13. Comparative Religion (Season 1, Episode 12)
The Story: When Shirley throws a Christmas party for the study group, she’s horrified to learn of her friends’ varying religious backgrounds. Meanwhile, Jeff faces a gang of school bullies and struggles to pass the first semester of Spanish 101.
Why It’s Earned Its Place: With its first Christmas episode, Community takes on the various conflicts that religion can breed, even between friends. For its part, Greendale dances around various faiths, with the dean donning a non-denominational Mr. Winter costume and booming “Merry happy!” around campus. Shirley, on the other hand, attempts to repress all other religions in order to have the same kind of holiday she is desperate to hold onto with her family drifting apart. Community handily juggles religious differences and makes some interesting points about the nature of faith but also ensures that the show’s gleeful absurdity is front and center. “Comparative Religion” also admits that not all differences can been solved with kind words, culminating in an all-out brawl between the study group and a group of bullies Jeff refers to as “the cast of Breakin’.” Merry happy indeed.
Best Quote: “Do you know how foolish you sound right now? What else do you believe in? Blood transfusions?” – Troy, mocking Pierce for his involvement in a strange cult.
12. Digital Estate Planning (Season 3, Episode 20)
The Story: Shortly after his father’s death, Pierce takes the study group to a warehouse so that his father’s assistant Gilbert Lawson (Giancarlo Esposito) can read his father’s last will and testament. When the will arrives in the form of an elaborate video game called Journey to the Center of Hawkthorne, with the first person to complete the game receiving all of Pierce’s inheritance, the study group finds itself in an unexpected battle with Gilbert to reach the end of the game.
Why It’s Earned Its Place: It’s a tribute to the strength of Community‘s characters and to the dexterity of its writing that an episode can take its characters off-screen for almost twenty minutes and still succeed spectacularly. The episode is composed almost entirely of retro video game-style graphics and centers on video game avatars of the main characters, but it still doesn’t feel any less like an episode of Community. In fact, despite its unconventional presentation, “Digital Estate Planning” is still an extremely funny episode. Countless video game references make the episode a treasure trove for gamers, but casual viewers can still enjoy it for the terrific sight gags and character development. Some viewers love the episode so much that they’re building an open-source version of Journey to the Center of Hawkthorne over on Reddit.
Best Quote: “Man, why can’t my mom be here? She always said my video-game knowledge would come in handy. I never believed her.” – Troy, being awesome.
11. Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design (Season 2, Episode 9)
The Story: Jeff attempts to get credit for a dubious night school class called Conspiracy Theories in American History, which doesn’t exist in the Dean’s class list. When Annie is pulled into the Dean’s crusade to bust Jeff, a ridiculous series of conspiracies, double-crosses and schemes unfolds on Greendale campus. Meanwhile, Troy and Abed attempt to build the largest blanket fort in human history.
Why It’s Earned Its Place: Few episodes have balanced two hilarious plot lines as expertly as “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design.” True to the nature of Community, the episode features various pop culture references and clever dialogue exchanges, but it also finds the show at its most unabashedly fun. Creatively scripted and impeccably executed, it’s a simple joy to watch.
Best Quote: “Do you understand what a conspiracy is? When you conspire with everyone you come across, you’re not really conspiring with anyone. You’re just doing random crap.” – Annie, roasting the Dean.
