Line #80 Recap/CommunityS6E11ModernEspionage


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/modern_espionage.jpg]]
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3	A [[PaintballEpisode paintball game started in Greendale]], leading Frankie to ban paintball, and expelling all students (and firing all staff members) caught playing in order to keep Greendale clean. After discovering City College is involved, the Study Group decides to take part to the game in order to investigate.
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5	----
6	!!The Series/{{Community}} episode Modern Espionage provides examples of:
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8	* ActionPrologue: The shootout between Star-Burns and Todd.
9	* ActorAllusion: Abed is assumed to be Indian by a character played by the Pakistani-American Creator/KumailNanjiani. [[MistakenEthnicity Abed clarifies]] he is Arab, but his actor Creator/DannyPudi actually ''is'' Indian.
10	* AffectionateParody: Of SpyFiction, particularly ''Series/MissionImpossible'', with some ''Franchise/JamesBond'' thrown in for good measure.
11	* BackToBackBadasses: Annie and Abed during the gala incursion.
12	* BigNo: Annie and Abed when they both get shot.
13	* BlackTieInfiltration: The study group during the gala.
14	* BlatantLies: Britta claims to have won previous paintball matches. The actual winners are Jeff, Pierce, and ([[Recap/CommunityS3E19CurriculumUnavailable apparently]]) Abed.
15	** Elroy continues to ask what paintball is even after shooting Chang.
16	* BlingBlingBang: Todd's paintball gun is painted with a flame motif. Chang whips out a golden pistol when he's about to suddenly and inevitably betray the committee again. Then there's Silver Ballz and his ... silver (paint) balls.
17	* BookEnds: The episode opens and closes with a Greendale theatre performance.
18	* BreakThemByTalking: Lapari manages to get the Dean to turn on Jeff by pointing out that Frankie's making Greendale a better place means that it may no longer have room for screw-ups and down-and-out folks like, well, most of the cast.
19	-->'''Dean Pelton:''' He's right, Jeffrey! A "cleaner" Greendale? It's like a healthier ''cigarette''!
20	* BulletproofHumanShield: Elroy uses a cook as a shield.
21	* CallBack:
22	** [[Recap/CommunityS5E08AppDevelopmentAndCondiments Koogler and one of the MeowMeowBeenz developers]] are members of the Club Club. Immediately lampshaded.
23	** The gang plays [[Recap/CommunityS6E07AdvancedSafetyFeatures The Ears Have It]] again.
24	** Chang is still toting one of the golden paintball pistols he used during [[Recap/CommunityS1E23ModernWarfare Greendale's first foray into paintball]].
25	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: At the end, Frankie makes everyone else in the gang dress up in baby clothes and say typical childish things for a week, to highlight how immaturely she thinks they acted.
26	* DescriptionCut: Jeff gives a speech about the days of paintball-related mayhem being in the past while at the same time a paintball fight ensues in the kitchen.
27	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The backroom business between Koogler and Abed plays out like a drug deal.
28	* ElevatorActionSequence: The Dean somehow manages to fight off five guys with guns in a cramped elevator after one mook [[ElevatorConference presses the elevator stop button]].
29	** TookALevelInBadass: He was completely useless in the previous paintball episodes (although, to be fair, he wasn't exactly participating back then, but still). This time he "survives" until the end along with Jeff.
30	* ExcessiveSteamSyndrome: Invoked. The Museum of Custodial Arts has an exhibit of pipes that can spew steam on command. Lapari uses them to annoy Jeff and the Dean, though he acknowledges that the steam can't stop them, since it'd be a lousy museum exhibit if it prevented people from moving past.
31	* EnemyRisingBehind: One mook gets up behind the Dean in the elevator but the latter got the memo.
32	* EveryoneIsArmed: When Chang attempts to betray and shoot the rest of the committee, everyone in the study room suddenly pulls their own paintball guns out and lights him up. Except for Jeff.
33	* EverybodyDiesEnding: Everyone participating in the paintball game is "killed" by the end.
34	* EveryoneHasStandards: Garrett starts to roast Vicki badly, even when saying her mother died. Then he and Vicki reveal it was part of an act; he wouldn't hurt someone's feelings for real!
35	* FaceHeelTurn: The Dean switches sides during the final confrontation. Jeff calls him out for it.
36	* FailedASpotCheck: Lapari is so caught up in his monologue that he walks right by Jeff and the Dean, mistaking them for two of his mannequins.
37	* FailedAttemptAtDrama: The Dean stumbling over the janitor wagon after catching the group doing research on Silver Ballz.
38	* ForcedFriendlyFire: During a GunStruggle, Jeff turns an opponent's weapon against himself.
39	* {{Foreshadowing}}: If you listen carefully enough to the intro where Starburns gets taken out, the off-screen person who says the PreMortemOneLiner is obviously Lapari; Kumail Nanjiani's distinctive voice is a dead giveaway.
40	* HallOfMirrors: The shootout in a hall of mannequins.
41	* HiddenDepths: Vicki is shown to be hosting a one-woman show that has an audience mostly paying attention. We also see that Garrett is decent at standup when he has a target.
42	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Lapari sets up a bunch of mannequins as decoys, which backfires when he mistakes Jeff and the Dean for them.
43	* {{Hypocrite}}: Lapari complains at the start about how he's suffered nothing but pain from having to clean up the paintball, and yet he's behind this episode's game.
44	* ImmediateSelfContradiction: Jeff urges Kilmer and Clooney to act quietly and calmly, only to freak out loudly when Frankie creeps up from behind.
45	* InterchangeableAsianCultures: The typical India/Middle East confusion occurs when Lapari objects to being heckled by an "Indian guy". Abed remarks that he's Arabic - which is true of the character, although Danny Pudi is half-Indian in real life. Lapari is skeptical about this. (For bonus points, Kumail Nanjiani, the actor playing Lapari, is from Pakistan.)
46	* IntersceneDiegetic: The song from Vicki's one-woman show continues to play over the paintball fight between Todd and Starburns.
47	* MandatoryTwistEnding: Vice-Custodian Lapari predicts that the Dean's accusations won't hold up like all of Creator/MNightShyamalan's stories.
48	* MexicanStandoff: Jeff, the Dean, and Lapari end up in one at the end of the episode.
49	* MotiveRant: Lapari starts monologuing about why he organized the paintball game during his showdown with Jeff and the Dean: he thinks that Frankie is actually ruining Greendale by making it better, because it's a place where people can come when they've somehow screwed up their lives and need somewhere that makes them feel better about themselves.
50	* MsFanservice: All of the leading ladies look great in their special formal outfits.
51	* MultipleGunshotDeath: The chef gets riddled by bullets from Britta and Elroy.
52	* MutualKill: In the end Jeff, the Dean and Lapari end up shooting each other at the same time with none of them winning.[[note]]If you watch closely or slow down the playback, you can see that Jeff is the last to get shot by about half a second. Jeff shoots Lapari and Lapari shoots the Dean at almost the same time, but the Dean doesn't shoot Jeff until after he's been hit.[[/note]]
53	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Elroy pretends not to even know what paintball ''is''. He briefly keeps this up after shooting Chang while currently pointing a paintball gun.
54	* ObligatoryEarpieceTouch: All group members touch their earpieces more than necessary while communicating with each other.
55	* OnlySaneMan:
56	** Frankie bans paintball on campus because of how destructive it has been in the past, expels any students that participate and threatens to fire any staff members who get involved in it. In the end she rescinds that policy because it would be impractical to fire everyone involved.
57	** This is once again subverted with Jeff who tries to stay away but gets sucked into the insanity anyway.
58	* OrphanedPunchline:
59	-->'''Abed''': And the pope looks at the giraffe and says "I'm in the room!" [[CannotTellAJoke Sorry I can't remember the whole joke]].
60	-->'''Jeff''': That's okay, it sounds very funny based on the last line.
61	* OutfitDecoy: In the ActionPrologue, Star-Burns tricks Todd with his hat on a pole.
62	* PaintballEpisode: This time InTheStyleOf a ''Series/MissionImpossible'' espionage.
63	* PlayingNiceForNow: When Frankie storms into the study room to ask if the group is playing paintball, she finds them apparently engaged in a friendly game of The Ears Have It, only for them to immediately draw their weapons on each other once she's left the room.
64	* PreMortemOneLiner: Lapari gives one to Starburns after the fight with Todd, as he thinks he could actually win this year.
65	-->''Lapari'': Actually, you'll be settling for silver!
66	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The scene where Jeff is scanning everyone at the gala looking for an assassin is set to Mussorgsky's ''Night on Bald Mountain''.
67	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Frankie proves to be this; she takes a hardline approach to paintball because it's bad for insurance premiums and turns the school into a dystopian wasteland ''every time''. In fact, Jeff points out to the Dean and Lapari that Frankie wants a better school and they have to stop fighting her by undermining her authority. Frankie overhears and is touched; she rescinds the expulsion and firing order, but as punishment makes the Save Greendale Committee dress up as babies during meetings for a week because the few hours of humiliation will have a bigger impact on them.
68	* RunningGagged: One major plot point of the episode is that Greendale will no longer tolerate paintball within the campus (although Frankie rescinds the expulsion and firing of those she caught playing in the end). Also the meta detail that this is one of the last three episodes of the series.
69	* ShipTease:
70	** Annie and Abed hang out a lot in this episode, and have incredible fighting chemistry. Not to mention they hold each other as they "die".
71	** Frankie[=/=]Jeff also gets a nudge with Jeff saying he "likes her" at the end.
72	** PlatonicLifePartners: It also continues the new dynamic of "Annie is Abed's new Troy" as she steps into the shoes of Abed's partner in hi-jinks.
73	* ShoutOut:
74	** The study group use Batman actors as codenames, and use "Belfry" to refer talk to everyone at once (as in the phrase "bats in the belfry").
75	*** Abed is [[Creator/ChristianBale Bale]][[note]]''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''[[/note]].
76	*** Jeff is [[Creator/MichaelKeaton Keaton]][[note]]''Film/Batman1989'' and ''Film/BatmanReturns'' [[/note]].
77	*** Annie is [[Creator/AdamWest West]][[note]]''Series/Batman1966''[[/note]].
78	*** Elroy is [[Creator/ValKilmer Kilmer]][[note]]''Film/BatmanForever''[[/note]]
79	*** Britta is [[Creator/GeorgeClooney Clooney]][[note]]''Film/BatmanAndRobin''[[/note]].
80	*** Dean Pelton is Voice of Creator/DiedrichBader [[note]]''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''[[/note]].
81	** The first rule of Club Club is that it's not a Film/FightClub.
82	** Vice-Custodian Lapari's Museum of Custodial Arts borrows a lot from [[Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun Scaramanga's]] labyrinth. Likewise, Chang is brandishing a golden gun when he tries to shoot the rest of the committee.
83	** The opening sequence with Starburns and Todd in the parking garage is very similar to the opening scenes of ''Film/{{Highlander}}'', right down to Todd's sunglasses.
84	** The episode homages ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': the plot hinges on the theme of enemy within, as well as Lapari's climactic speech with Jeff mirroring Pierce/Fury, Frankie's initial outfits and makeup bearing a close resemblance to Maria Hill, and Abed's IP investigation being framed and shot the same way as Pudi's appearance as a tech operator in TWS. Dean Pelton's ElevatorActionSequence homages Captain America's. In a way, it comes full circle as Creator/TheRussoBrothers got the gig for ''Winter Soldier'' because of their work on the Season 2 paintball finale of this show.
85	** The shot of Silver Ballz's paintball gun firing at the beginning is lifted directly from ''Film/KillBill''.
86	* SinisterShades: Todd's mirrored aviators, especially when coupled with his unnatural monotone and off-putting smile.
87	* SlowLoadingInternetImage: Parodied. When Elroy brings up a photo of Lapari on his computer screen, it loads slowly. The Dean immediately asks if Elroy has problems with his internet connection. Elroy then presses a key and the image loads instantly. Turns out Elroy deliberately programmed his computer to display images slowly. The Dean comments that it is very dorky of him.
88	* SoundtrackDissonance: Todd and Star-Burns have an epic battle in the parking lot to the tune of Vicki's insipid theatrical performance.
89	* SpecialEditionTitle: The opening credits are done InTheStyleOf the end credits from ''Film/IronMan1''.
90	* StageWhisper: Played for laughs; the Greendale gang are all rather un-subtle with their use of makeshift earpieces to communicate with each other. Of course it's Britta who gets overheard by her target, and has to make up a lame story involving a dinner order with "guns" as a menu item to cover for it.
91	* StealthHiBye: The Dean suddenly appears in the room with Elroy and Britta.
92	* {{Troll}}: Garrett's stand-up act in TheTag is revealed to be this when Vicki, who he spent most of his act mercilessly mocking, turns out to be in on it, and the supposedly dead mother she used to get a sentimental response from the audience turns out to be alive. The audience boos, which Garrett claims is exactly what he wanted, but he's still painfully aware that their gambit has backfired.
93	* UncomfortableElevatorMoment: Precedes the aforementioned ElevatorActionSequence, with "Daybreak" subbing in for [[TheElevatorFromIpanema the usual soundtrack]].
94	* UnnecessaryCombatRoll: Todd does a totally awesome and unnecessary spinning flip-jump off a car hood when he thinks he's got the drop on Starburns.
95	* WhamLine: The Dean's "This isn't a closet."
96	* TheWorfEffect: Todd is a decorated war veteran who has good aim. That Silver Ballz took him out easily shows how dangerous he is. Of course, Todd had also just been outsmarted by Starburns, of all people...

Context Recap / CommunityS6E11ModernEspionage