REVIEW - IT CROWD: THE INTERNET IS COMING
The fact that a double length episode was being released to close the IT Crowd series was bittersweet news. Although I am amongst those who were hoping for another season, in many ways I am happy that the writers decided against that because although I greatly enjoyed the fourth season, I feel as though there is only so much good content that writers can get out of a certain scenario (here Reynholm Industries) before needing to make some kind of dramatic, life-altering change in order to revamp the show. In short, I did not want it to be another Friends or Scrubs.
This final episode, The Internet is Coming, was everything fans of the show could possibly want it to be. Abounding with allusions to previous episodes it was an appropriately hilarious send-off for the characters. However there are three areas in which I felt The Internet is Coming did not live up to the standard set by past IT Crowd episodes.
All of the acting was brilliant- apart from Matt Berry! It pains me to say this as I am a big, big fan of Matt Berry (in Snuffbox, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, his music, basically everything that he does) but it felt as though he only appeared in this special because he felt obliged to. I thought perhaps my abundant love for him had exaggerated his acting ability in the past, but after re-watching the third season shortly before writing this I can safely say that his performance in The Internet is Coming was not on par with many of the other episodes. Luckily Graham Linehan's writing pulled it all together neatly enough that Berry's lack of enthusiasm as Douglass was not so noticeable.
The other two things are issues I had with the writing. But before I make any criticisms I would like to make clear that overall I thought it was very funny. On an entertainment level it was great. But analyzing a little deeper these are the faults I noticed:
1. Too much fan service: for anyone who is not familiar with the term, fan service (broadly) is the inclusion of content that will excite the viewer or get their attention, but has no plot redeeming qualities. Unnecessary explosions, breast close-ups, that kind of thing. In this case I am referring to the plethora of in-jokes the episode contained - all throwbacks to previous episodes. All of the previous episodes could be enjoyed by someone who does not know the context of the show or the characters, however this special was so full of self-referencing that its appeal narrowed. Although this is not really a problem, as wrapping up the series for the fans was basically the point of the special, I felt like wider appeal could have been achieved - perhaps by making the special longer to have time to include both self-referencing and accessible comedy?
2. Playing with the fourth wall: ordinarily in a television show the actors do not make reference to the fact that they are actors. They stay in character and try to convince you that the made-up scenario they are in is real. In the early twentieth century a technique called 'breaking the fourth wall' was popularized by Bertolt Brecht (a famous German playwright). This technique involves speaking to the audience directly or otherwise acknowledging the facade of performance. Towards the end of the episode Jen and Roy begin to question the absurdity of the situations they always seem to end up in, acknowledging that it is unnatural how often they find themselves in ridiculous scenarios which always manage to resolve overnight. I am usually a fan of this kind of cheeky writing but here it seemed a bit forced and not in theme with the rest of the episode. It was an interesting turn but ultimately it failed to go anywhere.
Game Board was a hilarious mockery of terrible Youtubers and the nerdy allusions throughout (e.g. Moss changing into 'women's slacks' in a red phone box) were enjoyable. In many ways it felt like there was so much Linehan wanted to do, but there just was not time in forty minutes to do it. Perhaps another season would not have been so bad after all.
This final episode, The Internet is Coming, was everything fans of the show could possibly want it to be. Abounding with allusions to previous episodes it was an appropriately hilarious send-off for the characters. However there are three areas in which I felt The Internet is Coming did not live up to the standard set by past IT Crowd episodes.
All of the acting was brilliant- apart from Matt Berry! It pains me to say this as I am a big, big fan of Matt Berry (in Snuffbox, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, his music, basically everything that he does) but it felt as though he only appeared in this special because he felt obliged to. I thought perhaps my abundant love for him had exaggerated his acting ability in the past, but after re-watching the third season shortly before writing this I can safely say that his performance in The Internet is Coming was not on par with many of the other episodes. Luckily Graham Linehan's writing pulled it all together neatly enough that Berry's lack of enthusiasm as Douglass was not so noticeable.
The other two things are issues I had with the writing. But before I make any criticisms I would like to make clear that overall I thought it was very funny. On an entertainment level it was great. But analyzing a little deeper these are the faults I noticed:
1. Too much fan service: for anyone who is not familiar with the term, fan service (broadly) is the inclusion of content that will excite the viewer or get their attention, but has no plot redeeming qualities. Unnecessary explosions, breast close-ups, that kind of thing. In this case I am referring to the plethora of in-jokes the episode contained - all throwbacks to previous episodes. All of the previous episodes could be enjoyed by someone who does not know the context of the show or the characters, however this special was so full of self-referencing that its appeal narrowed. Although this is not really a problem, as wrapping up the series for the fans was basically the point of the special, I felt like wider appeal could have been achieved - perhaps by making the special longer to have time to include both self-referencing and accessible comedy?
2. Playing with the fourth wall: ordinarily in a television show the actors do not make reference to the fact that they are actors. They stay in character and try to convince you that the made-up scenario they are in is real. In the early twentieth century a technique called 'breaking the fourth wall' was popularized by Bertolt Brecht (a famous German playwright). This technique involves speaking to the audience directly or otherwise acknowledging the facade of performance. Towards the end of the episode Jen and Roy begin to question the absurdity of the situations they always seem to end up in, acknowledging that it is unnatural how often they find themselves in ridiculous scenarios which always manage to resolve overnight. I am usually a fan of this kind of cheeky writing but here it seemed a bit forced and not in theme with the rest of the episode. It was an interesting turn but ultimately it failed to go anywhere.
Game Board was a hilarious mockery of terrible Youtubers and the nerdy allusions throughout (e.g. Moss changing into 'women's slacks' in a red phone box) were enjoyable. In many ways it felt like there was so much Linehan wanted to do, but there just was not time in forty minutes to do it. Perhaps another season would not have been so bad after all.
