Epidemiology (28 Oct. 2010)

The study group is left to fend for themselves by Dean Pelton during a rabies outbreak due to tainted food at Greendale's Halloween party.

Director:

Anthony Hemingway

Writers:

Dan Harmon (creator), Karey Dornetto

Stars:

Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Joel McHale	...	Jeff Winger
Gillian Jacobs	...	Britta Perry
Danny Pudi	...	Abed Nadir
Yvette Nicole Brown	...	Shirley Bennett
Alison Brie	...	Annie Edison
Donald Glover	...	Troy Barnes
Ken Jeong	...	Señor Chang
Chevy Chase	...	Pierce Hawthorne
George Takei	...	Himself (voice)
Jim Rash	...	Dean Pelton
Greg Cromer	...	Rich
Richard Erdman	...	Leonard
Kim Robillard	...	Man in Suit
Sigmund Watkins	...	Commando #1
Dino Stamatopoulos	...	Star-Burns

Storyline

Pierce and a few other Greendale students ingest a biohazard substance at the school Halloween Party, causing them to exhibit flu-like symptoms and begin turning into zombies. It is up to the rest of the gang to save themselves and the school when Dean Pelton locks them in with the zombie-infected student body.

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Plot Keywords:

halloween party | halloween | zombie | wilhelm scream | costume party

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 October 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Krasnoff Foster Productions, Harmonius Claptrap, Russo Brothers

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wilhelm Scream: Heard after Troy punches someone in a wizard costume after reentering the building.

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Quotes

[the study group takes shelter in the study room]
Troy Barnes: Shouldn't we be barricading the doors?
Abed Nadir: No, I think we're okay.
[he peeks through the blinds and sees a zombie throw herself against the window]
Abed Nadir: Let me help you.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are redone with a Halloween theme.

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Connections

References Night of the Living Dead (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Fernando"
(uncredited)
Written by Stig Anderson, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus
Performed by ABBA

User Reviews

One of the Lesser Episodes

In principle this episode is okay as far as jokes provided, but I just have a problem with the general principle in the over-arching community storyline that this episode causes. This show does get wacky, and over-exaggerates a lot of the groups experiences, the paintball episode could be an example as could the mafia chicken fingers spoof but both of those episodes worked for me because they didn't go too far.

This episode's weakness lies in the fact that we really have to buy that they all got a horrible zombie virus and then got their memories of the evening erased. That was just taking it too far for me, I still want to believe that Community is based somewhat in reality. I like to think that for all of the absurdity the plot and characters of community are based in at least a semi-reality. This zombie episode kind of squashed that for me, I almost have to ignore it in the larger community plot line.

Okay, they all get turned into zombie's, biting each other, the dean sees this all go down but then later doesn't care. The memory erasing, it was all a little too far. And some would argue that the paintball episodes of season one and two surely cross some lines, paint splattered everywhere, the society and culture rapidly falling apart and mini towns being set up like Pierce's wild west. But in that case I own that up to the fact that when you are playing paintball you really do allow that element of absurdity into your mind where you do think you are in a sort of war-zone and everything is over-dramatized.

I really like this show, just not every episode, but most of the episodes are great, and the characters are hilarious. I am definitely on board as someone who is actively participating in keeping this show on the air for as long as possible. But this particular episode I almost have to choose to forget because I find it out of place with the feel of the show.