Plot
 You know what they say. Fives have lives, fours have chores, threes have fleas, twos have blues, and ones don't get a rhyme because they're garbage
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| — Dean Pelton |
| After the Save Greendale Committee adjourns another meeting in the study room, Chang asks Jeff what time dinner starts. Shirley was unaware everyone had plans later and Annie admonishes Jeff for not inviting her. He explains he didn't bother since he knew she was busy. Shirley then guilts the group into rescheduling. Jeff relents postponing the dinner until Shirley is available but states he doesn't care for her manipulations. Dean Pelton arrives and introduces the committee to a pair of app developers named David and Bixel. They present to the group a new social networking app called "MeowMeowBeenz". With this software they will be able rank anything and everyone on campus from a scale of one to five.
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| On the first day of the "Meowmeowbeenz" trial, Jeff sees Garrett order Star-Burns around and Abed explains it's due to him being higher ranked. Jeff finds Hickey, Britta and Annie have also embraced the latest campus fad. While in the cafeteria, Britta rants about how the app causes users to blindly follow the higher ranked ones. After wiping mustard off her face she publicly protests the app to everyone only to have them down vote her rank to a "One". Jeff and Annie tell her she should have kept the mustard on her face as it diluted her intensity and made them more open to her opinion. Jeff is motivated to bring down the new social network after seeing Shirley abuse her Five star status by getting others to down vote Vicki. Britta supports his intentions but warns him not to lose sight of his main objective.
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| On the second day of the "Meowmeowbeenz" trial, Jeff raises his rating up to "Two" which gets him the attention of Shirley. She visits him in the student lounge and let's him know she is watching him. Six days later, the beta test of the app is released and the campus has changed drastically. A social caste system has been imposed with the "Fives" in charge and the lower numbers serving them. This group, consisting of Shirley, Chang, Abed, Hickey, and an older student named Koogler, maintains the pecking order. Under their influence, the campus decor and dress style reflect a quasi-futuristic look. In the redecorated study room, the "Fives" sense dissension from the proletariat and decide to hold a talent competition to distract them. Britta learns about this from her spy Star-Burns and passes the information to Jeff who was recently made a "Four". She tries to convince him to use the stage to denounce the oppressive society the "Fives" created but he has another plan.
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| The night of the talent show, Dean Pelton warns Jeff if he fails it might mean full loss of status. Jeff's turn comes up after a glow stick performer, along with a security guard, are down voted by Shirley and her cronies. Jeff takes the stage and launches into a stand up comedy routine based on the new caste system. He quickly wins over not just the crowd but also a few of the Fives. When Jeff finishes his act, Shirley is about to down vote him when Koogler declares his approval and up votes Jeff. The rest of the crowd follows suit and Jeff instantly becomes a "Five". Britta, who was watching from the crowd, is infuriated by his actions. She berates his selfishness but he claims it's all a part of his plan to take down Shirley. Later in the study room, Jeff takes part in an elaborate dance ceremony to welcome him to the "Five" club. As the induction continues, Shirley and Jeff try to undermine each others position within the group.
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| This leads to an argument between them that disrupts the ceremony. Meanwhile, Britta goes to the student lounge and tries to rally her fellow lower ranked numbers to revolt but is ignored. Remembering what Jeff and Annie told her earlier, she puts mustard on her face which causes everyone to listen. Back in the study room, Shirley and Jeff's argument escalates annoying the other Fives. They down vote both of their statuses to One and have the guards banish them. Koogler attempts to get the party back on track when he is interrupted by the arrival of Britta and her army of lower ranked numbers. Calling themselves the "Review-lution", Britta declares an end to the Fives rule. Outside the library, Shirley and Jeff are ejected from the building and into the "Outlands" with the other "Ones". An angry Jeff reiterates to Shirley that he knew she couldn't make the dinner which is why he didn't invite her. Shirley replies it would have been nice to have been asked anyway.
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| They both admit that their clashing controlling personalities caused this situation and apologize to each other. Star-Burns then suddenly appears and invites all the banished "Ones" to return to school. Shirley and Jeff make their way to the cafeteria and see that a tribunal presided over by Britta has just passed judgement on Koogler for his crimes as a "Five". Jeff decides to end the insanity by pointing out the one thing most deserving of punishment: the app itself. Beta testing was completed on it days ago and it was now available to consumers. Jeff says that in order to make the "Five" purge complete they all need to delete the app. Once everyone does that they decide to head home since it's already the weekend. Britta desperately tries to regain control of the mob by adding more mustard to her face to no avail. On the next school day, Jeff asks Shirley if she would like to check out a new restaurant but she sadly replies she can't. He then suggests that they order take out and eat in the study room which she happily agrees to.
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End tags
| A trailer for the "Koogler" movie is shown done in the style of R-rated 1980's teen college films.
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Recurring themes
Continuity
- School supplies: Buzz is seen reading a Gazzette Journal Mirror school newspaper.
- Returning students: Leonard, Vicki, Star-Burns and Garrett return.
- Familiar faces:
- Comedians Steve Agee and Brian Posehn appear as app developers David and Bixel. They had worked previously with Community creator Dan Harmon on the "Sarah Silverman Show".
- Comedic duo "Tim and Eric" appear as a pair of Fours who mock Britta's status as a "Two" and play instruments at Jeff's Five induction ceremony.
- Television writer/producer and creator of "Arrested Development" Mitchell D. Hurwitz appears in this episode as Koogler . Community creator Dan Harmon made a cameo in an episode of "Arrested Developments" fourth season.
- Replay: Britta intentionally smears mustard on her face which makes people more attentive to her. In the Season One episode "Pascal's Triangle Revisited", Ian Duncan tries a similar tactic but is ignored.
- Mad skills: Jeff is able to make the audience laugh with his stand-up comedy routine.
Running gags
- Awww: Britta, Annie, Chang and Abed (who is just mimicking the others) coo when Shirley appears to be selfless in her attitude. They all coo again when Jeff appears to be bullying her.
- Disney face: Shirley makes a sad face to get the others to reschedule the dinner in order to include her.
- You're the worst!:
- Britta gets down voted to a One after giving a speech about the new app.
- Vicki gets down voted when Shirley manipulates her followers to lower her rank.
- A devil sticks contestant at the talent show is down voted by Shirley and the crowd. A security guard tasked with removing him gets down voted as well after he fails to deliver a decent exit line.
- Shirley and Jeff get down voted by the other Fives at the same time when they have an argument.
- Nice outfit:
- The number Four and Five ranked students wear togas and gowns. The outfits of the Fours and the guards (in gray and black) are heavily reminscent of outfits in Logan's Run
- The Two and Three ranked students wear gray shirts and slacks.
- Star-Burns rents a costume once the rebellion occurs (see Meta section "Use your allusion")
- Hickey tries on a mini sombrero, but then settles on a birthday party hat.
- Chang uses crutches to engender pity.
- Britta wears a baret like Che Guevarra
Pop culture references
- Product placement: Facebook, Trivial pursuit, Starburst
- Shout out:
- Annie warns Britta not to mention Hitler as something he would understand.
- Hickey compares Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg to Fidel Castro and then mentions East Berlin.
- IMDb: Ones are banished to the outlands, a reference to the 1981 film, Outland. Sean Connery, who stars in the film, also stars in Zardoz, which is repeatedly reference in the episode (see Meta section "Use your allusion").
Meta references
- Satire: This episode mocks the social networking culture criticizing how it turns users into mindless sheep who blindly follow trends and overvalue someone else's opinion above their own. It emphasizes this idea by using a social network as the impetus of an oppressive totalitarian power that rises up and takes control of the school which must be brought down by a revolution.
- Use your allusion:
- The TV show and movie "Logan's Run" is referenced by the guard's uniforms and by the outfits worn by the Fours.
- Episode director Rob Schrab explained on his twitter account that the outfits worn by the Twos were inspired by the 1980's science fiction musical film "The Apple"
- Several elements from the 1974 movie "Zardoz" with Dr. Niren, are borrowed including complete social segregation based on status, severe punishment for minor and arbitrary breaches of norms, and the apathetic attitude of the twos and threes. The redecoration of the study room where the fives gather is similar to the tent in the "Vortex" where the elite congregate. Also, Star-Burns' costume is the same as what Sean Connery's character wore along with the other "exterminators".
- As she tears down the sheet, Britta yells "Long live the Review-lution!", a play on the French Revolutionary phrase "Vive la Revolution!" and "Viva la revolución" from the Cuban Revolution a phrase made popular by Che Guevara.
- Other classic science fiction references include the regimentation of the three's and two's into a "1984"-like existence, and the division of society into several distinct social classes which was a motiff in the novel "Brave New World".
- Given the dystopian theme of the episode, the room number of Jeff's office (D-503) is most likely a reference to the protagonist of Yevgeny Zamyatin's 1921 novel "We".
- Background check: Several messages can be read on the background of various scenes:
- "Did you know dry-erase boards LOVE chalkboard jokes?!
- "If you spend a lot of time being your "Own Best Friend"... It may be time to find new friends."
- "We've been alerted that there may be a Fourth Wall!
- "We've also been told that's where Comedy Happens!"
- "Chess pes love checker jokes!"
- "Now you see me, now you don't!
Will he make it? I bet he won't!
If I am the eyes and ears of this institution,
For who am I? You can consider it over.
Excellent. You can hear what others have written.
[...] you read what I have written... what will you remember?
[...] than not, the message is more important than the Messenger."
- Up against the wall: The end tags play a fake film trailer for Koogler. The credits in the trailer feature the names of crewmembers from the episode including executive producers Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna, writers Jordan Blum and Parker Deay and director Rob Schrab. Mitchell D. Hurwitz, who is best known as the creator of the TV show Arrested Development, plays Koogler in the episode.
Production
Behind the scenes photos
Quotes
- “Long live the reviewlution!”— Britta
Gallery
Clip
Promotional photos
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| Season Five Episodes | ||
|---|---|---|
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1. "Repilot" |
8. "App Development and Condiments" |
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| Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Season Four • Season Five • Season Six | ||
