'Community' Season 3, Episode 15 Recap - 'Origins of Vampire Mythology'

The balance this season seems to be very careful between the epic, referency episodes like the pillow/blanket fort one and episodes like this: character driven, set in reality, Dean-heavy.

Dean Pelton, who is into trains now (because why not), is tasked with convincing Troy to join the AC Repair school, which allows him to sit in on the happenings in the episode along with us, and act hurt when people ask him why the hell he's there.

The story is this: Britta used to date a guy named Blade (yes, like the movie, which Troy and Abed maintain is awesome). Blade works for the circus, which is in town. For reasons we do not yet understand, Britta is inexorably drawn to Blade... so much so that she recruits Annie to take her phone away and keep her on lockdown in case Blade texts her, because she won't be able to resist.

Of course that intrigues Jeff, who decides he needs to learn Blade's secret. After dropping way too much money at his booth, Blade finally reveals why people want him to like them so much: the part of his brain that makes him feel shame is permanently damaged. He really doesn't care what people think about him, ever.

Knowing what we know about Dan Harmon, a man who publicly frets about his work and who has made a recent habit of retweeting the nasty comments he gets from fans/non-fans on Twitter, could this be a wish of his? Especially these days, when everybody has a voice thanks to the Internet, it would be nice to never have to care what people thought about you.

Britta, meanwhile, goes through all the telltale habits of a junkie, which Annie is fortunately equipped to deal with thanks to her previous pill problems. What she's not equipped for, though, is pretending to be Blade when she switches the numbers in Britta's phone and texting with her in a way that will make her not want anything to do with him.

Troy has it figured out, though: in a sweet but really sad moment, he texts Britta something nice (as Blade), which has her calling Blade a loser within seconds. It's a clever way to get a little moment in there for Britta/Troy 'shippers, and it thankfully turns out a little less awful when Britta realizes the text was from Troy, and gets a little flutter about it.

Notes & Quotes:

- "You're also supposed to... administrate the school."

- "You're the opposites of Batman!" "You don't know what that means!"

- "I need help reacting to something."

- "What's wrong Annie? You came out of the bedroom smiling and then your smile faded as you leaned against the door." I cannot emphasize how much I loved this line. I'm not sure if Jim Rash improvised it based on the situation or if the writers had to foresight to include it, but it was simple and hilarious.

- "She still uses her phone as a phone."