The best zombie parodies are often great zombie stories in their own right. Take Shaun of the Dead, which sets out to skewer the genre but winds up putting most other undead movies to shame. The same goes for Zombieland — less of a satire, but definitely a comedy — which still manages to get in some good scares. And then, there’s the Community season 2 episode, “Epidemiology.”
Set over the course of one night during a Halloween party at Greendale Community College, “Epidemiology” manages to both subvert and pay tribute to the zombie genre. When the school’s flamboyant, penny-pinching dean (Jim Rash) decides to serve tacos made from experimental military meat, his students suddenly develop a taste for human flesh. Our heroes’ only hope is to ride out the night in their study room until help can arrive.
“Epidemiology” is full of so many perfect ideas and jokes that it’s hard to pick the best ones, but here’s a couple. There’s the in-universe soundtrack that plays off the dean’s phone throughout the episode (a mix of Abba hits and embarrassing private voice memos), leading to an initial outbreak scene set to “Dancing Queen” that rivals Shaun of the Dead’s Queen fight scene. Troy (Donald Glover) ditching his best friend Abed (Danny Pudding) and their matching nerdy costumes to hit on girls as a “Sexy Dracula” is an all-timer Community joke that also leads into an epic fight between the zombies and Troy after he puts back on his Aliens-inspired mech suit.
“Epidemiology” isn’t scary per se, although it does find clever ways to build suspense as the main characters try to guess who among them might be infected. However, it’s still a great zombie story that anyone can enjoy. You don’t even need to be a Community fan to dive in, although hopefully, if that’s the case, this episode is enough to finally convince you to watch the entire show.
Where to watch: Streaming on Hulu, Disney Plus, Peacock, and Tubi.
