Paranormal Parentage (Season 4, Ep 2)

 Link to Episode

Btw, Troy and Abed=Calvin and Hobbes, so good

It seems that we are going to get Community on a four month delay. Halloween, Christmas, etc. In an interview with Alison Brie on the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, she lays this out pretty clearly. I had originally thought that the writers had indented this episode to be the Halloween episode but due to the delay they rebranded it Valoween. I thought gang would be going to a Valentine’s Day costume party but it would turn spooky. But the episode made no mention of Valentine’s Day. I’ve never seen a new episode of a TV show where these time frames didn’t match up (such as a Christmas episode in the spring). I guess we’ll have to take it with a grain of salt and try to get into those festive moods when the episode presents itself. 

"What in the Scooby Doo is happening to you people?"

We find the Gang (sans Pierce) all dressed in various costumes getting ready to go to a costume party at Vicky’s house. (Vicky has been a tertiary character who pops up once or twice a season). Pierce calls telling Troy that he has locked himself in his panic room and needs help getting out. Jeff thinks that Pierce is just trying to get everyone to go to his mansion because he wasn’t invited to Vicky’s. The group travels to Pierce’s 80’s styled bachelor pad which is now dusty, dark, and quite spooky. Pierce informs the group through a camera that he has locked himself in the panic room because he thinks that he saw his father’s ghost. The code to the panic room is in a book somewhere in the house. The group divides into groups of two (classic Scooby Doo) and starts to search the house. 

I was hoping they were going to play off of this theme more with a chase through the house where the background repeats or even with how they divided up the group. But I think they just put the different groups of people together to further the plot. Britta grills Jeff about how his issues with his father (who abandoned him as a child) are similar to Pierce’s issues with his father. Annie starts to freak out as when Abed gets separated from her. Abed finds a security camera room where he discovers what has been happening in the house. Shirley tries to give Troy relationship advice about Britta. 

See? Relationships are Scary

At the end of the episode, Pierce reveals that he had been tricking the gang into thinking that his house was haunted as too get back at them for going to the party. But he cannot explain who the shadowy figure was who stood over him while he slept. Pierce freaks out, relocks the panic room’s door, but the door starts to unlock itself from the outside!

As the door opens, we find out that Pierce’s brother, Gilbert, had been stopped by to give Pierce the deed to the house as a gift. Upon seeing how dirty the house was and since Gilbert was so lonely, he remained in to take care of Pierce. Pierce says that he does need a roommate and so the two decide to live together in this mansion (even though Gilbert had inherited 5 others).

The last plot point which will most likely come back in the next few episodes regards Jeff’s father. Jeff reveals to Britta that he has found his father’s current phone number three weeks ago but hasn’t called him yet. Jeff claims that this is because he does not need him but the episode ends with Jeff dialing the phone. We then see that the boxing gloves he has had around his neck all night belonged to his father.

Well I'm looking forward to the Inspector Space Time episode. Hopefully that will be next. 

What do you think about the plot lines and dialogue? Did you think they missed any opportunities for jokes?

See you next week,
Tom

Check out the interview From the Daily Show from last night. Has a good clip from a future episode. Daily Show Interview with Alison Brie (Annie)