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"App Development and Condiments" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of ''
Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...
'', and the 92nd episode overall in the series. It originally aired on March 6, 2014, on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
. The episode was written by Jordan Blum and Parker Deay, and directed by
Rob Schrab Robby Christopher Schrab (born November 12, 1969) is an American comic book creator, screenwriter, director, and producer. He is the creator of the comic book '' Scud: The Disposable Assassin'', co-writer of the feature film '' Monster House'', co ...
. The episode marked the series writing debut of Blum and Deay, and the second episode in the series which Schrab directed. The episode was met with generally positive reviews, with many commenting on the original homages to ''
Zardoz ''Zardoz'' is a 1974 science fantasy film written, produced, and directed by John Boorman and starring Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling. It depicts a post-apocalyptic world (which Boorman says, in the audio commentary, may or may not be m ...
'' and ''
Logan's Run ''Logan's Run'' is a science fiction novel by American writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, the novel depicts a dystopic Malthusianism future society in which both population and the consumption of resou ...
''; however, despite positive reviews from critics, the episode matched the previous week's ratings with a 1.0 in the 18–49 rating/share, though it improved to 2.79 million viewers – up from 2.56 million viewers the previous week.


Plot

Shirley (
Yvette Nicole Brown Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 version of '' The Odd Couple'' on CBS and as Dina Rose on the AB ...
) discovers that Jeff (
Joel McHale Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and television host. He is best known for hosting ''The Soup'' (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015). He has performed ...
) has organized a dinner with the study group without inviting her, since she has regular family obligations on the evening when everyone else was free, which causes a small argument between the two as Jeff accuses Shirley of manipulating the group to gain their sympathy. Dean Pelton (
Jim Rash James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for B ...
) interrupts the conversation and introduces two app designers to the study group. Dean Pelton reveals that he is allowing the app designers to beta test their new social networking application, MeowMeowBeenz, using the Greendale staff and students. MeowMeowBeenz allows the user to rate a person between 1 and 5 MeowMeowBeenz. The app soon becomes extremely popular at Greendale, but Jeff and Britta (
Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (2016� ...
) continue to reject it. Britta attempts to convince people of the app's stupidity, but is unable to get people to listen to her unless she has mustard on her face, which Annie (
Alison Brie Alison Brie Schermerhorn (born December 29, 1982) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came with the role of Trudy Campbell in the drama series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), which won her a Screen Actors Guild Award. She gained recognition fo ...
) says distracts from Britta's intensity. Jeff eventually caves in and joins the app, after discovering that Shirley has 5 MeowMeowBeenz, which makes her extremely popular amongst everyone on campus and also gives her the ability to influence what people rate others. The campus soon deteriorates into a dystopia, with the Fives and Fours controlling the school, the Threes and Twos serving them, and the Ones being exiled to the outdoor areas of campus. The group of Fives, made up of Shirley, Abed (
Danny Pudi Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor ...
), Chang (
Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...
), Hickey (
Jonathan Banks Jonathan Ray Banks (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Chillum Heights, Maryland, while attending Indiana University Bloomington Banks did theatre. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles where he be ...
) and a party animal named Koogler (
Mitch Hurwitz Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom ''Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of ''The Ellen Show''. He is a ...
), become concerned about the lower levels turning against them and decide to host a talent show in order to give them hope of rising in the ranks. Meanwhile, Jeff, who is now a Four, conspires with Britta to enter the talent show and take down the Fives by exposing their oppressive regime. Jeff performs at the talent show, but instead of exposing the Fives' regime, performs a hilarious comedy act, which gets him voted into the Fives. With her and Jeff's plan ruined, Britta attempts to expose the regime herself, but no one will listen to her. Britta eventually puts mustard on her face, which causes everyone to pay attention to her and agree to revolt against the Fives. Meanwhile, Jeff is initiated into the Fives, but an argument between him and Shirley causes both of them to be voted down to Ones, and exiled from the school. Outside the school, both Jeff and Shirley admit that they became obsessed by the app, and apologize to each other. Jeff and Shirley are eventually let back into the school, and discover that Britta has overthrown the Fives and replaced their regime with her own oppressive system of power, where everyone is a One and she rules over a kangaroo court, punishing the former Fives and Fours. Jeff reveals to the school that the app's beta test ended 2 days ago and convinces everyone at the school to delete the app, which is no longer free, reminding them all that they're at school on a Saturday. With the app deleted, everyone leaves the school, leaving a powerless Britta alone. The next week, everyone returns to school and the Dean asks that everyone forget the experience, while Jeff and Shirley mend their relationship.


Reception


Ratings

Upon airing, episode was watched by 2.79 million American viewers, and received an 18-49 rating/share of 1.0/3. The show placed fourth in its time-slot, behind ''
The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...
'', ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to A ...
'', and '' Once Upon a Time in Wonderland''; and fourteenth for the night.


Critical reception

Critics gave the episode generally positive reviews for its ambitious parody of a futuristic
dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
created because of a social media application. The criticism, however, for the episode came for being "messy" and taking narrative shortcuts that may have detracted from the story. Emily VanDerWerff of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...
'' rated the episode a "B" and wrote that the episode felt like the writers "had one good idea somewhere, and then a bunch of other ideas piled on top of it, and, hey, we can get a lot of big stars to appear, so why not? And eventually, the finished product had so much going on that you couldn’t tell what the original impetus for making the movie was in the first place." VanDerWerff said that it was "probably the weakest episode of the season" despite having a lot of big ideas, some of it wildly funny and impressively original. She said the episode functioned well as a social commentary on "the ways we try to make ourselves look better on
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...
,
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, and the Internet in general". The episode worked on a pure plot and character level, wrote VanDerWerff, in exposing our desire to be liked and admired by projecting facsimiles of ourselves in different social media platforms, while subconsciously accepting that those are the versions we want the world to see. "We are, in some sense, reducing ourselves to fictional characters, less susceptible to pain or anger, at least until people needle at us, and we act as if that needling is directly attacking our core selves, instead of just some projection we’ve made to get more popular online." Gabrielle Moss of ''TVFanatic'', on the other hand, rated the episode 4.8 out of 5 stars, and relished how a social media app transformed Greendale into "one of the season's most delightful fits of whimsy". Moss wrote how the episode spoofs how we are one "poke" way from a fascist nightmare, with wise elders making Starburns run around dressed like the protagonist-enforcer from the film ''
Zardoz ''Zardoz'' is a 1974 science fantasy film written, produced, and directed by John Boorman and starring Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling. It depicts a post-apocalyptic world (which Boorman says, in the audio commentary, may or may not be m ...
''. Moss maintained that even though this episode "certainly didn't compare to Abed and Hickey's knock-down fight about the meaning of emotions and selfishness in Episode 7, Abed's argument – in favor of social networking's capacity to carefully quantify social interaction for the socially maladjusted – was one of the more persuasive explanations in favor of social networking that I've heard." She wrote how using a "1970s retro-futuristic sci-fi style" was a great way to prove what "appeared on the surface to be an epic take-down of social networking, proves that the episode was actually a takedown of that evergreen topic, human vanity and greed". She opined that the Community Season 5 is at the show's peak, especially in portraying Britta as "a socialist revolutionary-cum-warlord," and seeing the "show bloom into the complicated, deranged flower that we planted five seasons ago." But it's not all sunshine and deranged flowers, Moss wrote: "If Community Season 5 has a theme, it's about how we can all become villains without realizing it, even as we see ourselves as victims in our own stories. The removal of Pierce and the reformation of Chang has left a villainy vacancy at Greendale, and this season, everyone – Shirley is this episode, Abed and Hickey last week, Britta in Community Season 5 Episode 5 – seems to be trying on the crown...and everyone is finding that it fits." Brian Collins of ''Badass Digest'' rated the episode a "B+" and wrote how Community is great at swinging between a high-concept episode this week after a toned-down episode the previous week without giving its fans whiplash. Collins wrote how this was a strong episode for Britta, who had been sidelined in the first few episodes: " rittasuddenly sounds more reasonable when she has mustard on the corner of her lip ('It dilutes or distracts from your excessive intensity,' Annie explains), which of course leads to the actress tossing whatever vanity she may have aside in service of a sight gag where she tries to boost her control over her audience by smearing it over her entire face." Ben Umstead of ''
Twitch Film Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...
'' gave a mixed review, saying how the episode displayed "interesting experiments in homage, but it was one experiment that didn't fully land". Umstead wrote how the episode started personally and intimately through an emotional rift between Shirley and Jeff, going "on and off the rails so many times that it was merely close to, but never quite a disaster," and ending with some real meaning between the two. Umstead praised the episode's homage "to many a Sci-fi flick from the 70s, most notably ''
Zardoz ''Zardoz'' is a 1974 science fantasy film written, produced, and directed by John Boorman and starring Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling. It depicts a post-apocalyptic world (which Boorman says, in the audio commentary, may or may not be m ...
'' and ''
Logan's Run ''Logan's Run'' is a science fiction novel by American writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, the novel depicts a dystopic Malthusianism future society in which both population and the consumption of resou ...
'', and of course there's a bit of
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''
The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively fo ...
''". Umstead also praised the performance of the "professional party animal named Koogler (played wonderfully silly by ''
Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...
'' creator
Mitch Hurwitz Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom ''Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of ''The Ellen Show''. He is a ...
)" reigning as a 5 along with Shirley and getting his own ''
Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas H ...
''-themed trailer in the end credits. But the episode pushed the plot forward at the expense of jokes: "So much of what works or doesn't will rely on your knowledge of dystopic satires or how much you enjoy seeing comedians
Tim Heidecker Timothy Richard Heidecker (; born February 3, 1976) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric. He has also appeared in films, including '' Bridesmai ...
,
Eric Wareheim Eric Alexander Wareheim (; born April 7, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, musician, and winemaker. He is best known as one half of the comedy duo Tim & Eric, alongside Tim Heidecker. He also had a recurring role on the Netf ...
, and
Jen Kirkman Jennifer Ann Kirkman (born August 28, 1974) is an American stand-up comedian and screenwriter, podcaster, and actress. She is known for her regular appearances as a round-table panelist on '' Chelsea Lately'' for 70 episodes from 2008 to 2014. ...
as disco-angel stylized 4s." He writes how the episode is "serviceable" because it "goes so deep in the well of Community emotional tropes, as to then feel a little lazy in execution. It means well, but it also doesn't help that the basic dystopic ideas it homages and satirizes have been so overly homaged and satirized already as prerequisites for dystopic fiction anyway as to feel stale... if cute in a way." Umstead pokes fun at his own review, ending by saying, "Maybe I should just take a lesson from Koogler and... assume the party!"


See also

* " Nosedive", a 2016 episode of the
anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a di ...
''
Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative ficti ...
'', which explores similar themes of a dystopian society where people rate each other's interactions out of five, although the tone is much darker. * "
Majority Rule Majority rule is a principle that means the decision-making power belongs to the group that has the most members. In politics, majority rule requires the deciding vote to have majority, that is, more than half the votes. It is the binary dec ...
", a 2017 episode of the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
comedy-drama series ''
The Orville ''The Orville'' is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Seth MacFarlane, who also stars as series protagonist Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union's line of exploratory space vessels in the 25th century ...
'', where the crew visits an Earth-like planet whose culture uses a court of public opinion as a form of
criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
system.


References


External links


"App Development and Condiments"
at
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
.com * {{Community (TV series) 2014 American television episodes Community (season 5) episodes Television episodes about social media Dystopian television episodes Social reputation in fiction