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Worldly Distractions: Community 5.10 - Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons


crazyforkate

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COMMUNITY -- "Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" Episode 510 -- Pictured: (l-r) Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley, Jim Rash as Dean Pelton, Joel McHale as Jeff -- (Photo by: Justin Lubin/NBC)

Oh, no, you did not. Season 2's Dungeons and Dragons episode, possibly the best episode of the entire series, was an untouchable classic. Sure, they returned to the paintball well before with incredible results, but without Troy's priceless reactions and Pierce's schemes, to say nothing of the frame of helping Neil with his self-esteem, they've got major shoes to fill. I can't even Google for a picture without an overwhelming majority of Season 2 results. Maybe that's a hint, guys?

The Dean has asked the Committee to find the school some insurance, because that's not the school's job or anything. Everyone grumbles. Hickey gets an email from a relative, which brings up the issue of his estranged son. Turns out that they can't relate because young Hank. is obsessed with D&D. When Hickey finds out that the entire group enjoys the game, he's not amused. A reconciliation game is immediately planned, since D&D has already been proven to have life-changing powers. (To illustrate this, Fa...bulous Neil walks by in the background. We see what you did there.) Abed is concerned about pulling off a "sequel". Hell, that's my concern too. They decide to hold a game, and the Dean invites himself. We get a Lord of the Rings-style title card.

We head over to Troy and Abed and Annie's, where the gang is joined by Tobias Funke. Er, David Cross. Er, Hank Hickey. And might I add that I am freaking out here. Between Tony Hale as the angry pottery teacher, and this, we're practically at a full-blown reunion. Hickey Sr. has clearly been dragged kicking and screaming. Abed serves once more as Dungeonmaster, and off we go. The mission: destroy a necromancer on top of a mountain.

Hank, a D&D expert, has many quarrels with Abed's style, including his infamous lack of name-giving skill. And when it is revealed that his character is the son of Hickey's character, he quickly deduces what they're up to. He forces everyone to swap characters. They all still have stupid names, though. "Fibrosis the Ranger", anyone? Shirley's mad about being a druid, Annie gets "Hector the Well-Endowed" again, and Jeff is cast as the Dean's dad. They set out on their path, but Hank soon wants to deviate from the game, and he and Hickey get into an argument. Annie tries to get Hank back with the program. He sets her on fire. In the game.

The fire also burns the bridge. Everyone is tossed into a ravine. Another Hickey father-son argument erupts. Jeff tries to talk them out of it. The river carries the players in different directions. Britta, Chang and the Dean are sent to another room while the Dean screams for his "father". Hank tries to leave before things get messy, but Hickey says he'll play, and kill the necromancer - as long as Hank promises to invite him to his grandson's birthday. Hank agrees, but if he kills the necromancer, Hickey forfeits Christmas and Thanksgiving at Aunt Rachel's.

Stranded in the jungle, Hickey, Jeff, Annie and Shirley encounter hobgoblins. While the others fiddle with spells, Hickey heart-punches them and moves on. They drive off the monsters. However, Shirley is killed. She takes it graciously and leaves. Hickey's annoyed that his attack didn't defeat them. Abed urges him to check with his character before he starts any more attacks.

In the other room, the Dean is desperate to hear more of Jeff, while Hank manipulates people to his side by offering healing spells. Fortunately, they are interrupted by an attack of sky spiders. Hank talks them down with linguistic powers, proving once and for all that diplomacy works. In the other room, the rest of the group continues to battle hobgoblins and guards. Hickey takes two hostages in order to negotiate. Abed plays both monsters. Eventually, he drives them to nervous breakdowns over workplace politics. Just like real life!

We go to the "trials of brothers", where Hank is singing a Celtic-sounding hymn, which kinda looks like the Enya video for "May it Be". The Dean, as "Joseph Gordon Diehard", mourns his Dad-Jeff. He sends dozens of letters, which Abed always throws out, since the odds are low and the die never in his favor. He suggests they "think of each other and rub"...their swords. Finally, Jeff gets one of the letters. He rubs the sword, which reveals his location to the Dean. They are revealed to each be ten miles from the necromancer. Hickey and Hank get a determined look in their eyes. The race continues.

Jeff suggests calling it off, but Hickey refuses. They get to the tower at the same time. It looks like Team Hickey is outnumbered, but the Dean tries to defect. Jeff draws his sword rather than have the Dean hug him. Soon, a bloody melee begins. The Dean winds up stabbed to death. He hugs Jeff anyway. As the others fight, Hickey and Hank race to the necromancer. Abed frantically rolls the die. Jeff, Annie, Britta and Chang are all killed. It's down to Hank and Hickey.

Eventually, they realize they can't defeat the villain without cooperating. Totally involved, they continue on their quest. Jeff encourages them to "hug it out", but that's a little much. There's no resolution to the game - but they're working together. The study group leaves, feeling accomplished.

Tag scene: Abed plays D&D with Annie's stuffed animals. Because of course he does. The trouble is, Annie can't sleep without them. Abed hurriedly finishes the impromptu tea party/RPG.

What is it they say - lightning doesn't strike twice? That's kind of the problem here. The episode wasn't bad at all. It's hard to communicate in a recap, but there were many funny one-liners and in-jokes that made the first episode so good. David Cross did a great job, though he had little to work with. However, in general the premise felt way more contrived than last time. Where Operation-Rescue-Neil rose organically, this one became a shoehorned excuse to play D&D. Maybe a different game would have provided a better avenue. No matter - it was still a fun evening. Next week - GI Jeff? Oh, boy, pass the wine.

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  • Posts

    • Xan

      Posted

      The egg apron is a deal breaker for me.  That was just an insult.  "You think you deserve a gift?  I'll show you your place!"

      And I'm a little bit tired of the social media scolds.  If they didn't put their lives on the internet, we wouldn't have opinions.  They did so we do.  If most of us think that he's a bully, he probably is.  I guess it's another case of the husband being so full of himself that he was sure the interview would show him in a good light.  It didn't.

      • Upvote 2
    • Xan

      Posted

      I always find these Trump fantasy worlds very bizarre.  He's never in a nice suit meeting a world leader or even in a fireman's suit saving a child from a burning building.  It's always some fake macho outfit and, in this case, driving a car with a Confederate flag on it.  Their heroes don't seem that heroic.

    • JDuggs

      Posted

      On 12/22/2023 at 11:51 PM, JDuggs said:

      It looks like Micah is in a relationship, or very good friends, with this Florida realtor Veronica Peters. I’ve seen photos of them together on Micah’s IG, but I always thought she kind of looked too old for him. Maybe not.

      This was on Moriah’s IG:

        Hide contents

      image.thumb.jpeg.e5583f82734714ccb023fc889e4f0f90.jpeg

      And this was on Veronica’s personal IG and professional IG:

        Hide contents

      image.thumb.jpeg.e637a588be2f14fc379935962e743f47.jpeg

        Hide contentsimage.thumb.png.bfaa9a4a2ac77388067acef5c5afb81c.png

       

      Quoting myself from six months ago. I think this really is Micah’s girlfriend. She doesn’t seem quite as public about their relationship as she did back then.

      This photo of Veronica didn’t get copied over from my old post.

      Spoiler

      image.thumb.jpeg.0ae44da117d43f1db49868c42924ea03.jpeg

       

      • Upvote 1
    • JermajestyDuggar

      Posted

      There was a post on social media talking about this recent interview with Ballerina Farm and asking what people think about some of the things in it. So many commenters were like, “it’s her business! It’s not your life so why do you care?” This is the type of thing that bugs me to no end. Ballerina Farm posts their lives willingly! They post their children’s lives! Of course people will speculate and care! If they didn’t put their lives all over social media none of us would know anything about them. 

      • Upvote 1
    • LongTimeLurkerOG

      Posted

      On 7/25/2024 at 6:47 PM, LilMissMetaphor said:

      Just FYI in case someone missed it the first time round, this is what Art wrote on Reddit a year ago addressing some of the concerns that were brought up.  It's very telling if you read between some of the lines.

      "I don’t lie or make fraudulent claims to get money. That’s what a grifter is. I’ve closed all previous fundraisers and not all of them were successfully funded – for instance my legal name change and wedding fund did not get funded, so I still haven’t had a chance to do those things.

      I’m unable to work for a variety of medically supported reasons. It’s not okay to ask disabled people for proof of their disability simply because it’s medical information. To entertain the question is to concede that it’s okay to go ask other disabled people for their private medical history. It’s a common misconception that people pretend to be disabled for benefits or monetary gain, but it’s rare and doesn’t really make sense to do because benefits and fundraising add up to so little.

      I have been going to Seattle to look at possible places to live because it’s literally unavoidable, and I’ve been in severe pain because of it. That doesn’t mean I could do manual labor on a consistent basis. I don’t even drive, so I’ve had to cover gas and ask friends for help with rides.

      Have you ever tried working at a call center? I have. They’re severely strict and demanding, and incredibly demoralizing without paying much. They’re not an accessible alternative for people who can’t do more demanding manual labor. “Get a job like the rest of us” is ableist and is a fundamental misunderstanding of how accessible jobs are. It’s no better than yelling it at someone panhandling on the street. The supposedly “easy” or “low-skill” jobs are still difficult to do.

      I do use what resources I can, but it’s a total myth that there’s a robust social welfare system anywhere in the United States. If there was, we wouldn’t have so many hundreds of thousands of homeless people here, with millions more just a few missed paychecks away from joining them.

      The toxic mold was confirmed. My partner is literally terminally ill from it. If you read the actual updates, the name of the illness and the research surrounding it have been detailed. We have a letter from the pulmonologist that we sent to the landlord explaining that the environment my partner was in was causing the illness. Again, you’re demanding medical proof that you have no reason to ask about. Some things can’t just be washed out.

      I am as clear as I can possibly be about specific needs so that people know what they’re helping to support. I have said again and again that people shouldn’t give unless they can spare it and want to help. I even said that in the post linked to in this comment thread. My patreon is explicitly to support my writing.

      So why am I still fundraising and making money off telling my story? Because I literally have no other real options. I’ve been formally diagnosed with PTSD, it’s not “alleged trauma.” If it was working all that well, I wouldn’t have to keep detailing my needs.

      The real grifters in our society are billionaires, not poor disabled people. You sound like you just hate us for trying to exist."

      I remember reading this before. Well, they can take all their reasons and Stop. Grifting. Plenty of people with disabilities work and /or receive assistance (as I mentioned previously, my exPOS, who has disabilities so I'm familiar with a number of options and money). Some family, have / had disabilities. I've been an advocate for services and staff training (and provided training) for Years with previous positions - because it matters to me. So, yea, Artemis get. a. job. 

      57 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

      Art lists manual labour and call centres. And that's it. Not any jobs they could look at involving writing, from editing to writing student essays for money (yes it's dodgy but people do it). Not even playing video games for money (get character to a level where they have cool stuff for someone.)  Nothing about remote work, which there is more of now, and not even entry level white collar work.

      On the one hand I agree with them that the social support is inadequate, and that detailing your medical needs shouldn't have to happen - but they just grifted nearly $5000 to move and for a holiday, and with the amount of effort that took they probably could have held down employment of some description and to be honest would probably be better off.

      So many WFH/remote legit jobs now. Hell, you can play games on your phone and earn gift cards; donate blood and get gift cards. I knew a homeless couple that donated plasma for higher amount g.c.

      Absolutely! The amount of money; it's disgusting. And that amount of effort... At some point, even we don't want to or circumstances we don't want to deal with and adult, because... We're adults! Plenty of things I want to ignore or not deal with, just have go away but persevere because the alternative... not an option.

      2 hours ago, Bookworm1564 said:

      My all-time favourite Art post is the one where they say “Just for today, you can double the impact of your support with this opportunity” as if this was the moment we were all waiting for.

      Like a sale for limited-time-only 🤣



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