dex14

Fist of Doom

Holy fuck that was horrible. Note to Dan Harmon: please work out your daddy issues in private.

RichC2

Yeah this one was trying way too hard, I didn't think it was a "holy fuck - horrible" episode, but it wasn't a very strong effort.

UAIOE

I think "Hector the Well-Endowed" is gonna be my go to name if I ever get invited to a D&D game.

I wonder why they felt the need to use it a 2nd time.

Boondock Saint

Pretty hilarious

Osiris3657

worst episode in the show's history. I had no idea what the fuck was going on and I didn't care.

Gizmo

Yep, pretty damn bad. Huge miss.

wmansir

Overall the episode was pretty bad.

Stylistically, I can understand why they didn't ape the LOTR style like they did in the first one. It was great there but while Hammond will revisit an older episode he likes to put a fresh spin on it when he does. The problem is they didn't seem to really replace that style with anything new. Have they done a Game of Thrones style episode already? It would seem a good fit with the family issues theme.

Comedically, there didn't seem to be much left unmined from the first time around. The Dean/Jeff setup was the strongest bit and the episode probably would have been better if had made that central to the episode. I know I would have preferred to see the two of them roleplayt whatever prearranged reconciliation story line the group had worked out for Hickey and son. The Hickey/abed interrogation bit worked well too.

For the story they went with I think it would have worked better if Hickey's son wasn't such a jerk. We know Hickey can be an ass, so they could have made the son a little more sympathetic. It would have made it less cliched and the ambiguous ending would have fit better. I really didn't feel whatever closure or progress the rest of the group saw at the end.

Cellar Door

I liked it. It wasn't as strong as most of the other episodes this season, but it was still better than most of season 4. The stuff with the Dean was funny, especially when he pulled himself along the imaginary sword blade to hug Jeff.

movieking

Really didn't like it.

JTH182

Not the best effort, but I laughed at a few parts.

We need a gif of Annie jerking her giant invisible member off on the imaginary enemies.

riotinmyskull

Pointyskull

Wow, I'm kind of surprised at the negative reaction to this ep. I thought it was hilarious...

madcougar

Me too. It wasn't as good as the first D&D episode, but I didn't expect it to be. Truth be told, I thought it started off slow, but once the game got going, I thought it was pretty freaking great. Jim Rash totally killed the entire episode and Danny Pudi was great, too.

dex14

boogieman03

Chang's "Time Square" bit had me laughing more than it probably should have.

starman9000

Same.

RichC2

That line cracked me up as well

rocket1312

Ugh. I typed out my detailed thoughts on this episode, but lost it all when my login timed out. Here's the short version...

-I'm surprised at the hate. No way was this the worst episode of the series. There were a lot of great moments even if they didn't necessarily add up to much.

-I enjoyed the greater focus on the D&D gameplay mechanics this time around. I thought Joe Russo handled the direction very well and made things pretty exciting. I almost wish they had more time to develop the gameplay storyline. I especially liked the showdown between the two factions even if didn't feel completely earned.

-The actual conflict of the episode was really lacking. The resolution was particularly lame. Most of the storylines this season have felt very underdeveloped. I get the sense that maybe Harmon, in his quest to be less of a maniacal control freak crazy person this go around, has loosened up on his demands with regards to story structure. Anyone who's seen the pictures of his story graphs knows what I'm talking about.

-What's the point of this season? Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed it quite a bit and am glad to have it, but there's no real big picture narrative anymore. It's not like this is Breaking Bad or anything, but there's always been some sort of overall conflict pushing the story forward.

Pointyskull

The show is making me laugh each week. I'm good with that - I don't really expect this to be going anywhere.

madcougar

After 10 episodes, I have the same feeling. I suspect that the fact the season was only 13 episodes and that the creators had no clue WHEN it would air, made it difficult to focus on a particular direction. For example, they can't have a Halloween episode when there's no telling when it may air.

Bandoman

Loved the very beginning when when they mentioned the fat guy who they saved so that he could "do stuff in the background" (as he is shown doing stuff in the background).

I also loved Chang's "Times Square" line.

rocket1312

I totally get that. Like I said, I'm glad to have this season no matter what. It's been a lot of fun. I certainly don't need the show to be over serialized (I think season 3 went too far in that direction), but I appreciate the notion that there is some sort of forward momentum for these characters. I liked the semblance of an endgame.

Take the original D&D episode, for example. It works perfectly fine as a standalone episode, but much of the conflict comes from Pierce and his increasing alienation from the rest of the group, which was an idea that ran through much of the second season. It all ended up building to the season 2 finale when Pierce walked out on the group (let's ignore the fact that the whole thing was flushed away in the season 3 premiere). The episode works as a standalone as well as small piece in the larger puzzle. That's what I think is missing from this season.

Harmon has said in interviews that if they get a 6th season he is committed to the idea of doing a movie and having that be the end of it. Hopefully, if they do get picked up, having that endpoint will give the show a bit more narrative drive.

Rex Fenestrarum

Thought this episode was just OK... but damn Alison Brie is beautiful.

dstrauss

I loved this episode. Laughed a lot, so obviously I disagree with several of you.