Review: Community - ‘App Development and Condiments’

Once again, Community delves into the realm of the truly bizarre, bringing us a vision of a Greendale College future that has been overrun with the power of a social app. ‘App Development and Condiments’ is yet another in a long line of hilariously chaotic Community episodes, complete with all the obscure science fiction references that you could ever hope for. Better yet, Harmon once again proves that he can keep the ball rolling with the funny.

When the school is introduced to a new social app called “Meow Meow Beenz”, everyone immediately becomes obsessed. The app rates people and teachers throughout the school on a scale of one to five. Thus, a new form of popularity is born. Worse still, the higher someone’s rating, the more influence they have over everyone else’s ratings. So the “5s” begin to collect trains of followers that do what they say so that they can keep their ratings up. Jeff and Britta, however, are having nothing to do with it. Until Jeff realizes that Shirley is the top dog in town. He then makes a vow to bring her down.

Enter a few days later. The entire school has degenerated into a dystopian state. The 5s live in luxury, dress in silly white robes and order everyone else around. The 1s are banished to “The Wasteland”. Everyone in between must service the whims of the 5s. Jeff climbs his way up the ladder of ratings, bringing himself ever closer to matching Shirley. Britta discovers that she can control people as long as there’s mustard on her face. With this newfound power, she leads a revolution against the dystopian rulers.

My favorite thing about this episode, and I know I’ve said it about many other episodes, is that Britta is an interesting character again. Sure, she’s over the top like everyone else, but now that she has her brain back she’s returned to being my favorite. When she finally assumes control over the revolution and executes tribunals to punish the former holders of power, it is an epic moment.

Although there may be some sort of larger message here concerning the effects that social media has on the way people think, the joy of this episode is in its tribute to the campy sci-fi classic of days gone by. The characters wear ridiculous costumes, sit in chairs that look like eggs and drink brightly colored liquids - all the hallmarks of some of the worst sci-fi flicks. The 2s and 3s live in a broken squalor and are like burnt-out factory workers, forever being ground beneath the heels of their oppressors. All-in-all, the atmosphere of this episode steals the show.

Next week’s episode, ‘VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing’ promises even more fun, including a blast to the past in the form of a VCR Game (can someone please tell me why those ever existed?). Once again, there’s no proper trailer, but you can read the details over at this site.

Photo Credits -

Community courtesy of fanaru.com