The storyline gave a nod to the post-kiss tension between Annie and Jeff, and was a sendup of the double-, triple- and quadruple-cross crutch of conspiracy-movie endings. (It was actually not unlike the sort of pop-culture critique-via-story that South Park likes to do.) But it was also, as AD fans noticed, a callback to the life-lesson scenarios that George Bluth liked to pull on his children using one-armed ex-employee J. Walter Weatherman. (“And that’s why you leave a note!”)
Last night’s Community continued the show’s hot streak of killer episodes. And Time TV critic James Poniewozik noticed some similarities between the climax of the episode and another beloved show that had a tendency towards the meta: Arrested Development.It was certainly different enough to prevent them from being accused of ripping Arrested Development off, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility that it was an intentional light homage to one of the favorite bits from AD. In the very least, it’s evidence that the show is tapping into some of the same high-minded absurdity that got people so obsessed with AD in the first place.
