Community (TV Series) Advanced Introduction to Finality (2013) User Reviews

Good season

[yamurbina · 8/10 · 16 October 2016]

I do agree this season had its flaws. I really enjoyed it, but I felt this season lacked of comedy. There really funny scenes through the season but not as other season. And for the first time some episodes were hard to watch. Characters like Chang were totally forgettable and don't know what what were they thinking by changing him into a totally different person. Totally ruined the Chang dynamic.

On the other hand not everything was bad, the show is still the same. What made me enjoy this season was the fact I feel is one (I haven't watch 5th and 6th) of the most serious seasons. It showed characters in a different way, in a more personal way. We got to see their goals, their past and how that affects them individually and as a group.

Moses Port and David Guarascio

[safenoe · 8/10 · 25 February 2022]

Moses Port and David Guarascio deserve credit for taking the helm when Dan Harmon was unceremoniously dumped at the end of season 3. I know, I know, I know, there are sections of the Community community who derided season 4 as the gas leak season, trying to "reverse engineer" the Harmon algorithm and so on. For a generation of the Community community who became fans through Netflix, all the vitriol against season 4 seems rather passe and curious really.

This is the season 4 finale, and the finale of Moses Port and David Guarascio and Gene Hong. Anyway, there's a sense of series finality to this as I guess no-one was sure if season 5 would get the nod.

Hopefully Moses Port and David Guarascio and Gene Hong were duly recognized for their enormous contributions to season 4 and keeping Community afloat.

The evil timeline was hilarious, kind of a paintball competition in the evil timeline.

Six seasons and a movie please.

Season 4: Not as bad as reported, but inconsistent, misguided, fractured, and too often feeling like an attempt to recreate than create

[bob the moo · 2 July 2016]

Unavoidably, season 4 is the one that tends to be disliked the most as it did not involve the show frontrunner in any way. Had I not read that in many blog posts, I may not have noticed because in some ways the humor of the previous seasons is mostly there. Admittedly the laughs of other seasons are not there in anywhere near the same amount but this is not really the issue.

Instead of letting the relationships happen organically, there is a lot of group interaction/relationship stuff which is significant but yet also feels forced. This happens throughout and always feels like an 'idea' which was written towards, rather than part of everything else. This is made to work less well by virtue of it rarely being followed through into later episodes. Some elements do but mostly revelations, secrets, and conflicts do not get so much as a mention again and it makes it all feel a little hollow, as well as not as funny as it should be. The cast also feel a little restrained in their performances as the material doesn't offer them as much to work with, but it is Jeong and his character that suffers most as his plot device is annoying and ultimately pointless.

Too many episodes feel like uninspired retreads of better ones, and even with the many funny moments across the season, one is reminded of how much better it was in the first seasons. For sure it is not as bad as the internet would have you believe, but it certainly is not the best the show has to offer by some margin.

All the paintball episodes are the best

[croc-574-202569 · 6/10 · 27 April 2020]

This one is my favourite and the best of the best ever but it's not the same but it's a great app

Ok ending to an overall bad season

[gleesoj · 6/10 · 22 August 2022]

I thought some of the episodes were good. Heroic Origins was really good, the Documentary was funny, Herstory of Dance was really good and this one was ok. Some moments were really good in this episode but the rest was really mediocre. The meat in the vending machines was pretty funny though.

Season 4 Overall Thoughts

[starkaw · 4/10 · 5 May 2019]

Was season 4 terrible? No, it had its moments that were decent, but it is definitely the worst season. Not having Dan Harmon definitely negatively affected the show. I think part of the problem is they tried too hard to bring back the past (darkest timeline, paintball) or veered too far from what makes Community great (Economics of Marine Biology, Conventions of Space and Time) that it did not feel like an episode of Community. Those two episodes lacked the smart wit that one came to expect from the show (this was also kind of true for History 101, though I get what they were going for in that one). I think some of the things that were brought over from past seasons worked well (the puppet episode was quite good IMO), but a lot of it just felt forced, especially this episode. There were episodes that worked though, specifically Intro to Knots, Basic Human Anatomy, and Heroic Origins. Each felt like an episode of Community, but they did not seem like a ripoff of a Dan Harmon idea like Advanced Documentary Filmmaking or the aforementioned bits about the darkest timeline and paintball. Some episodes just felt a little flat to me (Alternative History of the German Invasion and Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations). Overall, it was not a terrible season, and a few episodes hold up well to a rewatch (episodes 10-12 being the best) and would not seem out of place in seasons 1-3, but it just did not have the same witty humor and fresh feel of other seasons of the show prior to this season.

this episode was painful

[breathechicanery · 2/10 · 17 October 2022]

Seriously, this episode was actually painful to watch. Sometimes when a show gives me negative emotions, I will congratulate it on that, since sometimes heartfelt and sad conversations between characters really hit had. But this episode just makes me feel angry and not in a good way like the writing succeeded. I'm not going to go into detail with what happened with Dan Harmon, since we all know what happened. But, seriously this was probably the worst episode of season 4. It might have had a kind of good idea trying to make a plot about Jeff not wanting to leave the group, but its execution was just so terrible. Also, keep in mind, if season 5 wasn't green lit, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SERIES FINALE. Bringing back the darkest timeline ruins the best episode of community and what may be the best episode of television second only to Ozymandias or Felina. Evil Jeff and Evil Annie going around trying to mess with Jeff's relationship with the group is absurd and painful to watch. The matrix parody is inconsequential and uneventful. I'd also like to point out that there was a whole Chang and City College plot going around in the background for an entire season that was slowly building up to some S. P. I. D. E. R plans to take over Greendale or something that was seemingly just retconned out of the entire series. We got a small teaser to it in what I believe was the previous episode, but it literally never happened again. I'm not sure, and this is just a theory, but what I'm guessing is they wanted to do something different with the series finale but ended up scrapping it. But, to be honest I don't think it would have been any better, and it might have been for the best that it was scrapped and never brought up again in the later seasons. The end scene didn't feel heartfelt at all, and trying to bring paintball back was probably an even worse decision. It felt anticlimactic and unnecessary for a season that ruined the entire show. I would've liked to see what season 4 would have been had Dan Harmon stayed around for whole series, because I actually think this may have been the best season had that been possible. Community was nearing its absolute height in season 3, and if season 4 had gone according to plan, it could have been a brilliant season. But, had season 4 not gone how it did seasons 5 and 6 would also be entirely different. I like what we got for seasons 5 and 6, but I can't help but be curious on what would have happened. It's just really saddening that this was the fate for a brilliant show. Thank god Dan Harmon returned for season 5.

They Britta'd some stuff here

[aliensprez · 3/10 · 9 August 2020]

I won't say I hate this episode, but I don't like it. Season four is noticeably weaker than the previous three, but there were some good moments (Basic Human Anatomy). However, there are 2 episodes which bother me the most. The first is Conventions of Space and Time, in which Britta is the worst and the show runners thought it was a good idea to play around with Troy and Abed's dynamic. Britta and Troy and so weird together, and the subplot of Annie pretending to be married to Jeff is so annoying (seriously, there's an episode from season three in which Annie addresses the fact that she doesn't love Jeff, she loves the idea of being loved). Then this episode. Who thought of this episode? It's so strange, with the awful special effects, forced references, and terrible ending. Annie is so annoying in this episode. Whether or not you think Annie and Jeff should be together, you have to acknowledge that Annie should have a character outside of that. She's boiled down to a type-a student with a crush. Her saying, "nobody sleeps with Jeff, not even me", is cringe worthy. Aside from that, Britta being dumb wasn't funny here, and the whole thing was too cheesy. The reveal that Jeff imagined it all was ridiculous.

Just look at this mess

[classic-henry · 4/10 · 19 June 2023]

This episode is an utter catastrophe. The only way that watching "Advanced Introduction to Finality" is enjoyable is if you watch it like _The Room_. Jeff (good) and Annie (evil) both talk about Hallmark movies at one point, and that is about the quality of writing we get from this thing. Ham-fisted, forced, Hallmark-movie tier writing and production.

Troy (good) actually says "balling" after shooting his evil counterpart. Annie (good) says 'I can't believe those things you said to me to Jeff (good) moments after Jeff (evil) degrades Annie (good). Even though evil Annie is supposed to be ruthless and driven, nearly the polar opposite of good Annie, evil Annie wastes tons of opportunities to shoot good Annie. Evil Troy somehow runs out of paintball rounds, though we never see him discharge any.

Those are just a few of the many specific issues with this episode. The main, overarching problem is that it wastes a potentially great premise and damages a story that's already wounded from Harmon's departure. It's clear the writers felt they had to go ambitious for this one, but a safer, more grounded storyline like Herstory of Dance would have served the characters and show much better.

What even is this episode?

[pellegrinidude · 9 January 2021]

In a previous episode, Abed jokingly said that when Jeff rolled the dice to see who would get the pizza that the die roll created different timelines. That was fine for that one episode and that's it. This episode has characters FROM ONE OF THOSE TIMELINES causing havoc in the "actual" timeline. This is a sitcom about a community college, not some sci fi show. Super weird, very bad writing. Season 4 as a whole was just not that good. No wonder they hired Dan Harmon back, to write the show THAT HE CREATED!!! Ridiculous.