13x04 Time's Up for the Gang

[9.2/10] All hail Megan Ganz! Having the Community pro come to IASIP has already been a boon for the show, and it’s especially great to have her write the show’s MeToo/TimesUp episode given her own part of that moment.

And it’s a brilliant, funny episode! Of course, The Gang is just terrible and completely fails to understand anything underlying that movement or sexual harassment or, anything decent really. It’s hard to decide which facet of this thing I loved most, but what I really appreciated was the overall picture. You have an episode which devotes time to each member of the game and their specific flavor of inability to understand, and you also just have their continual banter with the presenters that exposes their ignorance and misconceptions in a hilarious way.

I particularly appreciated the comic force of The Gang literalizing the concept of being in “this climate.” The way people got actually sweaty when they realized they could be liable for harassment and complained about the climate was a funny way to show that anxiety. And the sound design, with the ticking clocks speeding up as people realize that time might be up for them is outstanding. (It’s low key, but between this and the gong sound in the season premiere, there’s been some really superb use of sound design in this season.)

Of course you have Frank who has a retrograde view of the whole thing, and between him talking on the phone with his lawyers about states with no statute of limitations for sexual harassment, and wandering around in a not well-tied bathrobe, he’s his usual bowling ball of inappropriate energy.

I especially enjoyed the follow-up scene where the male presenter was walking Dee, Mac, and Charlie through a roleplay. The way they just could not comprehend what was wrong (and how Dee focused on the acting part of the exercise) was fantastic. Mac’s assault was ludicrous, and his inability to grasp that (in a “grab ‘em by the pussy” sort of way), and Dee remarking that it made her feel like “Thumbalina” was incisive and very laughworthy. Dee was on fire all throughout this episode, between trying to weaponize the climate and slowly realizing that she could be just as on the hook as the rest of The Gang.

I also like Charlie’s bit, where he squirms at the presenter’s hypothetical in a way that hits too close to home with him and The Waitress. I’ll admit, the reveal that Dennis set this whole thing up to teach the rest of The Gang not be sloppy about their harassment was a bit much for me in terms of story, but it works for Dennis to ply his sociopathic approach to this whole thing, while dressing down the rest of The Gang.

Overall, this is yet another instance of season 13 of this show combining uproarious nuts and bolts humor, outstanding social commentary, and a great understanding and use of the characters into one complete and fantastic package. So great!