Before we get started, know this:
Greendale Community College is represented by two separate yet equally important groups of people. The goofballs that run around stirring up trouble—and the eggheads that make a big deal out of it.
These are their stories.
Community's Law & Order spooftacular has finally arrived, and is arguably one of the top five best episodes of this wacky series to date. Dan Harmon and co. brilliantly executed a carbon copy of what would probably be one of the best episodes of the most formulaic doctor/cop/lawyer show in history. From the body-discovery cold open to the pitch-perfect chief investigator to the on-the-street walking sequence, they freaking nailed it. And -- unlike most of the Law & Order reruns I've seen -- they actually presented a compelling, multi-layered case that kept the audience on its toes. Tonight, Community was NOT the opposite of Batman.
Bonk Bonk. (That's what we'll call the Law & Order noise, since it seems to have no official title.) Of course, it all started with the discovery of a body: And in this case, that body was Pam. The Yam. See, the study group had been growing a yam for Professor Kane's (Remember him?) biology class, and at some point last night, someone had purposefully crushed it to death. This horrible crime would result in a C, and Detective Annie Edison would never settle for a C. ("Why don't I just get pregnant at a bus station?) When Prof. Kane suggested that finding concrete evidence might help their case, Annie turned to Shirley for help -- and as a former stay-at-home mom, Shirley knew a thing or two about crime shows."You boys canvass for witnesses, establish a timeframe and motive, and bring me a suspect," she barked to Troy and Abed, who would now become the hard-nosed police duo tasked to solve the case. As expected, the boys got into character flawlessly, in an instant. The pauses between sentences as they tried to come up with 'zingers' were the only thing that differentiated them from actual scripted Law & Order cops.
After an amazing electric-piano version of the Community theme song, Troy and Abed made their way throughout the school to gather evidence: First, Pierce revealed that he did not water the yam last night, as the door was already locked when he got there. Pierce wisely said that Detectives Troy and Abed should look to someone who already wanted to hurt them: Todd, the poor bastard who temporarily entered their study group last fall, and was subsequently mentally tortured. Todd, an Iraq vet, denied all charges. "You can dance all day Todd, but sooner or later the music is gonna change," said Troy. But Todd claimed that the door was locked when he got there, using a photo he took through the door as evidence. Bonk Bonk!
Unfortunately, this evidence was taken to my beloved useless Britta, who accessed her inner Criminal Minds to further examine the photography. Her work could have been done on your average everyday iPhone, but she did inadvertently help them realize that the doors to the lab were locked at eight. Therefore, the suspect must have had a key. The school's keymaster, Fat Neil, revealed the identity of the last person to check out the biology lab key: Magnitude. Bonk Bonk!
Oh Magnitude, your "Pop Pop" has never been so significant: Everyone's favorite DJ revealed that his backpack, which contained the elusive key, had been stolen in the library. Detective Troy donned a library-nerd disguise in a foolproof attempt to catch the culprit. When he carefully left his backpack unattended, it was snatched up by a nearby eavesdropping sneak: Starburns. Bonk Bonk!
