop pop!" Yes Magnitude, the party pops now that it's blessed by your presence. Why not also explain his glasses? Or show how Britta in her childhood saw a powerful woman wearing a vest. How'd the Dean get bald? Was it a misunderstanding that lead him to hate Superman?. I wish I liked it

[@dll7658]

​@@WlatPziupp Damn, well said

[@chocolatebunnies6376]

But why wasn’t it that his parents were shot, so every time he says it, he’s expressing unprocessed trauma?

[@akselbentsen3683]

@@WlatPziuppI don’t know why but I read this as Abed’s voice lol

[@Aweirdjoe]

I still like the use of the term gas leak year. Rather than referring to the season as being bad, it’s a good explanation for why character arcs relapse back to season 2 and season 1. Most sitcoms don’t really have character growth be so important but to community the personal growth each character is central to why they stay together.

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

it tooke me so long to understand that the gas leak had supposedly been going on during season 4. (throughout all of season 5 i thought they meant that it had happened after the first semester) and yeah! most sitcoms i tend to stay away from because theyre just niot really for me, but ones like community (and the good place) are great to me because they seem way more story first, comedy second

[@feliperojas-doomride]

@@noPotatoesAtAll the same thing happened to me, I didn't get that it was a reference to season 4 at first. I guess that happens when you binge watch a series without having to wait between seasons

[@notaulgoodman9732]

I like it as a joke too. S4 was pretty bizzare and gas leak is such a greendale explanation. Just got what the gas leak year meant and had a good chuckle from it.

[@hutch815]

season 6 is streets ahead season 4. i absolutely adore frankie and elroy. i hope they’re in the movie

[@2leftframes]

I NEED to see those 2 interacting with Troy!!

[@seank9823]

Really didn't like either of them haha. I have a feeling this community movie is going to be very polarizing.

[@ryanhoward8694]

Season 6 is massively underrated.

[@KiaraChanelArt]

Me too. I find season 4 unwatchable. I love season 6.

[@ferretappreciator]

God I loved Frankie. Elroy was definitely an enjoyable character, but Frankie was always my favorite of the newcomers. Mostly because she's like an abed adjacent character while still having her own unique characteristics that make her storylines fun to watch rather than being a rehash of previous plotlines

[@dalellll]

The Changnesia thing was so terrible because it ruined the joke. It was laugh out loud funny when you see the note "My name is Kevin. I have Changnesia.", i was literally in hysterics. Having the other characters assume Changnesia is a real medical condition (and not allowing it to be an unhinged note written by an unhinged character) was just so... late-stage Simpsons.

[@brix-rb9dg]

They didn’t “assume it was real” they spent like 3 or 4 episodes trying to prove it was fake and just giving up Obed they realized they couldn’t find proof to expose them.

[@expiredmilk5435]

​@@brix-rb9dgThey meaning jeff, because everyone else believed Chang instantly

[@philbattiste9649]

Not to mention the rather lazy attempts at humor surrounding it. A lot of "Kevin's" jokes are just him doing a thing wrong and then saying "whoops! I have Changnesia!" Almost nothing he says is clever or topical all season.

[@dylantyrrell9084]

On my VERY FIRST watch, before falling head first into the fandom, watching 60+ times and memorizing every line, a sopping wet chang rolling up with a meekish newborn baby expression, with the my name is kevin note, was my literalt favorite part of the show

[@mollybartlett3713]

I love this video! Thank you! I do want to say, as far as season 4 goes… As someone with a terrible dad, I really appreciated the way the episode where Jeff meets his father was handled. It was fittingly underwhelming/anti-climactic. He spent his whole life imagining this interaction would be life-changing and it was, but not in the way he imagined it would be. I thought this episode had a lot of heart and realism. People are disappointing, it’s important to say your peace even if the recipient doesn’t want to hear it, etc..

[@2leftframes]

Very well put!

[@mattkeflowers]

I say this as someone who has enjoyed a lot of Harmon's work, I think the reality is that Dan Harmon earned not having season 4 to run. He talks about the reality of how bad he was at running the show in an effective way on Harmontown. He was bad at keeping schedules and budgets in line, often erratic, hard drinking, chaotic, and at times abusive. It seems in many ways he has grown from that place. Having heard a lot of his Harmontown moments talking about parts of this time, you get a strong feeling that his self-improvement on so many fronts in the later seasons and projects, come from him being taken off of community during season 4.

[@animosity9197]

One thing I noticed the last time I rewatched Community is how technically tight and impressive the first three seasons are. Rather than having A and B plots like most sitcoms, Community routinely has A, B, and C plots--all of which connect at least thematically, but often in actual interconnections where something relevant from one storyline proves important to another. It's part of what helps those first three seasons feel so breakneck and non-stop, and I remember immediately noticing season 4 dropped back down to the more standard 2 plots per episode format, or when they tried 3, they weren't well-integrated. It's a little thing that really affects the tone of the show! Also I felt like Abed was the worst-handled in season 4, and felt extremely vindicated when Dan Harmon turned out to be autistic himself, because, yeah, what felt like one of the most realistic and relatable portrayals of someone pretty obviously on the spectrum came from another autistic person. And in season 4 it...really felt more like what allistic people THINK autistic people are like (when it wasn't, as you said, outright character regression). As a fanfiction reader, season 4 feels like the kind of fanfic I only don't back button out of if I'm REALLY desperate. My wife and I did end up skipping through most of season 4 last time we re-watched, because it super does not hold up.

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

literally read that first paragraph and snapped my fingers and said, out loud, "oh _thaaaaaaat's_ what it was!" because yes! it became way less complicated and yet somehow also harder to follow? i'm pretty sure that i'm on the spectrum (self diagnosed using the dsm5 but not entirely certain) and abed was just such a relatable character, and season four made kind of uncomfortable at some moments... i very much related to the first episode, but felt like some of the way it was handled was kind of weird, but outside of that and when he and troy were interacting (which thankfully was most of the time) it felt really odd

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

also, as a fellow fanfiction reader, i feel like season four is the kind of thing i would read if it had 1 - 4ish chapters but would definitely not read a proper long fic about

[@speedoboyshawn9080]

I'm really glad that you mentioned how it really felt like Dan Harmon fractured his personality into the main cast of characters. I've always felt this way and it's nice to hear that someone else agrees with me on that

[@natalieshark]

As a Doctor Who fan, I will always love season four for its Inspector Spacetime episode. It’s so accurate to the Doctor Who fandom. Even the small details of the episode are strong. Like the alien tart cards in the phone booth. So clever.

[@MM-ux7kp]

When Doctor Who is hitting each mark, Doctor Who is some good shyt. Definitely some episodes with bad ethos and bad writing. But shit, a TV show is a weird thing. And I think that art is worth something different than the sum of its parts.

[@yepimbatman]

I think "The Whale" episode has the best written Shirley storyline of any Community episode. I don't love her character but I do love Yvette Nicole Brown and I always wanted to see her do more but it really felt like the writers were never quite able to make her work in her own storylines. The relationship drama was fine for her but she never got to be funny? I love seeing her story as a gym teacher because it gave her some well-deserved wins and some good jokes too

[@_toulouse]

same! i was actually surprised to learn after seeing it as an out-of-context clip that it was a season 4 episode. i thought it was a season 1 episode based on how grounded her section of the story was.

[@GustavoTiavo]

I loved her in the foosball episode. Felt like it gave a lot more depth to her character

[@ferretappreciator]

I didn't know about the sexual misconduct scenario but I'm glad Megan ganz was able to find some closure and I'm glad to know that Dan Harmon is capable of remorse. Both are not exactly common in such cases

[@estellegrignon]

One thing Dan Harmon did that is, somehow, way too rare in this world, is that he was able to completely acknowledge he was in the wrong without sugarcoating it. He didn't just blame it on his drinking problem, but blamed himself for his behaviour and was able to show empathy towards Kanz and place her at the center of his apology. I've seen so many people do problematic crap and try to paint themselves as the victim afterwards and I'm glad Dan Harmon was able to avoid that

[@teejay1646]

​​@@estellegrignon Fr it's weird that I'm saying this but both he and Louis CK are a prime example of how to handle those kinds of allegations head on like an adult. Apology and accountability. You aren't broken and evil forever afterwards. But what you did wasn't ok and there's nothing you can or should do to try and soften that

[@harrylane4]

Megan also got the benefit of working on another cult classic show that’s arguably a bigger deal than community ever was. Ganz does really good work with the Sunny crew, she’s one of their best writers

[@harrylane4]

@@teejay1646 Louis ck has done like three stand up specials entirely centered around “cancel culture is so bad aren’t I so edgy for saying cancel culture is bad isnt it so funny how I nutted on nonconsenting ladies” I wouldn’t call that taking accountability

[@haydenkirby4484]

@@harrylane4 she’s absolutely fantastic, so good on the pod

[@LuxuryPossum]

I think season 6 is underrated. It does feel like we are coming to a close with the series, there are still some stand out episodes and a pretty satisfying finale. Paget Brewster and Keith David need to be in the movie in some capacity. I mean, if you can get Keith David in your movie... put Keith David in your movie.

[@2leftframes]

They'd better all be returning!! I am trying to find time to make a video on Season 6. It probably won't be as long or in depth as this one. But I think it'd be a lot of fun to unpack what did and didn't work there

[@theperson8539]

I think season 6 might just be the best season.

[@theperson8539]

@@2leftframes I have a theory about season 6, I think that it might be the best season out of all of them, or at least tied for the best (I personally think all the seasons besides 4 are tied, just cuz they each have such a distinct feel to them). I think the only reason people don't think it is as good as it is might be because the last few episodes are so good that they make the earlier ones feel lacking, Community ends on an insanely high note, a phenomenon that's rare enough that it might have an inherent effect in unfairly overshadowing earlier episodes. This is just my opinion, but I've probably not enjoyed a single season of Community as much as Season 6, it builds up so much, and it pisses me off when people have the gall to dismiss it like it wasn't a masterpiece in its own right.

[@shmikex]

As long as he doesn't Nope out of the movie within the first five minutes of...Nope

[@EloquentTroll]

​@@2leftframesChevy Chase isn't coming back "sadly".

[@rivertoepler8526]

THIS is what media reviews should be, even though you don’t really like this season, I love how you’re willing to give, not just a positive outlook, but an empathetic one. Love it!!

[@jacobsweet7327]

Season 4 Has so many great moments that in a vacuum are fantastic. Even the Space time convention, as weak as that episode is, I love when Abed doesn't freak out be cause he knows Troy will come find him. Considering how he was bullied and would be left in lockers for hours, and is traumatized by it, it's such a sweet moment. Jeff's confrontation with his father, and the whole "you get credit for that too" monologue its fantastic, and the closure on that storyline was great, along with Jeff realizing that this group is his family, and that they do care about him, which he admits that's something he struggled with his whole life. Hell even Peirce and his brother (Gus from breaking bad) admitting that they're both kind of depressed about their father dying, and that they have a hard time dealing with a lack of closure. You can tell there's a real heart to this season, I think partially because cancellation was looming and the idea of doing one school year per season, they tried to wrap up everyone's character arcs. Since this is the end of there college career and they are all gonna move on after they graduate. Obviously this isn't how it happened, and we got 2 more seasons and a movie (hopefully). But this season has some really good emotional moments that are a lot like early season 1 where every episode had a pretty emotional through line. Troy and his football career, Abed with his parents. I think this season just lack the writing to get to those moments in a natural way.

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

yes! same heart, different vibe (thats at least what it felt like to me)

[@minhuang8848]

S4 was great, the two seasons after that (while still very good) were so much worse, imho. It's got its flaws, but also Community already did everything within its first three seasons - following it up with a season like #4 is an achievement, if nothing else. Could have been better, but people are kind of overdoing it as far as I am concerned.

[@jacobsweet7327]

@@minhuang8848 I agree this season is far from the worst thing I've ever seen, and I don't think it's that big of a drop off as people make it out to be. I think it just kinda lost it's spark that those first seasons had. I can't put my finger on it what that spark particularly was, but to use a Gen Z term, the vibe was different. Which makes sense you have a new show runner things will change. I also Think that when a long running show has it's first down turn (or stagnation) in quality people always think it's much worse than it actually is. Season 5 of game of thrones, season 6 of the office, these season's are not bad it's just that what came before and after them that make people retroactively start to dislike these seasons.

[@luigiboi4244]

I remember enjoying the first rendition, so seeing the revised rendition is a no-brainer. Also THE PROPHECY HAS COME TRUE!!! 6 SEASONS AND A MOVIE!!!

[@2leftframes]

Fingers crossed for the movie. I hope they bring back *everyone* including the newer characters from the later seasons :)

[@uajrh1]

@@2leftframes movie is already confirmed

[@2leftframes]

@@uajrh1 I meant fingers crossed that it's actually any good haha

[@elijahtheelijah2424]

I hope they bring everyone back but Chevy Chase, because that would be a disaster

[@twowuv3139]

troy and britta getting together was easily the worst thing that happened in season 4 and i stand by that

[@gerbendekker3273]

I don't think it's the worst that happened but it is in my eyes one of the worst-used arcs in season 4. Earlier seasons gave us a lot of interesting dynamic between Troy and Britta, and the moment that stepping stone is followed through to its peak, it's left pretty much unexplored. I wish we would have seen more interaction between them that was as interesting and as likeable as that set up in the seasons before the fourth.

[@elijahtheelijah2424]

I would also like to point out that Troy and Britta got together in Season 3, not 4. Although I do agree, their relationship was not handled well and quickly became uninteresting and not believable in Season 4.

[@combogalis]

It was one of the most obvious points that felt nothing like Community. I don't know what the real plan was for their relationship, but it was probably going to be something way less boring and way more dysfunctional than what we got.

[@blooberryjamyt5688]

I feel like the puppet episode is far more impressive, then it is good The amount of work they went through with those puppets and just the amazing puppetry is just so good, and I personally like the songs in that episode Everything else though just kinda....sucks since there's no real story

[@2leftframes]

That's fair! I do think it deserves credit for the amount of work that went into it all. It's too bad the story didn't really live up to that :/

[@alejandrorivera6614]

I remember my first watchthrough of that episode. I was busy doing something else but that was never an issue, community episodes never gave me a chance of feeling distracted. So when the episode started I thought "oh cool, it's going to be an episode like the stop motion one" but I kept drifting off trying to understand the story and even after countless rewatch it's so hard to remember what the hell it was about. The only appeal to that episode were the puppets, which were pretty cool to be honest. But it's story is so Infuriatingly weak that not even George Costanza can make you appreciate it

[@chetanuniyal3428]

The darkest timeline paintball episode was really awesome though.

[@combogalis]

I don't think it's usually thought of as the worst episode, but I actually couldn't even watch the puppet episode. It's like uncanny valley Community and is genuinely painful to me.

[@olivia-sv3wq]

i love that sara barielles has a cameo in it but perhaps her awesome voice made some of the other characters sound worse than they are lol

[@chronicbrightside8757]

"Season 4 is basically fanfiction." I have literally said this exact sentence when trying to sum up why Season 4 feels so distinctly "off."

[@elijahtheelijah2424]

That is so true though!

[@combogalis]

Yes, that was my thought while watching the first episode of season 4 for the first time. It's also why I can't really enjoy most fan fiction even though I don't hate on it like a lot of people do. It's not that the writing is inherently bad. It just doesn't feel like the work it's trying to emulate. That's not to generalize all fan fiction. I just think it works much better when authors focus on original characters in pre-existing worlds rather than trying to write pre-existing characters who then tend to act... off

[@TwoToTheSix]

Yeah, I think that shows should basically never hire someone who describes themselves as a fan to run something. S4 is a good example of what can happen. Fans turned creators tend to be a bit overly reverent and afraid to do anything significant. When fans think about Community, things like paintball and Abed’s meta commentary come to mind, but you can’t build Community from those things alone. You need all the great character interactions to earn the occasional paintball episode.

[@waywardlaser]

People only like season 4 more than 6 because of the cast. Season 6 is honestly streets ahead, even without Donald, Chevy, and Yvette.

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

this and there was a whole vibe change with the visuals... i can acknowledge that 5 & 6 were better then four, but personally, i just like the less

[@maximillion322]

The only cast member I really missed in season 6 was Donald Glover Jonathan Banks and Keith David are at least as good as any of the original cast. And don’t get me wrong, I love the original cast, but those guys are just that good. Pierce had a perfect sendoff, and Shirley… I don’t think Dan Harmon ever knew what to do with her. She had some good episodes, but she certainly didn’t feel as essential to the show as the rest of the cast. As for Donald Glover, the show just had a fully different vibe without him, but I really think they made it work.

[@emaosmanbasic6882]

The season was fine. Like I get the hate but it really wasn't that bad. I watched the show without knowing anything behind the scenes and it did feel like something was off. It was also to bright and more colourful than the previous seasons and some episodes were not to my taste. But I rewatched it again with my sister when it came on Netflix since she didn't see it and it was better than I remembered.

[@estellegrignon]

I started watching the show by catching reruns on MUCH in Canada and had no real way to know what season I was watching because of that. But I remember sometimes thinking something felt weird: when I then started watching season by season afterwards, I realized those awkward episodes all happened through season 4. So yes, it is possible to see the cracks in S4 without knowing about the drama or Harmon being gone.

[@2leftframes]

That's very interesting! I'm curious how many had a similar experience. Thanks for sharing :)

[@minhuang8848]

Early 21st Century Romanticism is season 2, not 4

[@alexafama6315]

i am SO happy you appreciate Paget Brewster the way i do. she is my absolute favourite female actress and commands and brilliantly plays every role i've seen her in

[@WlatPziupp]

The commentary track really highlights a ton of the issues with Chevy. Constantly asking if he absolutely had to be in a scene and going to his trailer if he wasn't, insisting on having jokes all the time, just not understanding what was happening constantly. My favorite example is the slow-walk scene in the KFC spacewagon episode. He didn't get that him walking normally was the funny part, and when he was told there was a joke he said "I'll show you a funny walk!" and tried to take over the whole scene. He can be funny but honestly I don't think he understands comedy well at all. Very highly recommend the commentary track by the way. Especially for the last two seasons where it's just Harmon, even though all of them are fun, because he explains just so much about the show. How the logistics of making an episode impacts it more than you might think, how terrible his own workflow was for everyone else, how important it is for character to inform jokes, the danger of his own hubris, it's all great. He said if he ever headed a project like this again he wants to have someone hired just to tell him "no, that's insane, you can't do that". To avoid things like the many months it took to make the second d&d episode he ended up not liking at all, just because he decided early on "yeah I can follow up an amazing episode, I'm better than every other writer so it should be easy enough"

[@2leftframes]

That sounds super interesting! Dan Harmon has his issues. But the guy knows *a lot* about storytelling. Hearing him explain how that pushes up against actual production and logistics would be incredibly fascinating!

[@isaiahlem]

Chang farting during the 4th "cool" never fails to crack me up.

[@shmikex]

The one thing to admire about Season 4 is it's the last season with the original cast (even with Pierce not showing up all the time). Afterwards they just keep swapping in new characters (Hickey, Frankie, Elroy) to fill the roles of those who left (Pierce, Shirley, Troy). Hell they couldn't even keep their first replacement (Hickey) after his first season.

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

this! pierce and shirley i could kind of deal with, but troy leaving was just so devastating for me, especially because of how it affected abed. i've only watched the show once, and i decided to start watching it again soon, but honeslty, even if i do watch season four, i dont think im going to be watching 5 & 6. i can take the weird ending of season four as long as it has all the characters in it (i also didnt really like frankie which made it wayyyy harder to like the parts that she was in)

[@desireedaniel6490]

I think it’s interesting that after season four, so many things changed including the lighting/makeup. Idk if anyone else notices it but the lighting is so much more harsh in the later seasons compared to earlier. As well as in some episodes you can clearly see the actor’s makeup/pores/etc. compared to earlier seasons when everything seemed like it had a smoother look to it. Maybe a nod to Dan wanting it to be more serious/budget cuts?

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

yesssssssss!!!!!! it was soooo off-putting to me and the vibe really threw me off. honestly, in some ways, i'm kind of grateful because if the series had kept the visual vibe (and troy) i wouldve cried for, like, three hours when i finished it (i cried for about fifteen minutes)

[@obi-onekenerdi]

The first time I watched the show I barely noticed, if at all. Maybe overall episodes weren’t as strong but ideas moments and characters were still all there and that’s what I remember; great moments between memorable and likable characters. As many lesser shows do Community never misunderstood its own characters too much, they remained pretty consistent throughout.

[@Midnightmiaaaaaa]

The body swap episode is honestly one of my fav episodes of all of community

[@crispycol4904]

What I don't like about season 6 is that they kinda dropped Hickey and Duncan again. Duncan was already an established character from previous seasons, so we already knew a lot of them. Hickey was the perfect replacement for Pierce and he had such a fun dynamic with the rest of the cast which left a lot of room open for more depth. Whilst I like Frankie (Elroy not so much tbh) we got to spent such little time with them that it felt weird to have them in the finale.

[@dinofluorescent]

To be fair, the actor playing Hickey left the show because everyone thought the show was cancelled, so he just moved on to do other stuff. But yeah Hickey is like one of my favourite characters in the show too.

[@crispycol4904]

@@dinofluorescent Oh yea understandably so then. It's a shame, that's why S6 is so meh for me because I don't feel motivated to connect to the new chars

[@enbeast8350]

Also to be fair, John Oliver (Duncan) had his own show going on at that time. I believe he got his show in 2013 or 2014 and since his show was filmed live every week, he just couldn't be in Community anymore

[@KalebPeters99]

Yeah it was a shame Hickey left, but arguably worth it for Johnathan Banks' performance in Breaking Bad

[@TheFahmi97]

Yeaah, s4 has its lows but s6 is the one I find really hard to enjoy and attached to

[@ZipZap43]

9:47 Chang was always kind of the antagonist in my eyes like in season one he was the foil and his class was the obstacle the study group had to get around and then in season two he just takes more of a backseat as antagonist for pierce to be in that role so for season three he just returned to the forefront

[@your_future_self]

No way season 6 was as bad as season 4. I mean it's true that there was a lot of cast missing, but a lot of season 4 is just unwatchable for me, season 6 has some fun episodes and moments

[@2leftframes]

It's still the season I am least familiar with. Someday I'll carve out some time and make that Season 6 video!

[@305Independent]

I actually love season 6 more than 3,4, and 5. Moving to Yahoo took all the restraints off the show, upping the wacky to an 11, and I'm all here for it. The end tags were next level. Also they hit a gold mine with Elroy.

[@docmcstuffins5859]

@@305Independent now this is a man who knows how to appreciate casting!

[@theperson8539]

That's a massive understatement, watch the season again, you'll enjoy every second of it.

[@theperson8539]

@@2leftframes Maybe cuz I've only ever watched all the episodes together, but I could not imagine the show with season 6, it's far too spectacular. The writing is insane, and some of the sh*t that goes down is far more insane.

[@AstroAnonymous2]

I just finished rewatching community and went looking for your video on it, so glad I found this one when I did

[@2leftframes]

Thanks for checking it out. And I'm glad you made your way to the updated version

[@gabriellesteenson4625]

Its crazy that this was posted today because I literally Googled last night after the first episode of this season "why is season 4 so different "

[@2leftframes]

Perfect timing!

[@ferretappreciator]

I'm hoping you looked up that exactly and google just knew you meant s4 of community, but understandable if not 💔

[@atrium3399]

as someone who stopped watching after troy left i can confirm that was 100% the nail in the coffin lmao. i didn’t know about any of the behind the scenes stuff or even about dan harmon leaving so season 4 just left me with this weird feeling i couldn’t place, and then troy left so abruptly that i thought it was a joke until i googled it and decided i needed a break 💀 this video kinda sold me on the later seasons though i’ll probably finish it now

[@ryanloder3126]

I started watching this show in 2021. And I loved every season.

[@JohnS-ki2zf]

The wedding episode from season 6 is seriously one of the best episodes

[@LemmingAttack]

The episode with Professor Professorson is probably one my favorites.

[@darkira2129]

Community is like jesus, once dead, resurrected and then a promise of second coming that yet to come.

[@NeroLeMorte]

6 seasons & a movie

[@MrTomservo85]

I have two friends who quit watching community when season 4 aired. After it became available for streaming I pleaded with them for years to please give the show another chance. One day I was at their house and I just put the show on and they got stuck watching season 5 with me. They didn't hate it, and in fact, one of them told me it was their favorite season.

[@2leftframes]

I hope they stick with it, and can discover some of the gold that comes later in the series' run!

[@MrTomservo85]

@@2leftframes Yeah they really liked the later seasons after all, even though it was a little weird getting through them without, you know... Magnitude.

[@nightvisiongoggles5929]

Okay so I wrote a passionate love message to the person who created this video, appreciating the construction of your script and by the framing of the clips you chose, then deleted it all. So I promise I really mean everything I write, I just can’t do things more than once. I wanted to emphasize how invested I was in every word that was said. Your use of information and conversation kept me in a very comfortable back and forth without the stress of arguing. I felt the need to express this because your content felt very fulfilling and refreshing to watch. It was interesting and personal. It felt progressive and came to a comfortable conclusion. The video was undeniably well made, and deserves appreciation to that extent. Anyways slayed 🎉

[@2leftframes]

Wow! I don't think I've ever been complimented in such a precise way! Thank you for that :) It actually means a lot to hear why a video resonated with someone - and it pleases me to know both the presentation and my own personal angle contributed to that enjoyment! That's very motivating for me to make more, and to try to perfect that balance if I can :)

[@songarakram]

I recall watching an interview with Harmon about how much he hated the Matrix reference in the final episode of Season 4 stating it was out of nowhere and forced. But I'm reminded of the Foosball episode in which Jeff and Shirley are suddenly anime for no reason.

[@ShouAlias-io7ud]

Because the style swap is used more to highlight the tension and aggression Jeff and Shirley are feeling in that moment rather than tick off a bunch of boxes regarding anime parodies.

[@schmoopyxek4304]

In an alternate timeline, Harmon managed to create the fourth season in his own image. Troy's super handyman skills allow him to make a time booth with the aid of Abed's super brain. This is how the darkest timeline comes into play for real, and not a dream sequence. Darkest timeline Chang gets revealed as the most craziest evil craziest person 😂

[@lazyotaku4748]

Frankie calling the dean a idiot has to be my favourite moment

[@AtomiicCoasters]

Back in 2020, I used to rewatch Community nonstop. As in that once I( was done season 6, I would go right back to season 1 and repeat 4 times in a row. I recently just rewatched the series in full back in May and weirdly, I had the exact opposite opinion change on season 4. I thought it was a lot better than I remembered it being, and I found parts of 5 and 6 worse than I remembered. I don't even know what the reason for that was, I just feel like maybe I had more fun with season 4 this time around. Even though I disagree with you though, man can I say that this was a great watch and I'm very glad this came up in my recommendations. It's absurd that you're only at 4.5k subs while creating such amazing content like this, and I really hope that soon you'll have a massive blow up and just skyrocket in traffic (bonus kudos for using Danganronpa bgm, it's always a perfect go-to for these types of videos)

[@99baji99]

And Jesus WEPT when he heard someone liked season 4 more than 6.

[@Shelbichu]

Watching season 6 during its airing was so so sooo hard. I haven't had to surf those sketchy sites with too many pop up ads and hard to find video players since the early days of the internet. But I was so determined to watch from Canada (whyyyy did they put it on streaming and then not let Canada watch lmao) because I've loved Community since forever. Nothing else feels like coming home than to put on any episode. #sixseasonsandamovie

[@pixzeefilms]

i know this is in season 5 but one of my favourite fore shadowing moments is at the start of season 5 when they're talking about characters leaving shows after a few episodes into a season, and troy gets really annoyed and is like "after everything scrubs did for him?!", but then donald glover leaves the show like 6 episodes into the season. it's just so funny to me and i never see people talk about this moment. i'm sure it's easy to miss on the first watch, but watching it again and knowing that troy is about to leave, it's so sad yet funny edit: i just finished the video and realised this is literally referenced near the end. i'm glad it's getting recognition HAHAHA

[@pacbirding]

Season 6 is great. Characters are all consistent and you can really feel how they’ve grown. Plus IMO some of the best laugh out loud moments came in that season, thanks to Elroy and Frankie

[@goopi]

oh cool I didn't know about this side channel, great video!

[@iakanoe]

I don't understand how people can call S6 a bad season. Sure, it's not as good as 3, 2, 1 or even 5, but there are some GREAT moments in there; i.e. Dean and Takashi's texting thing (plus the Yakuza joke which itself is a cackler), Jesus wept, the briefcase parade, and so on. And also there is, if I dare, one masterpiece of an episode: Wedding Videography. I keep rewatching it every once in a while because ham girl that shit's good

[@zapman2641]

personally i find it worse than s4 just cuz troy isn't there

[@inspiredrants9078]

The jars of olives bit, is my Favorite bit from the entire show 😂 KILLS me

[@gipadonimus]

Community taught me the perfect element to how I'd want to write any show. I believe the first episode that got adventurous that I caught on TV at the time I first started watching, was the KFC rocket episode. It made me realize you can make mundane situations super tropey and suspenseful while having it not only work thematically, but also be hilarious in of itself.

[@thepolloelectrico1117]

I will defend the final three seasons of Community with my dying breath! There is substance, character growth, uniformity and self-awareness, just as there had always been. Besides, Paget Brewster and her Frankie is a much welcome breathe of fresh air for the formula, in my opinion. They did a perfect job maintaing afloat the gruyere of a boat that this series I deeply love had become. And I also think we owe a great deal of gratitude to them because now we're getting a movie too.

[@sydhamelin1265]

I love seasons 5 and 6 for their total experimentation, that hits so much more than misses. I definitely skip season 4 on rewatch. I've seen it once, and that's enough. I just introduced my friend to Community and told him to watch season 4 for at least a few episodes. He had the same reaction where he said it was worth a first watch, but he wouldn't watch it again. But season 5 has Meow Meow Beanz, Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, GI Jeff, the Lie Detector episode, Troy's farewell (floor is lava), Repilot, the 'found textbooks'...I mean, those are all peak Community episodes, in a season of only 13 episodes. Then 6 has the dog that graduated, the prisoners on ipads, the racist comic, the amazing grifting episode, chang's movie.....

[@2leftframes]

Community's very best episodes from across the full series a truly outstanding. And I think if fans were to list their Top 10 episodes, we'd see a sore lack of Season 4 represented on that list. It's fiiine. But is mostly forgettable, especially stacked up against those standouts!!

[@sydhamelin1265]

@@2leftframes I think season 4 was summarized best with "funny moments". Looking over the episodes, I can remember times where I laughed, and some pretty clever bits, but they all felt disconnected from the show itself. You described it as fanfiction, and I think that's exactly where it falls. And yeah, I can't really make it through an episode of season 4, now that I know what the episode is. Unlike anything from seasons 2, 3, 5, and 6, where I can re-watch just about any of those and still get a laugh.

[@sydhamelin1265]

Or get a real emotional reaction. Jeff giving Abed 2 hugs is one of the best emotional scenes on TV. That second hug is so incredible. It's a perfect representation of our feelings to Community.

[@snerdterguson]

You're right about season five, that's for sure. You even left out the best episode of the season, Intergluteal Numismatics.

[@lslhlalnl]

the first rendition of this video is what introduced me to your channels! glad to see you come back to community again

[@2leftframes]

That's cool! Cool cool cool ;) Hopefully you enjoy the revision even more than the original!

[@gabersg]

Well done, you hit on all the important issues, both good and bad, that make the "Gas Leak" year so significant. Like a forest fire that no one wanted, it did clear land and fertilize the ground to allow new growth. No, it wasn't the same forest as before, but it was proper growth

[@McLennox]

It would be neat to see a list of "only watch these episodes of season 4" for canonical reasons, including the 'good' episodes. Are there straight up skip-worthy episodes, even for a newcomer?

[@jerryborjon]

Tbh you should watch all of them. Even if you dislike them, they’re probably still worth watching. I got really attached to the characters and felt a pit in my stomach when I watched the finale because I knew I couldn’t watch any more new ones. If you skip the bad episodes, you’ll just be tempted to watch them later just to get more of the group. You’ll be putting yourself in a situation where you’ll either be left with the temptation to watch them, or your last new episodes of the show will be the bad ones. It’s better to just watch them when you have the chance.

[@McLennox]

​@@jerryborjonI've seen the series over a handful of times over. Just curious if there's any I should skip if I show it to someone new.

[@erobin93]

I think the most skippable one is Felt Surrogacy since literally nothing plot relevant happens in that one (as I can recall)

[@Doctorispie]

hoping this channel gets more recognition

[@tillmartens5770]

your video made me rewatch season 4 then watched 5 and 6. Then restarted with 1, 2 and 3. Now i have the experience of watching worst to best!

[@meteorologistandrewclarke3320]

Love the new version of this video! If you ever watched The Office, it would be cool to do a similar video for a similarly weak season (Season 8).

[@2leftframes]

Glad you like the updates :) I've thought about doing it on several sitcoms that have "off" years! Ones that come to mind are The Office Season 8/9, Scrubs Season 9, and That 70s Show Season 8. Those are just shows I grew up with though! I imagine all sorts of other sitcoms have had these standout blips, or flops

[@TomGallagherSuperboyBeyond]

Yeah season 6 is a lot better than people give it credit for. There are some brilliant episodes in there.

[@sarahm5059]

honestly I never understood why people hate the fourth season so much-- and I've watched the show more times than I'm willing to admit-- but this video helped me become more aware about the lack of flow from the previous seasons and why that hurt the characters

[@Pyromaniac77777]

Well I for one am glad to know all this. I stopped watching completely during season 4 but now I know there is hope on the horizon

[@inconvenienced]

Omg I'm so excited to respond to this video, lol. I have watched more than a few "gas leak year" videos and I have to say, I have never seen one that echoes my own opinions about S4 so closely. But before I get to all the many things I agree with, gonna start with the very few things that aren't just straight up saying "yes!!! Also..." First off, even though you gave them the credit they deserve, I just want to thank Port & Guarascio one more time for holding down the ship well enough that we got a season 5 on NBC. While I suspect they were very hands off showrunners (I'll get into this more later) they gave the old creative team the space they needed to make a product that, while definitely flawed, was good enough to get renewed one more time. Other timelines have other showrunners exerting much more influence and truly tanking the show - I think they recognized the writers were all community vets and probably deferred to their judgement more often than not. I feel like that gets overlooked in these discussions - no they weren't a good fit for the show, but I think they respected the show and Harmon enough not to tinker with the formula - that's why the episodes seem like fanfiction, I would guess, because that's kind of precisely what they are in a way. So cheers to them. When it comes to Chevy, I honestly kind of understand why he got upset - they made him do a friggin hand puppet performance of Hispanics and Asians!! He very much got reduced to "old racist guy" and while yes, that was a part of his character, he was more nuanced than that under Harmon. My understanding of how he got fired is that he said something like "what are you going to do next episode, have me call Shirley a ******?!" - which is absolutely not ok to say and he deserved what happened to him, but I totally get why he felt that way. Finally, you said in S5 that a bunch of writers followed Harmon back but that actually didnt happen - he brought back Chris McKenna as his 2nd in command, yes, and I think Andy Bobrow and Tim Saccardo were still there, but most everyone else were new hires - many of them followed Harmon to R&M actually and are now big names in their own right, but he was taking chances on people from Funny or Die, among other things. Just another credit to Harmon that he could basically completely rebuild the writers room and identify so many young talents. Ok I'm afraid something is gonna happen and I'm going to lose all of what I've written so I'm just gonna split my comment into 2 - agreement and praise forthcoming!

[@closeted-skeleton]

is the background music from danganronpa trigger happy havoc? i noticed it in the "the new show runners" segment

[@shimmirmarali9040]

i was about to ask that too

[@purpleheadedhedgehog3821]

As someone who is a new fan to community, ( currently on season 3 of my first watch through) I knew a lot about the behind the scenes drama and all that , but this show is seriously something else its not just one of my favourite sitcoms it’s up there with one of my favourite shows ( again I’m still a first time viewer) but it’s up there I wish I got into it sooner

[@Mushruums]

One complaint I’ve heard people say about gas leak year was Troy and Britta’s relationship was forced but I felt like they had built it up and hinted towards it a lot in season 2 and 3

[@Pipubbles]

The Danganronpa music in the background was really funny to recognize and be like, I like this music, where do I know it?!?!?

[@hazzar7784]

Lol, big community fan. I feel like you nailed it all on the head really. I honestly loved Frankie lol

[@JoshSaysStuff]

I feel like I’m the only one who likes the Changnesia arc. For me it was one of the only highlights of the season!

[@JNIKEL]

Season 6’s jokes per minute is out of control, the wedding episode is one of the funniest episodes of tv

[@trevasomething213]

I didn't make it this far but the 2 paintball episodes are so freaking good. I can't think of a single better sitcom episode ever!

[@icyblue878]

omg I love your guys stuff so glad I found this 2 left frames channel

[@PodyTheCirate]

The fact that everyone seemingly forgives Dan Harmon for being a complete POS yet Chevy Chase is constantly shit on still to this day by the cast, and they probably won’t even care to put him in the movie even though he was an absolute essential character and the reason the show was picked up in the first place is pathetic.

[@supercrownjosie7732]

Frankie is my favorite character in Community. If she isn't central to the movie, I'll riot.

[@theworldsmostgiantDr]

Agreed.

[@eveross6224]

My favourite part of season 4 is when Jeff finally gets to tell off his father. The story of how he cut himself so people would believe he was injured so he could get cards was so heartbreaking and gave so much insight into his character.

[@Charlie-hv3dh]

It's almost 4am and I just realized I spent 40 minutes watching this not realizing this wasnt like a 20 minute video LOL

[@m4rt_]

Yeah it's all on Netflix, except it kinda isn't. They removed the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons episode because Chang cosplayed as a Drow.

[@yoarigonzalez7844]

Has anyone else noticed that Abeds speech about his new job is his newerish role in mythic quest

[@2leftframes]

That's pretty funny! I haven't seen Mythic Quest yet, but the idea of connecting them up like that is fun. I really do need to start that show asap!

[@ryanmonaghan436]

@K Cheng The backstory episodes are incredible and add so much depth to the show and characters. Season 3 was a bit clumsy, especially near the end, but overall it's fantastic. The quarantine episode was the best COVID special I've seen from a modern sitcom or show in any capacity and it showcases Poppy and Ian's relationship so well (their relationship is truly the heart of the show).

[@bodycountplays2915]

Honestly I love every season of the show, even season 4, it's still a lot better than a lot of other shows.

[@combogalis]

The episode with Pierce's death is some of the best writing ever on TV. Dan Harmon came back and wrote a better Pierce episode WITHOUT Pierce in it than any of season 4 managed

[@unturnedlovwr3114]

I really appreciated this video, I personally stopped at season 3 and ended up rewatching the first three seasons like 3 times, then finally decided to watch the rest.

[@Iceman4096]

I think the only reason people think 4 isn’t as bad as 6 is cuz most of the cast was gone in 6. Even without Troy, Pierce and Shirley the season is still streets ahead 4. Less cast members in 6 still feels better than 1 dimensional shells of former characters in 4.

[@skunkjo3195]

I'm so glad to click on this and realise it's not just a recap of every episode. Stg every 'critique' I click on is just an unnecessary detailed synopsis with light commentary. Also when I watched this show the first time, I knew one season was the 'gas leak year' but I didn't realise it was season 4 until the final episodes. So yeah, compared to other shows - it's not that bad haha

[@dipbert]

I just watched Community for the first time and Season 4 seemed so weird to me. Thank you for this video.

[@Kelarys]

Personally season 6 is tied with s2 for my 2nd favourite after the season 3. I loved it, and I'm surprised so many people didn't

[@Mrgeoffox]

I was watching the old video and saw “(OLD)” in the title, and said “wait, there’s a new one?” 1 day old, lol

[@2leftframes]

Perfect timing!

[@malhar__8932]

It is true that i didn't know that 4th season had a different management, it just felt slightly weird, but not enough to arouse suspicion

[@kayanomura582]

The giant mechanical spider is just a visual gag referencing a certain producer or exec who was just obsessed with putting a giant mechanical spider in anything as a plot beat

[@AsaMorris]

not to mention it's entirely out of order. It was broadcast out of order, the dvd's are out of order, and streaming it is out of order. A quick example is Annie's poster for the whale shows up before she makes it. When I... "want" to watch the season, I have worked out a correct viewing order which gives it like a +1 tolerance bonus.

[@2leftframes]

That's super interesting! Would you care to lay out the order for us? Have you given it have a name? (The way some funs suggest the Machete Order for Star Wars)

[@AsaMorris]

@@2leftframes According to Tim Saccardo, the intended order was: "History 101 Halloween Germans Spacetime Thanksgiving Marine Biology Herstory of Dance Changnesia Doc Christmas Freaky Friday Origins Finale ***Puppets didn't have a specific slot in the intended air order and could go pretty much anywhere in the back half, was shot last for production reasons. ***Originally we wanted to script the Germans episode to go second to stay at Greendale with a "normal" episode after the premiere and follow up immediately on the Changnesia tease, but back when October 19th was our premiere date, Halloween had to air the following week, so Germans was written to go on the third week instead." However, what I think the better experince is: History 101 (ep 1 ) Paranormal Parentage (ep 3) Conventions of Space and Time (ep 4) Alternative History of the German Invasion (ep 2) Cooperative Escapism in Family Relations (ep 5) Advanced Documentary Filmmaking (ep 8) Economics of Marine Biology (ep 6) Herstory of Dance (ep 7) Intro to Felt Surrogacy (ep 9) Intro to Knots (ep 10) Basic Human Anatomy (ep 11) Heroic Origins (ep 12) Advanced intro to Finality (ep 13)

[@2leftframes]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing both the creators own view of the season ordering, and your own pitch. That's very cool to think through. I may just have to try it myself the next time I rewatch the series :)

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

i remember seeing the poster in the first time it showed up and being like "who's archie?" amd then later i noticed it put up, i literally thought that they had a poster and decided to name the whale archie just because of th eposter XD that makes so much more sense now!

[@davidmartinez-burns5122]

I actually watched season 6 as a window in a window and. A little sped up on KZbin in Canada - so nice they got it all on Netflix now!

[@leeswecho]

22:19 you mention "doing something with the concepts of paintball and the darkest timeline" ... I feel like Dan Harmon _did_ do something with it, but in a different show--since isn't that really just Rick and Morty's Portal Gun? If you buy that, then its really humbling to compare what someone makes with a cool idea, when they don't really know what they're doing, compared to someone _who does_

[@TMKPlays]

I'm begging someone to tell me what the song that starts at 17:46 is called. I recognize it but I can't figure out where it's from and its driving me insane UPDATE: It's the Beautiful Days piano arrangement from Danganronpa 2. I am no longer insane

[@Bowl-0f-Soup]

Tbh I don’t think season 4 was that bad, it’s not as good as the rest but it was solid

[@2leftframes]

I consider it at like, typical sitcom quality. Honestly, maybe even a bit better?? But the bar was set so crazy high, and those creators were so heavily under the microscope! I don't know how anyone was supposed to create a decent Season 4 with those conditions.

[@dll7658]

I dunno, it might be good as a sitcom, but it had a 3 season basis of the characters' personalities which were kinda butchered in season 4

[@fcsuper]

@justdoingstuff Agreed!

[@aaronkapiczowski6010]

I love this, it reminds me of listening to a friend I have talk about film and media

[@dh3913]

99% of people that hate 6 and like 4 are first time viewers. Almost everyone that rewatches the show, especially multiple rewatches, changes their mind and begins to like 6 while 4 gets worse.

[@SchulzEricT]

Yeah. I remember going into season 4 knowing they had a new show-runner and thinking it was fine. Solid-to-good. The last time I'd watching "Community" was when season 3 ended, so I think those months in between allowed me to forget a lot of details that allowed me to not see all the flaws 4 had. In re-watching it, just running through 1-6, it was so obvious all the ways 4 regressed characters and just leaned entirely on sitcom tropes instead of telling interesting stories. Characters would change abruptly episode to episode, relationships would changed episode to episode... the 2nd time I watched it I expected to enjoy it, more or less, and I came away HATING it. (The most obvious thing, to me, was Troy being a self-conscious virgin when dating Britta in the Halloween ep (?), then the next episode he and Britta are having sex regularly and he's worried that Abed will be weirded out by it because the writers decided to give that character quality to Abed for that episode. They ruined characters, arcs, and relationships... not even for jokes because they weren't funny, it was dialogue written in the form of a joke but without the humor. I believe Klosterman wrote something about that, how Friends started just writing things *in the form of a joke* sometimes around season 3 or 4, where it just became formulaic, the "jokes" working because we knew the characters rather than actually being funny. That was season 4 at its best.)

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

as someone who just finished their first watch of the show, i can say that i thought season 4, 5, & 6 were the same in terms of how i, personally, enjoyed it. season four was pretty meh,, but the reason i purpt it at the same level as (maybe even a little above?) 5 & 6 is solely because the whole vibe of the show, visually, was so much edgier and that was really off putting, but mostly because troy left (pierce and shirley i could handle, but troy leaving was absolutley devastating to me, especially because abed was my favorite) edit: just wanted to clarify that i understand that objectively, 4 is worse, but subjectively, 5 & 6 were worse/ as good

[@robby2867]

The olive joke is one of the funniest things ever!