Previously, in 2010…Hawaii Five-0 and Community

16 Jan 2011 1 Comment

by marisacarpico in Previously, on Television... Tags: "Epidemiology", Abed, Alex O'Loughlin, Community, Danno, Danny Danno Williams, Danny Pudi, Hawaii Five-0, Jeff Winger, Joel McHale, Scott Caan, Steve McGarrett, Troy

My series on 2010’s Best and Worst Television last covered Glee and after writing about all that bitter disappointment, I thought I’d lighten the mood again. Today I’m going for a double whammy of two of the most entertaining entries in my weekly line-up: Hawaii Five-0 and Community.

Hawaii Five-0's Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan

Hawaii Five-0
I usually like to have at least one light, procedural crime show in my line-up to sort of balance out my typically drama-heavy television week. Up until the current season, CSI: NY filled that void, but since my favorite character, Stella, left when actress Melina Kanakaredes rightfully decided to exit the rather thankless role for better opportunities, I needed something new. Enter Hawaii Five-0.

The way I see it, Hawaii Five-0 is basically a show devoted to beauty, whether it be of the human form or nature. Sure the absurdly attractive Five-0 team solves an outrageously implausible crime each week, but that’s just icing on the cake really. The appeal of the show, and really that of most crime procedurals, is the formula. Each week viewers can tune in knowing that the team will discover some out of the ordinary crime and Steve McGarrett (the gorgeous Alex O’Loughlin) and Danny “Danno” Williams (the hilarious Scott Caan) will banter like an old married couple while the beautiful Hawaiian landscape lounges behind them. The formula itself comforts and entertains because it always meets expectations and allows viewers to engage in the action without requiring them to actively think about any type of mythology. Certainly, Hawaii Five-0 succeeds in executing a formula, but the writing and acting quality truly distinguish it.

Somehow in the midst of the crimes and the images of beaches, the writers and actors have managed to create an intriguing central relationship in McGarrett and Danno. From the pilot, they are set up as opposites. McGarrett is the shoot-first-ask-questions-later tough guy and Danno is the quick-witted straight man. From that personality conflict comes a natural argumentative quality that makes their interactions sound more like a Howard Hawks romantic comedy than a police partnership. While O’Loughlin plays the tough guy well, the real star is Caan.

I’ve been a fan of Scott Caan, son of actor James Caan of the Godfather films, ever since I saw the delightful piece of trash, Into the Blue, in which he almost saved the film through sheer charisma. In fact, he was the main thing that first interested me in Hawaii Five-0 and he certainly hasn’t disappointed. While McGarrett can be rather one note, each week Caan manages to make Danno an interesting and complex character. Though Danno, via Caan’s perfect comedic timing, often infuses the show with dry, ironic humor he also delivers much of the show’s heart through his relationship with his daughter. Danno may be a tough cop, but he’s also a loving father and a caring friend. Typical cop drama characters tend to be easily defined by one trait. On the original CSI, Gil Grissom was cop-philosopher devoted to the truth. On Law & Order, Jack McCoy was the ruthless prosecutor. Danno continually defies solid definition and it’s what makes him and the show such a delightful surprise.

The cast of Community

Community
I was recently converted to Community this season after critical praise finally convinced me to tune back in. I originally watched the Community pilot when it first aired because I’m a huge fan of Joel McHale on The Soup. I’ve pretty much watched The Soup from the beginning and I was so excited to see a sitcom finally showcase his dry, biting humor. While McHale delivered all I wanted and more in the pilot, I found the supporting characters mostly uninteresting and in some cases annoyingly over-the-top archetypes. Abed (Danny Pudi) was especially problematic. His nerd stereotype with what seemed like Asperger’s Syndrome was so overused in those first few episodes that I simply couldn’t stand to continue watching.

Imagine my surprise to discover, upon watching the Season 2 premiere, that not only had Abed’s social ineptitude been toned down, but all of the characters had been refined into subversive variations on archetypes. As the season has progressed, Community has continually surprised me in its ability to skewer and parody pop culture while somehow still making its own characters interesting. Community manages to be just as meta and critical of pop culture norms as The Soup while not allowing itself to reduce its characters to those same norms.

The episode that made me a Community devotee for life was the brilliant Halloween episode entitled “Epidemiology,” which was essentially a zombie movie parody. Every moment of the episode was a brilliant mockery of the zombie movie formula. McHale’s Jeff was the self-serving ass who is punished when he’s bitten. Good girl Annie (the terrific Alison Brie) figured out how to save her fellow students, but turned zombie anyway in a shocking zombie bust through wall moment. The show even mocked the horror movie standard of having an animal jump out and scare the heroes for no reason by having a feral cat jump across the screen multiple times and even having the characters comment on the absurdity of that moment. I watched about 20 horror movies that month and seeing such a perfect send up of the genre was an absolute joy.

Though the episode exploited the archetypes the characters represent, it also furthered their development. The Abed and Troy (Donald Glover) relationship is especially important in this respect. Dim, popular Troy and nerdy Abed have developed an unlikely friendship and their relationship took a serious leap in this episode. They coordinated costumes with Abed as the Alien and Troy as Ripley from Aliens. Troy initially thought the costumes were great, until he was ridiculed and ignored by a group of girls. So he decided to dress as a vampire, which to him is a type of Dracula. By doing so, Troy essentially tried to deny his nerdy qualities and therefore turned on his friend. By the end of the episode, Troy and Abed are the only characters left and in order to save everyone, Abed sacrifices himself so Troy can go on. It is the ultimate act of friendship and Troy, realizing that he was a fool to turn on Abed, takes up his Ripley costume once again to save his friends. The moment not only refers to the moment in the film, but shows Troy’s growth. He has accepted who he is and because of that he has become not only a better friend, but a more admirable person.

With such fantastic episodes this fall I expect nothing but the best from Hawaii Five-0 and Community and I’m sure that’s exactly what they will continue to deliver. My next two posts will be my choices for the Best and Worst Television of 2010. Hope you’re excited.