Brace yourselves, Community fans, your favorite dying show just might be getting happy again.
“Virtual Systems Analysis” follows the adventures of Annie and Abed through the dreamatorium in the midst of a three-hour lunch break created when Dean Pelton informs the study group that biology class is cancelled for the day. What begins for Abed as an unsuccessful attempt to assimilate Annie into his Inspector Spacetime simulations quickly transforms into a deconstruction of Annie’s true motive behind setting up Troy and Britta on a lunch date at Señor Kevin’s.
As Abed assumes the personas of his friends to demonstrate the effects this date will have on the group, the viewer is again given access to the dark side of Abed’s mind, the cold, calculating, empathy-free logic he uses to control those around him. He then turns this logic on Annie, claiming her sole motive for setting Troy and Britta up is to oust Abed, leaving her and Jeff the sole remaining datable members of the group.
When Annie questions the accuracy of Abed’s prophetic simulations, Abed shows her his secret: the dreamatorium’s engine. It works on a simple principle: Abed’s thoughts are first poured into a box labeled with his name, then filtered through the aforementioned cold logic, and finally dumped into an empty tissue box unceremoniously labeled other people. At this point the episode appears to in keeping with the grim tone used for much of this season.
However, the viewer (and perhaps Abed) is saved by classic Annie's indignation. In an effort to force empathy on Abed, Annie switches the Abed box with the other people box, in effect ensuring that Abed always thinks of others before himself. Surprisingly, it works, but in a way that reveals Abed’s deep-seeded insecurities. What follows is a meta-explosion of Inception-style layered projections and personas, ending with Abed chained to the wall in the metaphorical locker of what he perceives as his inevitable social rejection.
Once again, Annie steps up to remedy his anxieties. She tells him that they all fear exclusion and that ensures that none of them will ever be alone. In her words, Abed’s simulations are like good science fiction, insightful but never accurate. If this were the pilot, I can see Abed saying to Annie, “I see your value now.”
It’s interesting to note that in what Dan Harmon has described as the most pre-planned season of the show, Annie would proclaim, “Life doesn’t go according to a script.” But perhaps this is a welcome contradiction. Many episodes of this season, such as last week’s, have featured very meticulously plotted character development, carefully (and visibly) stretched to fit a full season arc. The conclusion of the “Virtual Systems Analysis” potentially indicates a coming deviation into more free from character development, a welcome change in my opinion.
Community has often demonstrated its brilliant ability to tell unconventional stories grounded by believable individuals (see “Remedial Chaos Theory” for a recent example). For some strange reason, this alternative metanarrative creates a sense of realism that other current shows miss. I do not know why I find characters that recognize they are in a television show (and then recognize the implications of their recognition) to be more real than those who simply try to make the most of their fictional existence, but I do.
This bizarre, dysfunctional life cannot feel like it follows a script. If it does, the illusion dies. The many layers of meaning and commentary are only sustained by the mystery of their foundation. There is construction even behind deconstruction, but if it is revealed, postmodernism appears to be a juvenile folly. That artful sustainment of illusion is what separates Community from the poem I wrote in sixth grade about how I couldn’t think of any ideas for a poem.
“Virtual Systems Analysis” – with the possible exception of “Pillows and Blankets” – might be the best episode post-hiatus. More than that though, it may be the beginning of the ascent out of the darkest chapter of Community. Harmon has stated that he believes the third section of four-part show must be the gloomiest. This week’s episode makes me optimistic that the fourth part might just have the potential to be the best one yet.