'Community' Season 3, Episode 10 Recap - 'Regional Holiday Music' ('Glee' Parody)

If they're going out, they're going out with a bang. And they're going to attempt to take "Glee" out with them.

It seems that one of the perks of being shelved for an indeterminate amount of time with the threat of cancellation is that you finally get to say all the mean things you always wanted to say about "Glee." Of course, Dan Harmon and the rest of the "Community" writers have made no effort to conceal their contempt for the Fox hit in the past, but never has there been an entire episode devoted to lampooning it.

Until now.

"Regional Holiday Music" is, from start to finish, a brilliant if not brutal parody of the silliness that is "Glee." It starts with Jeff getting the current Greendale Glee Club a cease and desist order for copyright infringement (ha!), which goes well until the glee club director, Mr. Rad (played perfectly by "SNL" member Taran Killiam), attempts to recruit his fill-in squad.

It would appear that the short clip we saw in "Paradigms of Human Memory" was a real thing that happened, and the gang actually filled in for the glee club when their bus crashed. But this time, the gang knows better than to get involved. Unfortunately, Abed gets the singing bug and it spreads like a deadly virus throughout the group until everyone is infected.

That leads the gang to star in the pageant, which is the first step to getting to Regionals ("what the hell is Regionals?"). But thanks to Britta Britta-ing it, the day is saved and the glee spell is broken. Yeah, she's that bad.

The references are biting and alarmingly accurate: the Glee kids do an EltonLilJonLennon mashup, Troy and Abed do a horrendous review of musical styles that don't fit together (and that both of them are too young to understand), and nobody knows what Regionals is but they do know it's really important. There's even an accompanist who is a dead ringer for that dude on "Glee" who's always there.

Quotes like "everything's cooler when cameras are spinning" and "I realize the stakes aren't that high, but that just makes it extra scary" are hilariously true in the "Glee" context. And the running gag about Regionals is perfect, especially since Regionals doesn't usually exist in high school glee club competitions. Even if the kids fail, who cares? But, that's another show.

There's even room here for some commentary on Christmas pop music, including the disadvantaged children singing to Shirley and, even better, Annie's overblown "Santa Baby" approximation. Her song plays up the ditzy adult child role to the point where she's actually acting like a baby, ending the song with "Boopy doopy doop boop sex!" I rewind this one at least three times, and not just for the cleavage... I laugh harder each time I watch it. The "What's a diminithuh nuthuhhh?" kills me. Alison Brie for your Emmy consideration.

But there are a couple of really great points here, too. One, the show takes on the frequent victim-y behavior of "Glee," as Jeff says "not liking glee doesn't make us bullies, and implying the opposite is reverse bullying." There's also Abed's refrain of "forcing things to be bright just makes things darker," in an episode that has the markings of having been made (or at least edited) after the hiatus was announced.

And so, when the gang sits down to watch the horrible "Inspector Spacetime" Christmas special and voices sing "We'll see you all after regionals," I do my best not to get all emotional. I love this show. Episodes like this are why. It's brave, it's different, and it's proud of being different.

"Community" is, in fact, everything that "Glee" wishes it was, as evidenced by the crowing of its characters about individuality: a show that is fearless, a show that is not afraid to be itself, a show that is bullied (if you don't believe me, read some of the messages sent to Dan Harmon on Twitter), but doesn't compromise what it is as a result. If anything, it is stronger for the challenges it faces, and it treats its fans, its friends, with the utmost respect and kindness.

Happy holidays everyone, whether you're Christian, Jewish, Atheist, Agnostic, Muslim, a Jehovah's Witness, or in Pierce's cult. #sixseasonsandamovie

Notes & Quotes:

-"You're not taking both of them?" "Well, one's dead." "WHAT."

-The a capella interludes are a nice touch as well.

-"This December would be the December of our December." Too true. Dark couple of weeks.

-"Eventually you hit a point of diminishing returns on the sexiness."

-"Oh, Britta's in this?"

-"Look, Kings of Leon!"

-The "Carol of the Deans" at the end was one of the best tags ever. Dammit, I'm going to miss this show.