Community S5E8 - "App Development and Condiments" Recap

This episode is surrounded around the development on an app called Meow Meow Beenz, which the Dean thinks will boost the school's platform. It's a new form of social media, on which people can rate each other from between one and five Meow Meow Beenz. Hickey is firmly against it. The app catches on quickly and begins to form a social hierarchy based on people's rating system. Abed says he has never felt more alive and Chang has begun limping to boost his rating. Jeff is still not keen on it but Hickey has begun using it, saying, "If you can't kill it, join it." Britta is against it, comparing it to Hitler, and when she gives a speech against it is dramatically lowered to a 1. Shirley has been ranked as a 5 from being nice to everyone but has become power hungry from it. Jeff then joins, determined to become a 5 just to expose it for the sham it is.

Jeff begins pandering to a bunch of brainless bros and has his ranking upped from 1 to 2. He learns from Abed that 5s get to decide the setting for the air conditioning. Additionally, the 3s are wearing shades of grey to not look as if they're trying too hard. Abed is pleased and amused by the fact that he now engages in small talk. Jeff and Shirley make shallow small talk and she lightly warns him that she knows what he is doing and that she is watching him.

On Day 8 of the Meow Meow Beenz beta test, the division between the rankings has been drastically strengthened. The 5s dress in white robes and are control where people are ranked. Jeff is making his way up the ranks, having recently become a 4. Shirley appears worried about this. Abed is also a 5 but misses being a 3. Shirley points out his humility, thus upping his ranks and maintaining his place as a 5. Annie (who is a 4) suggests a talent show, the winner of which could be a 5 and Shirley approves of the idea. Britta is a 2 and is hassled by some 4s but Jeff rescues her. He pulls her into a private room and she tells him about the talent show, saying that the 5s are worried about his breaking rank. They're caught by another 4, who agrees to keep it secret, saying he once loved a 2.

At the talent show, the acts that people don't like are brutally voted down to 1s, including a security guard. Jeff comes out and as though it appears he'll give a speech declaring that the system is tyrannical, he eventually busts out a comedic routine poking fun at the tendencies of various numbers. He wins the crowd over and he wins. Everyone except for Britta and Shirley are thrilled. Britta remains determined to take the system down.

Jeff engages in a welcome happy dance. Shirley tries to manipulate the other 5s into disliking Jeff, while Jeff tries to have Abed as an ally. Shirley and Jeff get into an argument and it causes both of them to be voted down to the level of 1. Meanwhile, Britta has recruited the 2s and 3s into overthrowing the 5s by putting mustard on her her face (apparently people actually take what Britta says seriously when she has mustard on her face). Jeff and Shirley make up before being invited back in. Britta has become a general, putting 5s on trial for their crimes and having them voted down to 1 when they are found guilty. Also, she still has that mustard on her face. Jeff comes forward and tells her there is someone who was given a 5 from outside the system. He condemns the app which is now available since the beta test ended. He says they all can be cleansed by deleting the app, which the crowd does. Jeff also points out that they're all in the school on a Saturday, leading everyone to leave while Britta pleads for them to not go.

All returns to normal at Greendale, as everyone is eager to forget what happened.

Community airs on Thursdays on NBC at 8PM.