"A leprechaun took our clothes!"
ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 21st April 2011
EPISODE NUMBER: Season 2, Episode 21
WRITTEN BY: Chris McKenna
Remember the Community episode where Troy broke the group's raft on St Patricks Day? Or Mexican drug runners almost executed Pierce for being a racist? Of course not, because although Paradigms skewers conventions of the clip show to great effect ("Just give him some examples, Pierce"), the episode is entirely new footage. A clip show without the clips. Once again, the show cannot resist playing with the meta. Troy's reaction to the flashback-within-a-flashback series is hilarious, as the constant jumping through time begins to wear on him. They even take aim at fandom culture - a Troy and Pierce montage set to slow, sappy music making fun of shipper videos.
The formula of the episode is reminiscent of a sketch show. The "clips" are all very short, very different scenes, meaning the episode moves at past pace - and thus the joke come thick and fast too. It gives the show a creative freedom to drop in whatever jokes they want. Better yet, some of the clips intertwine and overlap.
But to say this episode doesn't further the plot is inaccurate. The group - and audience - are given the major revelation that Jeff and Britta have been sleeping together all year in a secret friends-with-benefits arrangement. And it's a storyline that has actually been set up throughout the season.
The episode visits many memorable locations - a haunted house, a camping trip in the wilderness and an insane asylum. Many of the scenes could've made great episodes on their own, but despite only giving us an abbreviated version, we do not feel shortchanged. The sheer amount of effort that must have gone into making this episode is mindblowing.
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