Buenos Dias Children! Welcome to your sixth year at Greendale Community College. Freshly canceled by NBC and revived by Yahoo! Screen, Community lives up to the old adage that “the more things CHANG, the more they stay the same.” Cast members can leave, cast members can join, you can fire Dan Harmon and you can rehire him but Community will not die. Community has always been (for the most part) a wonderful mix of, intelligent, crazy, fast paced and bizarre. These are the aspects that have lead “Communies” to defend the show they love so passionately as it was threatened with cancelation time and again. When NBC finally pulled the plug after season 5, Yahoo picked the series up and it was moved . Community has avoided cancelation like Neo dodged bullets in “The Matrix” trilogy. Each year it seems the show is reborn a new with a series of changes but this year the changes are the most drastic. Since season 5, Donald Glover and Yvette Nicole-Brown have both moved on from the series. Donald Glover is engaged in other projects while also rapping as Childish Gambino but Yvette Nicole Brown left Community to care for her ailing father. With such major shakeups to the cast, who is left?
“Ladders” begins with an exterior shot of Greendale that harkens back to the halcyon days of season 1 along with a standard PA from Dean Pelton (how could he leave, it’s his whole iDEANtity) as he thanks the usual suspects for their role on the “Save Greendale Committee” from season 5. Jeff is still a law professor, Britta is still passionate about political issues, this time it’s homelessness (on a possibly related note, she’s now homeless,) Annie is still a student, Abed is still meta (he wrote the announcement for Dean Pelton and mouths the words as the Dean prattle on) and Chang is still Chang, possibly still a math professor but still definitely crazy. When the Dean mentions how Annie personally helped the school deal with 534 critical emergencies, Annie realizes something isn’t right with that number. Upon discovering a forgotten to-do item labeled “rooftop Frisbees,” the show cuts to the exterior showing a student lobbing a Frisbee up to Greendale’s roof. A portion of the roof collapses over the cafeteria and we get our first Garrett scream of the season. “FRISBEES!” In the hall, Leonard finds a Frisbee with his name written on it and we flashback to the 70’s where we see a a much younger and long haired Leonard throwing the Frisbee up to the roof, starting the trend that would eventually lead to the collapse of Greendale’s roof. (Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” plays during the background of this scene and the attempts to make Leonard look young are so half-hearted it can’t help but add to the hilarity of the moment.) Cue the opening credits and we’re back in the library study room for the first meeting of the year.
The study group is distressed at the events that have taken place but Chang assures them that they won’t get in trouble if they blame it on him, he’ll never see the inside of a cell because he’s been reliving the same day for thousands of years. Okay Chang, whatever you say. Abed is noticeably concerned. It’s bad news when Abed isn’t the craziest in the group but Chang is perhaps at his funniest when he randomly blurts out nonsensical one liners that get overlooked though we never do know which version of Chang we’re going to get from episode to episode. The only guarantee is that Ken Jeong is going to hit a homerun with his insanity. Chang has become something similar to Creed Bratton from “The Office” – dangerously insane but still loveable. When Abed asks about Shirley’s whereabouts “speaking of guilt, where is Shirley?” Jeff chides Britta for not telling Abed what happened to Shirley but Annie notes that Abed is not good with “c-h-a-n-g-e” which upsets Chang as he thinks they were spelling his name. The audience is finally given a reversal of Chang’s forced puns that used to annoy the study group. “People can Chang.” Continuity has always been one of Community’s best comedic weapons. “Fire can’t go through doors stupid, It’s not a ghost! “Ghosts can’t go through doors stupid, they’re not fire!” Anyway, Britta reveals that much like the actress who plays her, Shirley has gone to Atlanta to take care of her sick father. When Annie notes that Shirley will be back, Chang reminds them that Troy is still absent and asks if “any of you white people“ in the group notice the Walking Dead-like trend of losing black characters. Jeff responds “as leader of the white people” that nothing is wrong. Cue Dean Pelton and Francesca Dart (played by Paget Brewster) who the dean refers to as “new Shirley,” prompting Abed and Chang to share a look of concern.
The Dean introduces Frankie as the new leader of the Save Greendale Committee , which rubs the group the wrong way as they see her as an outsider who hasn’t earned her stripes in Greendale yet. When she moves to take Shirley’s old seat, she prompts a united “NO!” from the study group before they calmly explain that Shirley used to sit there. They’re noticeably less upset when she takes Pierce’s old seat. As she explains Greendale’s strengths and weaknesses (if she had a magic wand, she’d use it to get rid of the magic wand class actually offered on campus along with a class called “When is it okay to shake a baby?” ) she tells the group that she’s a big believer in hierarchy. “Someone needs to say ‘I’m in charge’ and that’s me.” As he leaves, the group immediately discusses their distaste for the new situation.
In the cafeteria, Britta pitifully attempts to run Shirley’s old sandwich shop while Frankie question the cost of Shirley’s Sandwiches but is interrupted by a panicked Jeff who complains that all the liquor is gone from the faculty lounge. Frankie explains that she can’t allow liquor on campus and still do her job. When Jeff states in his usual witty manner that he can’t function with “free flowing sobriety” the joke is lost on Frankie who then begins to ask Jeff if he’s an alcoholic and if they should get him some help. Jeff is overwhelmed and confused by her lack of appreciation for his “Winger charm.” Annie then intervenes with a list of items on the committee’s to do list but it turns out that Frankie is even more of a go-getter than Annie having accomplished all that Annie wanted to get done. Britta isn’t pleased either. “I’m gonna name her after one of my sandwiches…. My sandwiches suck.” Jeff, Annie and Britta agree that Greendale needs to be kept weird in order for it to remain Greendale.
Frankie sits down for a meeting with Abed and things get meta in a hurry. Abed mentions to Frankie that she’s not unique enough in either appearance or mentality for her to be distinguished from Annie. Francesca has no idea what Abed is talking about, but she’s taking notes. Abed then gets to the heart of the matter for both the group and the show’s audience. “My umbrella concern is that you as a character represent the end of what I used to call ‘our show’ which was once an unlikely family of misfit students.” Abed rambles for a while before Frankie calmly claims that “this is the first I’ve heard that I’m a character on a show, I’m excited to be one but I agree to be a boring one.” Season six takes all of half an episode to achieve a peak Community level of meta. “Good shows change,” she tells Abed before asking him to show her the ropes around Greendale. Abed meets with the rest of the study group minus Chang.)
Back at Shirley’s Sandwiches, the group vents their complaints about Francesca but Britta claims that Frankie thinks Annie is “a stuck up bitch who thinks she’s better than everyone.” Annie begins to realize these aren’t Frankie’s feelings but are actually Britta’s. Britta make a “movement” to oppose Frankie, and Annie seconds her “motion.” "Don’t make it more dramatic than it is, it’s a blood oath to defy evil!” Britta explains to Abed. Abed points out that the’s usually the one who overreacts this way before being kicked out of their secret Frankie-defying committee. Later on we see Britta and Annie squabble over how best to run Shirley’s Sandwiches before Jeff walks in and we learn that he’s taken to using the sandwich storefront as a place where he can drink throughout the work day without Frankie knowing. When one of Jeff’s students comes back hoping for a refund he settles for a drink with Jeff and an idea is born.
The next morning, Abed explains what happened to Frankie as Chang laments that he’s still left out of meetings and lunches before he begins to have a separate conversation with himself randomly mentioning Pokemon, Leprechauns and Slenderman. Frankie and Abed agree to save Greendale. “TACOS!” Chang shouts to no one in particular upon the conclusion of the conversation. Neither Abed nor Frankie pay him any attention. As Abed begins a one man montage Frankie reminds him that montages aren’t a part of reality and that the tasks he was completing weren’t on the list. Abed agrees to her task of answering emails but turns that into a montage as well (he changes clothes before each email to make it seem as if he’s doing a different task each time until Frankie threatens to fire him if changes clothes again.)
When Abed comes looking for Annie and Britta, Todd is at the counter and sends him downstairs to a full-blown prohibition era speakeasy in the basement. It’s the kind of thing Abed would almost always be a part of, the remainder of the study group has really gone off the rails without him. Nathan Fillion makes a brief cameo once again as the school’s head custodian only this time he’s trying to extort Jeff who’s clearly the manager of the speakeasy. Abed is reluctant to give into his habits but he gets into character quickly when given an “old timey” jacket from Annie. The group begins to drink together which leads to Abed calling for a montage of drinks. While hungover the next day, Frankie notices that he’s hungover. Later on Frankie raids the speakeasy with security guards in full costumes. She claims Abed deserves better. Frankie is condescending to Abed and makes a fool of herself in front of everyone especially while mocking Leonard. Frankie leaves humiliated and Jeff calls for a montage of every student on campus drinking.
Welcome to Ladders! The Ladders class previously seen in season 3 makes its reappearance but when the professor of the class drunkenly falls off his ladder and it lands on Annie they realize they need Frankie to help administrate the school while they deal with the legal repercussions of the campus wide binge drinking. When Abed and Jeff track her down in another job interview, she demands a montage of apologies before she comes back to Greendale. A montage is shown of Jeff and Abed apologizing to Frankie in different ways before they make their way back to Greendale and accept her as a full-fledged member of the save Greendale committee.
In a surprise appearance, we see Shirley in Atlanta as she rescues her employer, a suicidal, wheelchair bound detective. Until the detective can find his wife and “his legs” Shirley has become his caretaker and a fake promo airs for a show called “The Butcher and the Baker,” starring Shriley and the detective.
Season six is here, as for the movie, only time will tell. Noticeably absent were Jonathan Banks and John Oliver who had become welcome regulars in season 5. With Jonathan Banks a regular on “Better Call Saul” and John Oliver hosting HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” it’s uncertain if the two will return. That’s Community. It’s weird, it’s crazy, and at times it’s too self-referencing. Community has always commanded a small but loyal contingent of fans due to it being an acquired taste. The battle cry for the Community fanbase has always been “six seasons and a movie!” and they’ve gotten their first half of that wish.