"Fear Itself"
Community (2008)

Director:

Mary Harron

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator)
Kelly Kennemer (written by)

TV Series:

"Fear Itself" (2008)

Original Air Date:

24 July 2008 (Season 1, Episode 7)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Bathtub | Pig | Champagne | Family | Valentine's Day

Cast

Brandon Routh	...	Bobby
Shiri Appleby	...	Tracy
Barbara Tyson	...	Candace
John Billingsley	...	Phil
Charlie Hofheimer	...	Scott
Brooklyn Sudano	...	Arlene
Peter Strand Rumpel	...	Ron
Tom Carey	...	Simmons
James D. Hopkin	...	Andrew
Meredith Bailey	...	Heather
Alex Fatovich	...	Meryl
Jordan Schartner	...	Ken
Ecko Goffic
Graham Laschuk
Amelia Rose Kohan

Filming Locations:

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Fear Itself has officially turned into a comedy.

Wait a minute. Was I meant to believe that horrible "twist"? Did the writers though it was clever? Did YOU think it was clever? If you say yes, then you probably LOVED last week's episode. Oh, well.

Community has a good premise (that you've probably seen in other movies), and it is intriguing. Not Brandon Routh's acting mind you, but the way the story developed itself was interesting. I thought-- "Gee, today's episode is going to make up for all the really crappy ones!" And it did, actually. Barely, but it succeeded in being somewhat watchable. The director for this episode, Mary Harron, made American Psycho back in 2000. Obviously, this AIN'T no American Psycho. Whatever.

Superman and Liz Parker star in this one, as a couple who want to raise a family. They learn of this community named The Commons that is supposedly, a very nice place in the 'burbs where one can raise the kids efficiently, healthily, and peacefully. Once you see the actual people who inhabit this place, it becomes clear that they are insane in the membrane. What follows are some very efficient scenes, like watching through your TV set a live affair from one of your ACTUAL neighbors, or taking part in some public punishment where the sufferer is wearing a Pig mask, etcetera. Some really, really great stuff much to my surprise. Besides that, the rest of the script is pretty forgettable. The relationship between Supes and Liz is alright, nothing THAT interesting. John Billingsley's character was written well, but his acting in some of the scenes were ridiculous to say the least. The interactions between Supes wife and her newfound friends were a mixed bag for me; the writer didn't know if they would work better being disturbing, or something barely resembling that. And then...there is the last act. The grand Opus.

WHAT THE F*CK WAS THIS? "Wait a minute, I ran out of ideas!" "That's okay, just make it seem as if NOTHING HAPPENED in the last half hour, and you'll be alright. Now, lets go and cash in on that paycheck!"

That was an actual conversation between Kelly Kennemer and his alter ego, mediocrity.

Well kids, this episode ain't no Horror. It ain't even bad Horror. It is merely, a dumb Thriller.

How about it NBC, any more "big" stars next week? Any "good" writing to be found in next week's outing? (if you know what writing means of course) Instead of concentrating on getting one "big named actor", you should concentrate on making GOOD episodes.

At least you made me laugh with this silly installment.