When Community is at its best it is almost a magical experience and Epidemiology from Episode 6 Season 2 is utterly enchanting. The episode is able to blend humor with horror at the same time advancing character development all in the span of 22 minutes. Epidemiology is one of my favorite Halloween specials and here’s why:
Costumes: In most other series’ Halloween episodes, writers throw characters into crazy Halloween costumes for an easy laugh. The Fresh Prince’s Carlton dressing as Macaulay Culkin and Kevin from The Office dressing as Michael Moore come to mind. While hilarious, it makes me wonder why the characters chose those specific costumes. Community never has me questioning its characters costume choices. Of course Jeff chose to be “accidentally handsome” as David Beckham. If the situation arose where he didn’t want to be dressed up anymore, he would simply toss away his soccer ball and strut around in his $6,000 suit. Britta tries to be fierce and unsexy as a T-Rex, but instead is darling and helpless, looking more like a “Dragon Turtle”. Is she really that disappointed that she must rely on Jeff to feed her because her mighty claws are too short to reach her mouth? Annie (as usual) treads a fine line between naughty and innocent as Little Red Riding Hood. Shirley’s Glenda the Good Witch costume is again “unwittingly ambiguous” just as her good intentions often are. Troy and Abed start off as Ripley and The Alien but Troy changes into “a sexy Dracula” which brings their friendship into question and is the set up for a solid Troy character arc, but more on that later. My favorite costume of the episode goes to Chang dressed as Peggy Fleming who gleefully corrects assumptions that he is Kristi Yamaguchi or Michelle Kwan by proclaiming “you have just been proven racist by the racist prover.” Continue reading
The Golden Age of Television 