“The episode’s vision of how a social order is formed is startling in the clarity of its message and allegory.” – Warren Zhang
Community has never wanted for ambition, so to say that “App Development and Condiments” is the most ambitious episode the series has ever tackled is no small thing. But that’s exactly what Dan Harmon and company have created, a half-hour of television that’s flawed, messy and yet so vitally alive that it’s positively crackling with creative energy.
As the title suggests, last night’s Community was all about mobile apps, specifically the fictional social media app MeowMeowBeenz. As explained by the developers (guest stars Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric fame), MeowMeowBeenz is an app that lets you rate other people on a scale of one to five cats.
Greendale has been chosen to beta test this piece of software, and, before you can say Faust, the school goes absolutely insane. This is where the episode takes an abrupt left turn. Where most shows and even episodes of Community would’ve stayed within a relatively grounded context, “App Development and Condiments” extrapolates the social upheaval to the wildest conclusions.
Once the title cards lead us into day 8 of MeowMeowBeenz, we bear witness of the creation of a completely new socioeconomic hierarchy based on the cat rating each person has. The fives function as Greendale’s ruling elite, while the ones aren’t even allowed on campus.
Leaving aside the obvious logic problems (for now), the episode’s vision of how a social order is formed is startling in the clarity of its message and allegory. Community has never truly attempted cultural criticism before. Harmon’s show never had the inclination for allegory or metaphor, choosing instead of focus on characters and metatextual hijinks.
“App Development and Condiments,” however, is a message episode, to the point that the characters who precipitated Greendale’s decline into Orwellian regime (Jeff and Shirley) barely factor into their own episode.
To be fair, that’s part of the episode’s point. “App Development and Condiments” is a close cousin to The Social Network in that both explore how fundamental human behavior and society permeate even the newest frontiers of communication and technology. So, it makes sense that Jeff and Shirley eventually become consumed whole by the rigidity of the newly formed society and the inevitable proletarian revolution.
On the other hand, that doesn’t excuse “App Development and Condiments” for not really trying. It’s a plot point that has been used many times on this show: Jeff doesn’t want to include Shirley in a study group outing. Shirley retaliates by building up a social empire through MeowMeowBeenz. Jeff responds by trying to out-MeowMeowBeenz her, etc. etc. etc.
There’s a sense throughout the episode that the tension between the two was supposed to be the through-line that guided us from beginning to end, but their qualms are so generic and the resolution so trite that it’s hard to get worked up in their character arc.
Fortunately, the ideas lurking beneath the surface are compelling enough to make up for the storytelling shortfalls. And, as mentioned earlier, this idea of characters going through generic, thinly defined motions fits the themes of the episode.
Much like how MeowMeowBeenz condenses all of a person’s attributes into a quinary number, all of the characters from last night’s Community become consumed by their place in life. Annie is forever the servant to the rich, Britta is solely defined as a mustard-smeared Che Guevara and the other fives are constrained by their position at the top of the food chain.
Community may not have ever gone for straight allegory before, but it often strives to tell a universal story of terribly broken people hurting and caring for one another. “App Development and Condiments” simply represents a mostly successful leap. Now that we’ve explored so much of these characters, maybe revisiting old character pairings to try and find some absolute truth isn’t the worst idea.
Tidbits:
· I’m getting sick of the excessive cameos this season. The Tim and Eric appearance is just pointless.
· How this allegory falls apart (a dissertation by Warren Zhang): Since nobody actually lives in Greendale, nobody would actually bother following such a strict socioeconomic pecking order, right? Right?
· My favorite detail of the night was how Britta had just devolved to smearing yellow makeup all over her face during the tribunals.
· “App Development and Condiments” also made me laugh a lot. The running gag about how people only take Britta seriously when there’s mustard smeared all over her face is funny, sad, telling and weirdly insightful, all at the same time.
