I don't think Paranormal Parentage is a victory for the show in the order of Season 2's Epidemiology. But this season is all about growing the old and new audience of Community. You need episodes you can put in the "win" column to do that. I think Paranormal Parentage is one of those episodes. Never mind that it's a Halloween episode airing on Valentine's Day.
The episode begins with the gang gearing up to attend a Halloween party. They end up on a detour at Pierce's mansion. He's locked himself in his panic room while dusting. As one of the characters point out, of all the places to start cleaning, really, the panic room? Moving right along, the study group has to split up in Scooby Doo(esque) style to track down the unlock code for the Panic Room and save Pierce. That would be an easy task if not for the fact that Pierce's house is enormous and there may or not be the ghost of Pierce's dad roaming around! I didn't find myself falling out my chair with laughter at this episode. I think the funniest bit was Troy and Shirley's discovery of Pierce's fetish room. Donald Glover's comedic pitch and timing are world class. It's also nice to see Shirley be the one who's hip to it for a change and not the one on the outside that the rest of the group is treating like a baby or cracking jokes about. This episode was really about Jeff in my opinion. Community has been working toward his reckoning with his father for a while now. It's nice to see that plot line take a much needed step forward.
We're on to episode three of this truncated season. It's been available to critics for a while now, and I've heard some mixed opinions on it, but I remain optimistic. Paranormal Parentage earned that optimism for now.
The episode begins with the gang gearing up to attend a Halloween party. They end up on a detour at Pierce's mansion. He's locked himself in his panic room while dusting. As one of the characters point out, of all the places to start cleaning, really, the panic room? Moving right along, the study group has to split up in Scooby Doo(esque) style to track down the unlock code for the Panic Room and save Pierce. That would be an easy task if not for the fact that Pierce's house is enormous and there may or not be the ghost of Pierce's dad roaming around! I didn't find myself falling out my chair with laughter at this episode. I think the funniest bit was Troy and Shirley's discovery of Pierce's fetish room. Donald Glover's comedic pitch and timing are world class. It's also nice to see Shirley be the one who's hip to it for a change and not the one on the outside that the rest of the group is treating like a baby or cracking jokes about. This episode was really about Jeff in my opinion. Community has been working toward his reckoning with his father for a while now. It's nice to see that plot line take a much needed step forward.
We're on to episode three of this truncated season. It's been available to critics for a while now, and I've heard some mixed opinions on it, but I remain optimistic. Paranormal Parentage earned that optimism for now.