Much like the bottle episode, this week’s Community is taking a typical sitcom trope and putting its own special, deranged spin on it. Instead of a tired clip show, we get a clip show with all new, completely fake adventures. There are racist saloon owners in red long-johns, mercury poisoning, drug runners, ghosts, a train, a camping trip and a nursery, and even some sort of St. Patrick’s Day celebration that required a raft.
We learned a lot about the group though: Shirley really does think everyone’s a racist, Jeff and Britta are having secret sex (although I thought we already knew that), Annie thought that she and Jeff had a special connection, and Abed really, really liked The Cape. Plus, the Dean is way more in to costumes than we had previously realized.
With all of the craziness, there were so many moments that just cracked me up. Of course, it was satisfying to see the mystery of Annie’s pens finally solved. It bugged me that we knew that Annie’s Boobs stole them but nobody else did (yes, stupid things keep me up at night). More than that though, I loved the fact that they were making yet another diorama, but my favorite part of it was not Jeff’s giant forehead (although that was pretty hilarious), it was that little clay Chang was looking in the window of the study hall.
My favorite part of the entire show had to be the montages. The Jeff and Annie montage set to what sounds like a Sarah McLachlan song (but is actually “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles, which I didn’t know, because I am old, but found out by using Shazam like a nerd) is a dead ringer for every single shipper video for every single television show on YouTube. All it takes is a cheesy song, some well-placed slo-mo, and you’re in. It’s epic made easy.
As funny as all of the flashbacks were, the real comedy for me came at the end of the episode. First, there was Chang and Annie’s Boobs’ montage that consisted solely of Annie’s Boobs smacking Chang in the head over and over again (do you think that sentence is going to get us some awesome traffic from Google?), then there was the Dean cartoon, which is pretty much the greatest cartoon that has ever happened.
Generally I’m against non-Abed/Troy tags, but this was so good that I’ll make an exception. I have no idea who actually did it, but it certainly has the look of the Robert Smigel TV Funhouse animations from SNL. It was so spot-on and well-executed that I was dying laughing. It was the perfect capper for a really strong episode.
Clacked by Kona Gallagher 
on Apr 21, 2011 @ 20:31 EST5EDT
And you have to love yet another sting against Glee with the glee club dying in a horrific bus accident. :)
Also, tonight Dan Harmon tweeted before the show, “I believe future historians will refer to the time between 1927 and tonight as the “Pre Jim Rash” era of television.” It all makes sense now.
OMG that was a brilliant episode. My favorite line was Troy’s “I’ve seen enough movies to know that a raft goes faster when you poke a hole in the back.” The dean montage was also fabulous! It’s funny about that song – I thought it was Dido.
https://tvrot.com/2011/04/community-paradigms-of-human-memory/
This reviewer seemed to really dislike the episode. I don’t even get it.
He or she seems to be under the impression that it was an actual clip show without recognizing the several levels of ridiculousness in it. (The Cape stuff was amazing, mainly because I had a soft spot for that show. I wonder when they wrote the episode and whether it would have somehow been even more hilarious if The Cape had somehow been renewed.)
*POST AUTHOR*
Okay, I didn’t see the link you posted. Although it’s weird that you’re talking about another review here.
Kona, I think they were both commenting on the link to another review were the reviewer did NOT get it.
*POST AUTHOR*
You’re right. I was reading the comments on my phone and that link didn’t show up. It was so confusing!
Wow, what a maroon that guy is! LOL
Great review. I paused on an image of the diorama last night and didn’t notice Chang looking through the window. Great catch!
Regarding the Dean’s Fantasy Cartoon – Per @DanHarmon: Animated tag made by Justin “House of Cosbys” Roiland, Myke Chilian, Matt Taylor, Bryan Newton. Channel101 perk: Rolodex of smarty pantses
Also noted by @DanHarmon’s twitter feed – The Annie/Jeff video was actually a nod to a very specific Jeff/Annie video set to the same song.
The episode was hysterically funny from start to finish! I loved the jab at shippers and how they turn little glances and moments into relationships. Hilarious. Community never fails.
Agreed … absolute brilliance. I spent half the time with my mouth open laughing hysterically, and the other half with my mouth open in awe of how smart this show is!
I think it was a fun jab at fan videos. None of Annie and Jeff’s real moments were included in the montage. Also, it’s a nod to the first J/A video ever made, back when they didn’t have many scenes together.
The Pierce/Abed one was priceless.