2x02 Riddler U

[7.6/10] Let’s start with the obvious here for an inveterate Community fan like me. Jim Rash is back playing a dean! He makes announcements over a loudspeaker a la the cult classic NBC television series. Hell, the episode even closes with a line about “awakening something in” a character. Is this plain pandering to fans like me? Absolutely. Did I completely buy into it? Absolutely.

But aside from the welcome homages to a great comedy, this is a great comic setup in its own right. The premise of Harley and Ivy posing as coed to infiltrate Riddler U and blow up Riddler’s spot is a great one. It’s a nice excuse for the show to riff on a variety of college tropes, from sororities to the sartorial, and lends itself well to the show’s outrageous, observational tone.

I especially love Clayface here. Him going overly “method” in his role as a student at the university, to where he loses where he begins and his character ends, is worth plenty of laughs. I’m also a bi fan of this characterization of Barbara Gordon -- a timid but enthusiastic young student who idolizes Batman and stumbles her way through ehr first mission, but gets the win anyway. I’m a little colder on Jim as her gross dorm roommate, but that's nothing new.

The B-story, with king Shark and r. Psycho patrolling the streets for a water purifier and running into other gangs is a nice bit of worldbuilding mixed with some of their usual comic shtick. It’s nice to see a glimpse of New New Gotham in action, and the interplay between the two of them was funny.

The impetus for this whole thing being a search for electricity is a nice bit as well. I like that they’re motivating the group with practicalities amid the new normal. Riddler promising power and water, only for it to be a gigantic hamster wheel scheme is a nice Twilight Zone-esque twist. Harley and Ivy working their way through campus, right down to beating up school mascot “Jiminy Riddles”, only to uncover the conspiracy is good stuff.

Overall, there’s a lot here for Community fans to appreciate, but the episode also succeeds on its own merits with a lot of fun campus comedy, great banter, and a trademark neat take on some classic characters.