I enjoyed S5 (part 1). I liked it more immediately than I liked S4 when it was released. That said, it doesn’t feel like they got everyone in the same room that much more often. It feels more like they cut it the way they cut the S4 remix, except they just did it that way from the beginning this time. Also, I don’t know why, but I was kind of surprised they continued so many of the S4 storylines. I kind of expected it to just pick up with a new story like it did last time. I thought they would deal with the Lucile 2 thing but I was surprised it picked up right after S4 ended.
I definitely agree they should've just abandoned all old storylines. Especially given the time jump. The pace felt rushed because of how they were trying to address all these different threads. Going back to the first run's formula where everything extended outwards from the original problem in episode one seems like it would've been a much better choice
I don’t quite get the obsession this fan base has with all the characters being on screen at the same time. It’s not like that happened a lot in the first 3 seasons either. Sitcoms don’t really work when you just put 8 characters in a room all at once, part of the fun is experimenting with different character pairings.
I think the green screen attempts to force people into the same room are what bother me more than anything
That’s totally fair, the green screen is distracting. At least in this season that was pretty much only with Lindsay.
There were parts of this season where I seriously didn’t know what was happening. The plot is very confusing
It kind of feels like since season 4 they are trying to make every character the main character. I get they may have had to in order to do season 4, but it just doesn’t work for me (and apparently many others) In 1-3 Michael was the main character with the whole family opposing his goal to keep the business afloat and keep the family together in someway. In season 4 and 5 the story isn’t about any one character, nor the family as a unit. It’s more just like 10 different stories than all interweave and they all oppose eachother including Michael and George Michael.
Just finished the initial 3 seasons for the first time in years and this is definitely the most I've ever enjoyed this show. Really looking forward to the 4 remix, I've only seen S4 once and with this new format it will basically be a new season as well
Just finished this season. I am a MASSIVE fan of this show, like most of you I'm sure. This was a huge disappointment and for me, much worse than S4, which this is a straight continuation of, which annoys me. 1) I cannot believe that we are still knee deep in bad plotting from S4 such as "The Wall", Fakeblock, and goddamn Rebel Alley, to name a few. We are now 30 episodes deep (assuming the remix is the new canon for S4) into some of these plots which is insane, and some of there were not even very good to begin with. 2) Why didn't they just fast forward a year or something so this season could be fresh? The show was at its best when there were semi-self-contained episodes, I thought for sure we'd be back to that this year..........such a bummer. Way too much serialized plot and not very good plot at that 3) It feels like a "cover band" version of Arrested Development to me at this point 4) It's still funny in spots, but much less so than earlier seasons 5) The plot and timelines are way too hard to follow, for little to no gain. 6) The recapping/exposition is WAY too much 7) In Season 2, something like Maeby at the old folks home would be a 1, 2, or maybe 3 episode arc. Now it's 8 episodes....it just feels lazy and boring to me. Really bummed out by this.
People seem to be taking tropes this show has and criticizing them in season five even though it leaned on them for the first three seasons.
I think the criticism is that in this season, the tropes don’t really have any payoff? For instance, Ron Howard’s narration added another layer of humor in seasons 1-3. It was meta, clever, etc. There are a few examples of that in S5, but it’s mostly just convoluted exposition. I thought this season had enough moments to be *worth the watch* but it certainly isn’t great like the previous 4
While you know I love the new Star Wars, tropes are present in literally every piece of art and can be done well and done poorly just like anything. Sometimes meta humor is great. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes call back jokes works well, sometimes it seems contrived. Etc... Just depends on the person watching, especially with comedy.
I get your point, maybe it would have been better stated to say they're doing everything worse. The Michael/George Michael/Rebel Alley love triangle is funny in a small dose, I feel like they have made that the driving force of those 2 characters' entire plot for 30 episodes, and it's way too repetitive and long-winded for me. I'd rather see those characters interact in some other way at this point. I did enjoy the Gob/Closet guys plotline this season.
I don't have an issue with anything this season tried to do, I just don't think it's well written or funny.
Sure, I think that’s more of a valid criticism than the meta narration, Michael being pathetic, repeated storylines, etc... I disagree because I thought it was hilarious, but it’s valid.
I’m trying to hold off complete judgement til the full season is out. The back half of 4 was way stronger than the first half.