Community Almost Introduced Chang's Dead Sister (Why The Idea Was Cut)
Community nearly introduced another member of the Chang family with the addition of Ben Chang's sister Connie, but the plans didn't fit NBC's vision. Chang, of course, was played by Ken Jeong, who served as a key character throughout Dan Harmon's comedy, appearing in all six seasons. Initially presented as Señor Chang, Greendale Community College's Spanish professor, Chang was forced to withdraw from his position due to faked credentials. After a brief time enrolled as a student, Chang was hired as the school's security guard around the time his mental state became unstable. According to a nixed subplot involving Chang's family, there would have been more insight into the figure's mental breakdowns.
Upon being appointed as a security guard on Greendale's campus, Chang became extremely power-hungry. He overtook the campus with his personal regime, staging a coup. Though Chang returned to Greendale using a new identity as "Kevin" while claiming to have amnesia, he answered for his dangerous crimes. The actions convinced Dean Craig Pelton (Jim Rash) to have him released from jail, but it was all an elaborate ruse connected to Chang's partnership with rival City College to bring down Greendale. Eventually, Chang was granted another release, this time in the form of a probation-related work release allowing him to serve as Greendale's new math teacher. Despite Chang's questionable behavior and disturbed personality, the study group at the center of the series still accepted him as a friend in the end.
Throughout Chang's roller coaster of an arc in Community, some details regarding his family were revealed. In addition to his ex-wife Alessandra (Andrea de Oliveira), the show featured an appearance by Chang's older brother, Rabbi Chang (Tom Yi). The pair had another sibling in Connie, who was said to be Ben's deceased twin sister. On several occasions, Chang briefly mentioned Connie, claiming he had eaten her in utero. That detail was nearly expanded on to explore Chang's increasing psychotic breaks, which would have played into his Gollum-like moment at the end of Community season 2's premiere, "Anthropology 101."
Toward the end of the episode, Chang asked to be a member of the study group. He also had a disturbing conversation with himself to mirror Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. Originally, Harmon wanted that scene to be the start of a season-long subplot revolving around the guilt connected to Connie. According to an interview (via AV Club), Harmon and his team wanted Chang to be haunted by his dead sister. In fact, the plot would have revealed Chang's mother dressed her youngest son in dresses after blaming him for Connie's death. The storyline could have unraveled to the point where Connie was introduced as a ghost, convincing Chang to do horrible things.
Even though the purpose of the storyline was meant to deepen the message behind Chang's struggle with his mental health, the idea was nixed before it was ever filmed. The team realized the plan was going in a direction that NBC would inevitably reject. Instead of even pitching the plan for Connie, Community took Chang's arc in a different direction, including the subplot involving the romantic fling between Chang and Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown). While the series played it safe, it would have been beneficial to get a clearer explanation of Chang's psychotic breaks since they were such a prevalent piece to the character's journey at Greendale.
from ScreenRant - Feed
Join Our Email Newsletter Now!
Join over 1,897 people who get free and fresh content delivered automatically each time we publish.
