COMMUNITY “Epidemiology 206″ Season 2 Episode 6 - I don’t know that any show but COMMUNITY could come up with, let alone execute, a zombie apocalypse set to ABBA songs with narration from George Takei, which is exactly what the hilarious “Epidemiology 206″ is.
Before we get into the actual Greendale of the Dead, kudos to the costume department. Of course Jeff is David Beckham and Annie is Little Red Riding Hood, but I’m with Jeff that Britta’s really a dragon-turtle. I knew Shirley was Glinda (Miss Piggy? Really?) right away, but I thought Chang was Dorothy Hamill, which while wrong probably doesn’t make me “proven racist by the racist-prover.”
How does Dean Gaga keep his job? Hazardous material as taco meat–yummy! “We need a little baby quarantine until the army gets here.” I almost like zombie Pierce better than regular Pierce. Come on–he eats Star Burns! “Okay, I’m ruling out food poisoning.” Thanks, Chiquita, MD. The zombie chase scene set to “Dancing Queen” is epic and Troy’s running is hilarious. “It’s officially a waking nightmare.” They get every cliché in like “I was just thinking we should be doing this in a basement” and Troy’s ridiculous puns when he’s fighting the zombie horde. “My, Annie, what big fist you have–in your face!” I can’t stop laughing at “Fernando” closing out the zombie escapades. It’s just so inspired.
I love that Troy and Abed’s friendship is both tested and explored here. “I’m saying I remind girls less of taking their little brothers to Comic-Con.” Jeff has too much sway over Troy, especially when it comes to Troy’s insecurities, but it’s completely true to his character and it gives us sexy Dracula as a abalicious bonus. Plus, they work things out in true movie fashion, giving us an “I love you”/”I know” Star Wars reference. Even better is “Be the first black man to make it to the end.” Heh. Love Troy as Ripley, by the way, and we get a movie night with the very random Marmaduke choice. “I don’t know why, but I’m kinda over zombies.”
Chang and Shirley. Um, so that happened. Not sure how I feel about it, but I do like how he saves her (admittedly, he’s the one who put them all in more danger, but still) and gets her into the bathroom. “Occupied! Occupied!” The closing bumper is terrific. Poor Troy–”Why did he call me?” Why, indeed? Oh, and Shirley has my favorite line of the night (in a ridiculously close race) with “You better back that pumpkin ass up or I’m gonna make some pie.”
Randomly: I love the changed meta credits; bonus points for the Wilhelm scream, “Why six hours? Are they hosting the Oscars?;” “What is up with this cat? Is someone throwing it?;” “You just punched a lady bee;” zombie hamster makes me laugh, “it’s quarter past time to get the hell out of here;” when Jeff is attacked, he only cares about his jacket being stretched; and yay for the Men in Black.
My only complaint about this episode of Community is that my name isn’t Kevin. I want a George Takei greeting for my voice mail, darn it. Other than that, this is a tightly written, over the top parody. Everyone stays in character even as zombies (“Zombie Jeff is still cool”/”MAAHW!”) and we get some plot development in the midst of the hilarity.
What did you think of Community‘s homage to zombie films? What’s your favorite Halloween episode of the week? There were some great ones, and I can’t decide between this and Raising Hope.
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