Spaced: Chaos Rewatch

March 1, 2015 3:14 PM - Season 1, Episode 5

This episodes sees a major test of Tim and Daisy's friendship: Daisy mistrusts Tim after he loses Colin on late-night walkies. Can Tim redeem himself? Will Brian come back in one piece (you know the piece I mean)? And will Colin the dog ever go on walkies with Tim again? Pass me a Bourbon...

The group come together to mount an all-out offensive after receiving a mysterious letter. This is a very serious tactical meeting! Bourbons are served.

Highlights include Bill Baily as 'Biblo Bagshot' telling Tim the Minty and Gramsci story (a cautonary tale), and Daisy's sandwich toaster speech about her breakup with Richard.

From The A.V. Club's review of two episodes, "Chaos" and "Epiphanies":

"The best sitcoms, I’d argue, create groups of people we want to hang out with. We’ve talked a lot about the ways that Spaced was different from other shows that had come along before it in the last two weeks, but we haven’t talked a lot about the ways that Spaced fits snugly into the grand old sitcom tradition of creating TV people who seem like they become your friends. This isn’t a show like The Office, where most of the characters quietly despise each other, even as the creators maintain a certain affection for all of them. This is a show about people who have created a solid little group of friends and invite us to join them every week. The necessary building blocks of the first three episodes out of the way, the series can just invite us to come and sit around in their apartment while they play, and there’s very little that’s more fun to do than that."

Trivia

• "Tim mentions a series of undisputed facts, one of which is 'every odd-numbered Star Trek movie is shit'. Ironically, Simon Pegg went on to play Scotty in Star Trek (2009), which is the eleventh installment in the franchise (and regarded as one of the best). (imdb)
• "In the scene where Tim, Daisy and Brian have just finished watching the Star Wars trilogy, a funny alien-language song can be heard. This is the Ewok song which plays in the final scene of the original version of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) (the 1997 Special Edition changed the music) being sung by Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. They couldn't get permission to use the John Williams score for the Star Wars end credits although they were allowed to record their own version, but they didn't think they could convincingly recreate it so their composer came up with a tune and they sang the Ewok song over it, the lyrics to which were provided by Pegg who knew them off by heart from, being a big Star Wars fan as a child." (imdb)

Films referenced include Star Wars, The Shining, Don't Look Now, and An American Werewolf in London.

Originally aired October 22, 1999.

Quotes:

• "Can't I be 'Han'?" / "No!"
• "Brian? Come back in one piece." / "Yep." / "You know what piece I mean..."

posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome (13 comments total)

This is one of the weaker episodes, to my mind, but even so, it's hugely enjoyable. We're slipping into a groove now with the characters and mixing them up more to get some group dynamics going. Each character threatens to become a stereotype but the writing treats them so well that they pull back from that - although Marsha is perhaps the one that's most under threat to being reduced to just a one-note character. (Thankfully we know that her story is expanded later on - this is a rewatch afterall..)

What did you all think of this episode? Did you spot any movie references that I missed?
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 5:48 PM on March 1, 2015

"That's how it all starts, with oohs and ahs, but later there's barking and biting." is a Jurassic Park reference?.(Although not the first movie I think: 2 or 3?)

I like: Bilbo adding "acorns" to the list of toasted sandwich fillings; 2200 hours for Mike, 10 for everyone else; Twist's "it's from the DKNY urban-warfare range."
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:24 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Is Chewie the Princess? This episode is a lot of fun, although a few bits come off as a bit weird (the whole conversation with the guard doesn't seem to quite work). I love the toaster conversation, especially Bill Bailey's takeaway from it. Also, while searching for the quote, I stumbled across this website.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 12:03 AM on March 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

"Tim mentions a series of undisputed facts, one of which is 'every odd-numbered Star Trek movie is shit'. Ironically, Simon Pegg went on to play Scotty in Star Trek (2009), which is the eleventh installment in the franchise (and regarded as one of the best)

No, see, the reboot is set in an alternative universe where every even-numbered Star Trek movie is shit.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:25 AM on March 2, 2015

The conversation with the guard is very British and most definitely works, can't explain why, will think about it.

ZOMG that is a great link. Here's the references section, very useful:

References

"The SWP (Minty has a copy of 'Socialist Worker') Antonio Gramsci '2001: Space Odyssey' '2000 AD' comics the computer game 'Metal Gear Solid' The odd numbered Star Trek films ('Motion Picture', 'Search for Spock', 'Final Frontier', 'Generations', 'Insurrection') 'Star Trek: Voyager' Breville sandwich toasters 'Jurassic Park 2' 'The Shining' (Tim being chased by his Dad) 'Evil Dead 2' (poster) numerous references to the 'Star Wars' trilogy including the characters and the attack on the Death Star a ridiculously obscure 'X files' reference which I did spot without DVD commentary help The Ewoks Chaos Theory (see below) Jaffa Cakes Kabaddi 'Cujo' 'Don't look now', 'Saving Private Ryan' ( "I'll see you at the beach." ), 'Desperado' ( "Let's play!" ) 'Fiat' cars 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' (Daisy's 'My brain hurts!' T-shirt) 'An American Werewolf in London'."

posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 7:12 AM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also, the casual eye-scratch Mike does with the gun is one of the many small throw-away jokes that Spaced is riddled with - very funny...
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 7:13 AM on March 2, 2015

Sorry, I should have been more specific. The hostage scene is hilarious. The later scene where he explains that he felt sorry about the dogs just has a slightly weird vibe that always feels odd to me.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 7:19 AM on March 2, 2015

It felt to me like that scene is mostly there to deliver the "I've always been a bit of a yes-man" joke.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:21 AM on March 2, 2015

OH I SEE! Thank you Cannon Fodder - yes, I agree. Bit too forced and setting up the pay-off line, as Whad,k suggests.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:21 AM on March 3, 2015

I just watched the rest of the commentary for this episode, and I love Edgar Wright's enthusiasm for individual shots. His favorite bit in this episode was when Daisy receives the mysterious letter, and Tim tells her he wants to get Colin back. He speaks with such glee about the individual shots, the actors' actions, and ends with "BAFTA!"

Also great in the commentary: Jessica Stevenson (Daisy) talks about her walking punch, which is copied from Leon: The Professional, if I recall correctly.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:10 AM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

"Colin! Come back, you little c...olin."
Makes me laugh every time.
posted by billiebee at 5:44 AM on March 8, 2015

There's a fleeting image of someone in a Little Red Riding Hood costume. Was that referencing something more than the fairytale itself?
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 9:14 PM on March 9, 2015

There's a fleeting image of someone in a Little Red Riding Hood costume. Was that referencing something more than the fairytale itself?

I believe it's the film "Don't Look Now" although I've never seen it. Season 2 has a referenceometer thingy which displays them all as you watch, but I don't think 1 does.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 12:55 AM on March 10, 2015