#**community

OKAY SO.

THE BEST, bar none, Halloween special ever made is Boy Meets World 5x17, “And Then There Was Shawn.” Period. There can be no argument, except MAYBE Community 3x06, “Epidemiology,” but I like “And Then There Was Shawn” better because the parody and homage as less… biting? And because I think it continues and addresses the emotional core of the regular BMW season better than “Epidemiology” does for Community s3. “Epi” DOES plant the seed (…heh) for the Season 3B major plot arc of Shirley’s pregnancy and Chang Deciding To Murder, but it gets some major minus points for mocking Yvette Nicole Brown’s weight with other characters’ responses to her costume, tbh. And “And Then There Was Shawn” is just fucking iconic. It is THE Halloween episode manual, IMO, if there were to be a textbook on how to write a perfect Halloween episode for your sitcom.

HOWEVER, I also have to give major props to Bob’s Burgers and Psych, as complete series, for their CONSISTENTLY excellent Halloween episodes. A lot of series that have multiple Halloween eps really phone it in after one or two, because they don’t have any more ideas for how to incorporate Halloween pastiches while maintaining the overall feeling of the series (tbh B99, while the Halloween Heists are excellent in general, is/has been coming very close to this line, and I think that if they HADN’T had to switch out the Heist to Cinco de Mayo in s6, they would have jumped their Heist Shark [and I think they know it, too, because it was lampshaded in the episode itself]) or they just straight-up don’t have any more ideas for what or how to have the characters they’re bound to parody or pay homage to a Halloween thing after they’ve already done one or two. And let’s be real: those one or two have probably been either The Shining or Rear Window, because those are pretty much the two that every show starts with.

Bob’s manages to make every Halloween episode feel very fresh and organic to the series, which I think they do have some leeway to do because of the nature of cartoons keeping the Belchers living a kind of loop of never aging, yk, but amazingly they’ve only done the “Tina feels too old to trick or treat, maybe? Nope, she’s not 14 yet, so there’s still time!” thing in a way that felt tropey once (in 3x02 Full Bars). They’ve been able to address Tina being 13/in 8th grade, and worrying about it being almost too late for her to keep trick or treating, in ways that were in-character and added to the overall episode in 4x02 Fort Night, 5x02 Tina and the Real Ghost, and 9x04 Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street, without me rolling my eyes at the screen and going “TINA, EVERY SINGLE SHOW WITH A TWEEN IN IT HAS ALREADY DECIDED THAT THE AGE AT WHICH YOU MUST STOP TRICK OR TREATING IS FRESHMAN YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL, COME ON NOW” which… at this point, is a Feat. Because like, I’ve POSTED over a thousand Halloween episodes, right? But I’ve watched and screencapped ::checks folder:: 3,715 Halloween episodes since 2014. Which is, um, a. lot. THAT SAID, even though those all deserve to be name-checked as Bests, the ACTUAL BEST Bob’s Burgers Halloween episode is 6x03, “The Hauntening,” which is just… achingly perfect television. I know I’ve posted about it before (probably a couple times tbh) but the way that it aired originally back-to-back with The Simpsons 27x04, “Halloween of Horror,” so that the evening of Sunday cartoons juxtaposed eight-year-old Louise whose family worked so hard to scare her like she wanted with nine-year-old Lisa’s family working so hard to keep her from being too scared and make sure that she felt safe… reader, I FUCKIN CRIED. Little girls being deeply loved while also Spoopy Things!!!!!! IS WHAT HALLOWEEN SPECIALS ARE!!! FUCKIN!!!!!! ABOUT!!!!!!!

Psych, though, has the benefit of not really having any, like… central tone to the series? Beyond “friendship” and “having fun with joking,” tbh? So it’s able to do what a lot of series get docked “points” for in my Foolproof Halloween Special Ratings System That Is Completely Subjective To My Tastes And Mood, which is really just run full-tilt into parody and homage without really worrying about overall tonal connection to the rest of the season or series. 1x15, “Scary Sherry, or, Bianca’s Toast,” while it DOES fall victim to the way-too-common Halloween episode trap of making mental hospitals into a Scary Thing (they are a medical normality and a necessary thing for health for many people and should not be feared), is delightful Spooky Fun AND has the benefit of having Shannon Woodward in it.* We all know by now that if an episode of any show has Shannon Woodward as the guest star, it will by default end up being one of the best, if not THE best, episodes of that series. It’s just how having Shannon Woodward as your guest star rolls. I also really like, with Psych’s Halloween episodes, that quite a few of them understand the underlying thematic scope of Horror, which is “The Monstrous Feminine Is A Thing And All Horror Tropes Are Actually About Women’s Interior Lives Because Men Can’t Write Women And Fear Women Always,” yk, in a way that is neither TOO Actual Horror, which I am too afraid of to Do, or too trite and demeaning, which is the other basic trap that Halloween stuff falls into A Lot. Like, Scary Sherry is very much about women villainizing other women, avenging other women, and being in very specifically-female pain, even though Shawn & Gus are still the lens through which we solve the mystery, and so are 4x04 The Devil Is In The Details And The Upstairs Bedroom and 6x03 This Episode Sucks. But they give their Monstrous Females dignity and breadth, which is impressive, ESPECIALLY since they’re one-off guest characters. Also, 3x15 Tuesday the 17th is just plain funny and well-done, like, just give it props for the title alone.

*(Speaking of Shannon Woodward, another amazingly good Halloween episode is Raising Hope 4x07, “Murder, She Hoped,” which is among my very favorite Rear Window homage episodes and has probably the funniest gag in ANY Rear Window ep, in Martha Plimpton floating across the screen in the Grace Kelly silk nightgown and peignoir and announcing that it was on sale at Walmart, can you believe?! and honestly, yes. Perfection.)

ANYWAY.

V. AIMMYARROWSHIGH’S CRITERIA FOR HALLOWEEN EPISODES

Does the Halloween element combine convincingly with the usual universe of the show (ex: Lizzie McGuire 2x09 “Those Freaky McGuires” is not good as a Halloween episode because it changes the rules of the Lizzie McGuire universe, whereas Community 2x06 “Epidemiology” is a GREAT Halloween episode because it manages to logically introduce zombies to the regular Community universe)?

Does the Halloween element advance the plot of the episode/series (ex: the reason Boy Meets World 5x17 “And Then There Was Shawn” is literally the best Halloween episode ever made is that it uses the horror movie tropes it satirizes to provide a CRUCIAL turning-point to the plot of the show)?

Is the Halloween episode in the forefront enough that it’s clearly a holiday episode (ex: HAVING ONE JACK-O’LANTERN ON A DESK DOES NOT A HALLOWEEN SPECIAL MAKE, LAW & ORDER 16x03 “GHOSTS”! You gotta go ALL-IN, like Bob’s Burgers 3x02 “Full Bars”!)?

Does the Halloween theme balance well between spooky and warm-n-fuzzy (ex: Criminal Minds 11x21 “Mr. Scratch” is too fucking bleak, but Criminal Minds 12x06 “Elliott’s Pond” has a joyous/celebratory tone to the ending despite being a genuinely scary episode)?

Is it generally a well-written, acted, and designed episode of television (ex: Saved by the Bell! 3x26 “Mystery Weekend” is seriously, not exaggerating, the worst thing I’ve ever watched in my life; Psych 1x15 “Scary Sherry, Or Bianca’s Toast” is a triumph of the medium)?

So. That said, of the B99 Halloween episodes:

Brooklyn Nine-Nine 1x06 “Halloween”

Yes, the show takes place in its usual universe, but turned up to 11 on the hijinx. It was the first episode that let Andy Samberg run wild with broad comedy and it works.

Yes, the Halloween element helps to continue developing the relationship between Jake and Holt, although it isn’t as successful as other S1 episodes here (like “Old School,” a few episodes later).

Yes, it’s arguably the most Halloweeny of the B99 Halloween eps.

Yes, when is B99 NOT warm-and-fuzzy? There’s no spookiness here, though.

Yes, of course.

VERDICT: A good one, but not the BEST one.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine 2x04 “Halloween II”

Yes, same as above, but with the whole cast given the latitude usually reserved for Samberg -- it was awesome to see Rosa get in on the fun, and knowing from Stephanie Beatriz’s comedy that she felt comfortable, supported, and not exploited in her costume makes it all the better.

Yes, I actually think this episode does more for the Jake+Holt relationship than S1′s because it lets Holt be more fully-rounded as a character. The fact that the whole squad are on his side is awesome.

Yes, it’s slightly less Halloweeny but still obviously very Halloweeny.

(See above)

(See above)

VERDICT: This is the best one, IMO.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine 3x05 “Halloween III”

YES, AMY! The show is able to build on the previous two seasons’ Halloween episodes to entrench the “Halloween Heist” into the culture of the ‘99, and that makes it totally convincing that Amy would act the way she does.

Yes, and I like that this episode is finally less about Jake+Holt and more about Amy’s relationship with both of them, together as male colleagues AND separately as her boyfriend and her boss, respectively. Since Jake/Amy makes Amy a bigger character in S3 than she was even as the female lead in S1-2, “Halloween III” is an important episode for making it clear that the writers know she has to stand on her own as a character outside of her relationships with Jake and Holt.

(See above for the next three)

VERDICT: Depending on how much you like Jake/Amy, this is probably a tie with S1. Still a little less delightful overall than S2, in part because of the cold open, IMO.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine 4x05 “Halloween IV”

This one is a little bit too broad in its zany comedy, IMO? It kind of throws out the entire idea that it takes place in a police station and is less “believable” than the previous three.

Unlike the previous three Halloween episodes, this one doesn’t build any relationships. I would say that it helps to build Charles+Holt, but IMO it isn’t as strong as their squash team-up or their failed cooking lessons in that regard. ALTHOUGH I LOVE EVERY MOMENT OF ROSA+AMY AND THEIR BEING THE BABY-SITTERS’ CLUBS GIVES ME SO MUCH JOY.

(See above for the next three)

VERDICT: This is the weakest yet of the Halloween episodes, but to be totally frank, I’m not as big a Gina fan as I am of the rest of the B99 characters, but it does get a +5 for having Cheddar. Cheddar always makes an episode better.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine 5x04 “HalloVeen”

Honestly, this is the least Halloweeny of their Halloween episodes -- it pays off in the ending, but it ramps up to it so stealthily that it never feels like a “Halloween Heist” episode. After four, that might be a welcome change to some viewers, but it kind of makes the heist element feel more random and less holiday-specific.

This is a seminal episode for the series, but I’m not going to spoil why in case you haven’t seen it.

HOWEVER, although that seminal moment *involves* the Halloween Heist, it doesn’t at all feel like a Halloween episode -- Jake only wears a costume momentarily, as “Ofamy,” and no one else wears a costume at all (except ::grits teeth:: Bill.) It could just as easily have been Jimmyjabs II as Halloween V, tbh.

THE FUZZIEST, THOUGH.

Andy Samberg’s acting impresses me more in this episode than it ever has, and it has Cheddar, but I think Terry and Rosa have been really neglected this season and it doesn’t feel different in this episode, either. I also do question why they put the Big Moment into the Halloween Heist if it wasn’t going to be Halloweenish? Like, make 5x05 another Jake-and-Amy-are-competing-about-something-like-their-first-date-episode kinda thing and let one of the more secondary characters get a bite at the Heist apple -- Gina’s gotten to win and Rosa hasn’t? Really??

VERDICT: As a HALLOWEEN EPISODE, this isn’t very strong, but as a SITCOM EPISODE IN GENERAL, it’s a very sweet and good one.

IS THE 2013-2014 TV SEASON TRYING TO KILL ME?