Why Season 6 of ‘Community’ Was Great For The Girls

Six seasons and a movie has always been Community’s mantra, and this past Tuesday, June 2, Yahoo Screen finished making the first half of that (often-screamed!) saying a reality.

Though there were several incredible moments in this past season—including PSA about incest—the real breakout stars were two characters that have been in the show since episode one: Britta and Annie (Gillian Jacobs and Alison Brie). This season more than any other has allowed the women of Greendale to really flex their comedic chops, and I have to say, it’s a shame it took this long for them to get the comedic attention they so clearly deserve.

I’m not by a long shot saying Community is sexist. It’s not. In a sitcom that is often more concerned with sitcoms and pop culture itself than existing as a story, Community’s relationship with sex, race, and gender identity is complicated at best because mainstream media’s relationship with these topics is complicated. However, the show’s all-encompassing devotion to the meta has led to defining its female characters almost exclusively by their femininity.

Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown), who was a cast regular for Seasons One through Five, underwent a major transitional arch where she realized that she could be both a mother and a businesswoman. However, in almost every scene she’s in, no matter what it’s about, Shirley is a mother first. She is rarely allowed to be just another person. Likewise, Annie’s identity as a smart overachiever manifests itself so that she is constantly playing the sexy nerd.

This isn’t to say that there’s anything wrong with Shirley being defined by her devotion to her children or Annie being acknowledged for her intelligence (though being so strongly defined by her appearance and age is another problem, but again, meta social commentary). These clearly-defined character tropes have produced some great moments, such as Annie’s infantilizing and tongue-in-cheek “Santa Baby” parody in “Regional Holiday Music.” But having characters so dependent on these traits can be comedically limiting.

Britta, the series’ often confused voice of overt feminism, has somewhat avoided this limiting fate, not through her feminist views, but through her general incompetence. Her ability to “Britta” everything, which is Community slang for screwing up, focuses the comedic attention away from Gillian Jacobs’ appearance and battle to belong into the world of femininity and toward her flaws as a character—not a woman.

Season Six allowed Britta and Annie more sight gags, opportunities for physical humor, and plot lines that revolved around their aspirations and shortcomings as human beings. I think this great change happened for two reasons.

 

1. The show has been “hemorrhaging characters”

As usual, Abed puts it best.

The first four seasons of Community had a lot of competition when it came down to which character would land the next zinger. This is definitely understandable when your cast includes comedy legend Chevy Chase and the Childish Gambino himself (Donald Glover). However, as the show continued, that competition became more and more intense, often limiting Britta, Annie, and Shirley to the role of the straight man. While this was a role they played well, it sometimes felt like it was the default, rather than the exception, limiting their roles to taking turns wagging fingers at Pierce’s, Troy’s, Abed’s, and even Jeff’s antics.

Britta, Annie, and Shirley’s roles in the comedic background became more apparent as the show grew and the cast expanded. Troy and Abed’s (Danny Pudi) relationship became a central point of the series, Chang (Ken Jeong) was added to the cast, the Dean (Jim Rash) landed an increasingly bigger role, and Buzz Hickey (Jonathan Banks) was added to the ensemble after Chase left. That’s a lot of comedic competition.

In contrast, Season Six opened with a lot of casting gaps, which allowed Britta and Annie to have a much louder and funnier voice on the show.

 

2. Frankie happened

Oh Frankie Dart. You achieved more in one season than the rest of the cast was able to accomplish in five years. One of the two new members to the study group, Frankie (Paget Brewster) was hired in Season Six as the college’s CFO and Efficiency Consultant. Her no-nonsense attitude, which by default always pinned her as the show’s straight man, is what really helped the women of Greendale this season.

With Frankie taking the role as the practical foil to the Greendale Seven’s (now Four’s) antics and with the drastically smaller cast of regulars, the large part of the comedic burden feel on Britta, Annie, and the Dean to carry, and all three rose to the occasion beautifully. To me, this division of focus felt much more natural than that of Season Five, where new cast member Buzz Hickey and Professor Duncan (John Oliver) almost jarringly took center stage.

However, it wasn’t just Frankie’s self-proclaimed boring personality that helped the women of Greendale gain the attention they deserve. Her insistence on being appreciated based on her competence and results rather than her sexuality transformed the conversation.

Frankie is not defined by her sexuality or male approval, to the point where the question of whether or not she’s a lesbian becomes a reoccurring joke. However, that is a question Frankie never answers nor seems interested in answering because it frankly doesn’t matter.

What matters is that Frankie is wonderful at her job, and, in a way, her high level of confidence gave Britta and Annie permission to be comfortable with themselves. For Annie, that meant being the driven woman we’ve known from Episode One—even if that driven woman is too high-achieving to stay at Greendale forever. For Britta, that meant coming to terms with her mistakes and realizing that even the things she has tried her hardest to run from are a part of who she is. Even if that person is a hyper-opinionated, often-wrong, drunk bartender, that’s OK, because deep down, Britta is a genuinely good person who has learned to accept who she is.

This season, we were given stories driven by Britta and Annie without the will-they-won’t-they lens that used to define their relationship with Jeff and their roles in the series. We learned about Britta’s relationship with her parents. We saw Annie and Abed’s friendship grow. Annie’s morals were tested by an alleged four-legged and furry Greendale graduate. Britta pooped her pants.

Community‘s amazing cast has never been limited to its men or the good looks of its women, and this past season exhibited this most clearly. Now all we need is that movie.

 

[You can stream Community Seasons 1-5 on Hulu]

[You can stream Community Season 6 on Yahoo Screen]

Kayla Cobb is a proud graduate of Clemson University and loves her cat and TV shows more than some people love their kids. You should really follow her on Twitter at @KaylCobb.

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