This season the show has really recaptured it's fire.

its

She said on a Comedy Bang Bang podcast that she doesn't listen to music, and I don't think she was kidding. She's one of 'those'.

Paintball is has always been the weakest link of this show. Also, season 4 due to Dan Harmon getting fired. Season 5 has been great again, though, since they hired him back. I suggest getting a torrent or streaming netflix or whatever and starting from the beginning. It's not a huge plot thing, but there are lots of evolving jokes throughout the series.

There are three paintball episodes, and to understand them, you need to realize they aren't just gimmick episodes, but gimmicks that actually advance the characters' respective arcs in creative ways.

And the final, Season 4 paintball episode is universally regarded as the worst, even though I personally didn't find it that bad.

A good gimmick episode that is accessible to non-fans would be "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" in Season 2, which is filmed entirely in Rankin-Bass style stop-motion. It is available wherever honest people who don't pretend to buy everything on DVD can download TV episodes.

I was honest, I said torrent

As sexy as you may be, duck cop, you will never catch us honest torrentors. We use the money we save to surf, and give back to the community. Lemonade? I make it by the jug

I hate you. >_>

Show's been crap ever since Dan Harmon left; it's just goofy antics and a different gimmick every week.

Wait, Dan Harmon's back ... ? What I meant to say is, it's a delightful breath of fresh air, with innovative new concepts to spark the imagination. Every week is a triumph!

(My real opinion: every season has had good and bad episodes, but more good than bad; and most of any perceived dip in quality has to do with expectations. That said, the non-Harmon season wrote Shirley better than Harmon ever did.)

You are totally right on all accounts, but there was a certain thing missing in season 4, and I assume that it was due to Harmon's absence.

I didn't know Harmon was back but I definitely saw a massive boost in excellentness this season.

I will admit that, when Season 4 was "off", you could definitely feel the lack of a Dan Harmon. On the other hand, when it was "on" -- say, with the Germans -- Dan Harmon couldn't have done any better.

I mean usually a show has this sort of scene and the rapping is cutesy and dweebish but the Dean getting angrier and angrier and his horrified reaction to his loss of control made it perfect.

Everyone on the AV Club is saying the same thing: It started off as a terrible cliche and rapidly descended into the dark place only Dean Pelton can survive in.