Last weeks bottle episode was a hard act to follow, but “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design” gave a noble effort. Delving back into the absurd, Annie and Jeff uncover a conspiracy around a class Jeff faked. The Dean approaches Jeff because he is taking a fake class about Conspiracy Theories with a Prof. Proffesorson. Annie angry that Jeff is cheating the system joins in the investigation. When Jeff is bailed out by the timely arrival of Prof. Proffesorson he explains to Annie he’s never seen that man in his life. Thus Annie and Jeff embark upon an adventure to expose the conspiracy at the heart of Greendale’s night school, complete with scary anonymous phone calls, car bombs of sorts, an extended chase through a crowded ‘city’ and explosive double crosses at the climax. Overall the humor was alright. I enjoyed the over the top extremes the conspirators when to for such a mundane secret. There was plenty of the Jeff/ Annie sexual tension which I really have no idea where they’ll take.
The B plot revolves around Abed and Troy building a sheet fort that evolves into a small city within the Greendale dorms. I greatly enjoy Abed and Troy’s stunted adolescence. With my inner 10 year old running the place, I can identify. Though this was added into story to add a setting to the chase scene, I think this would have been a great episode on its own.
My biggest complaint about this episode is that there are too many hanging threads from the previous episode. It was never revealed if Shirley is pregnant. Chang was completely absent. After watching the season premier’s homage to Golum, I was hoping Chang would do some seriously devious scheming against the group. Maybe they’re saving it for the season finale.
On a scale of 1 to Epic, (Epic= 10) I’d give it an 7.