Episode Commentary: The Science of Illusion

April Fool’s Day hits the campus of Greendale Community College and Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) immediately sees it as his duty to distribute politically correct, college-approved prank packets.

Buzz-kill Britta (Gillian Jacobs) has other plans, though. In order to shake her somber reputation, she plots to kidnap a frog from the biology lab and dress him in a little sombrero donning the emblem of “Sr. Chang.”

It’ll be a riot.

Presumably, like some best-laid plans, Britta’s goes horribly astray – with an incident involving a corpse; class visits from its large, extended family and a grisly competition between two bad-cop wannabes.
Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and Annie (Alison Brie) are those very same hardened security guards, desperate to shed their gentle demeanors.

No longer the good Christian housewife and overachieving youngster, they now scour the campus in search of the no-good lowlife who turned April Fool’s Day into “March 32nd” for all of Greendale.

Not one to let such an opportunity-filled day slide, Jeff (Joel McHale) concocts a scheme with the help of Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) to trick Pierce (Chevy Chase), who soon becomes the human form of the epic Cookie Crisp Wizard.

This particular episode continues to play on the inherent silliness of “Community,” just as the one before it. It does contain many genuinely funny moments sprinkled throughout, however – ranging from Dean Pelton’s awkward mishaps (he gives the ladies his only pepper spray; as a result, he’ll have to grocery shop in a better neighborhood) to the forced and ultimately adorable toughness of its erstwhile buddy cops.

It’s also fantastic that the characters’ personalities continue to develop, while their respective idiosyncrasies consistently exist from episode to episode. This week, Brown and Brie undoubtedly stole the show – and it’s about time, since their particular personas have not been given much spotlight throughout this entire season.

As season one presumably nears its end, “Community” has indubitably hit its stride, stepping swiftly into the smoothly charming shoes of its swagger-infused protagonist.

Although the next episode is a repeat, here’s hoping for a good many more before the season’s impending end.

Go Greendale Human Beings.

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