The Definitive Rankings of the Community Halloween Episodes
From the dawn of time, all of your favorite tv shows have had Christmas episodes. Even Ted Lasso decided it was a good idea to drop a holly jolly 30 minutes in our lap right in the middle of August this year. So goes 2021, I guess. But here’s the thing. Too many comedies either glaze over or don’t put enough effort into their Halloween episodes. Do you know what Coach Beard went trick or treating as this year? I sure don’t. But one of the greatest comedies in television history* (yep I said it) always gave us a peek into this spooky holiday, and they did it better than anyone else. So here is the definitive rankings list of every single Community Halloween episode. This shouldn’t take long. There are only four.
*At least the first 3 seasons. 4-6 can be debated.
4th Place: Season 4, Episode 2, “Paranormal Parentage”
In season 4, we only had to wait until the second week for our beloved Halloween episode. Unfortunately, it was the weakest of the bunch. The crew all gets invited to a classmate’s costume party. That is, the entire crew except for Pierce, (played by Chevy Chase), who is the outcast the group just can’t seem to shake. In order to make sure his only friends don’t go to the party without him, he locks himself into a panic room inside his large, spooky mansion, and tugs on the rest of the group’s heartstrings in order to get him out. The rest of the episode plays out with a Scooby-Doo-like theme, as the mansion Pierce lives in seems to be haunted. Keep in mind, this was also the season right after showrunner Dan Harmon was fired for being a grade-A nightmare. Probably why this one ranks last on the list.
3rd Place: Season 3, Episode 5, “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps”
In season 3, we find Britta going on a journey to find herself. She has decided that her call in life is to be a therapist. For one of her classes, she asks the study group to take some personality tests. In doing so, she finds out with the test results that one person in the group is a homicidal maniac. In order to try and oust the threat, she tells a scary story, trying to see what the reactions of others are. Instead, everyone else decides this would be a good time to share their versions of the scary story. While you don’t come away knowing what Troy is going to roam the streets as on the night of the 31st, this episode is filled with many different costumes and characters. With it having no real storyline or arc to it, this episode slots in 3rd. If you want to find out who the psychopath of the group is, just watch the show already.
2nd Place: Season 1, Episode 7, “Introduction to Statistics”
HA! I bet you thought I was going to just go in reverse order. Saying the first is always the best and the sequel can never be better. Uh, have you heard of Batman? Have you heard of The Godfather? Well, we’ll get to the second season episode here soon enough. Right now, let’s focus on the episode that started it all. Annie, the group smartypants, decides to throw a Día de Los Muertos party in order to gain a little extra credit. *This next part needs to be read in a Stefon voice.* This episode has it all. It has killer impersonations, old men trading health pills for hard drugs in the bathroom, and the greatest batman performance since Christian Bale. *You can end the Stefon voice now. Or don’t. Honestly, it’s your choice.* This episode also gave us one of the better end scenes of the whole show, which is extremely high praise. Coupled with the amazing outtakes (GIVE US MORE OUTTAKES ON EVERYTHING), it was going to take something crazy to top this one.
1st Place: Season 2, Episode 6, “Epidemiology”
And here we are. The Godfather 2, the Dark Knight, the Independence Day: Resurgence of tv shows. Wait. Scratch that last one. Anyway, the follow-up to the first Halloween episode takes the cake as the best ~22 minutes to celebrate this holiday. The school is having a Halloween party. The dean decides to skimp out an buy food for the party from an Army surplus store. From here, the whole school shuts down due to a zombie apocalypse outbreak. Now, I wouldn’t fancy myself as a zombie fanatic. I gave up on the Walking Dead when we didn’t get a zombie baby birth ala Alien by season 3. But when you are here to make fun of that genre (also see Zombieland), count me in. Not to mention, you get Donald Glover dressed as sexy Dracula and Jim Rash dressed as Lady Gaga. Trust me. Both work
Final Thoughts
Now that you know the order in which these episode should be properly ranked, do yourself a favor Go back and watch all the episodes to celebrate the holiday. Order doesn’t really matter. If you haven’t seen the series yet, one, fix that, two, it doesn’t matter. You might miss a few inside jokes along the way, but you’ll still get the effect. Community does Halloween better than anyone else. Happy Halloween!