Analysis of Cork Based Networking

Plot

The "Save Greendale" committee reaches its peak when Annie (Alison Brie) gathers everyone for the first meeting. When the midterms dance approaches, Annie and Professor Hickey (Jonathan Banks) go for a mission to find a bulletin board to promote the committee, but soon they are faced with dealing with the head custodian (Nathan Fillion), the head of IT (Paget Brewster), the head of parking (Robert Patrick) and Greendale's dean Pelton (Jim Rash).

Meanwhile, Annie gathers Jeff (Joel McHale), Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), Chang (Ken Jeong) and Prof. Duncan (John Oliver) for setting the decorations. After Chang convinces everyone to go with the theme "Bear Down For Midterms" (after a crying speech), Neil (Charley Koontz) rapidly kills it by saying it was a cruel reference to a gruesome bear attack in Wisconsin that happened on the same day, which forces the group to reinvent another theme without any context, "Fat Dog For Midterms". They eventually convince Annie to hang the banner after making her think she was being racist not to consider it as a good dance theme.

Abed (Danny Pudi) makes Britta (Gillian Jacobs) mad when he reveals a spoiler from Bloodlines of Conquest, a show that she recently started to watch. She in return read all of the books and to avoid listening to Britta's spoilers, Abed put large sound-proof headphones, which gets the attention of an attractive red-headed deaf girl (Katie Leclerc) when he tries to communicate with her (and failing in the process). They start to hang out, but in the dance it is revealed that Britta used that opportunity to bribe her in order to spoil the ending of Bloodlines of Conquest in sign language. Abed storms out devastated, but he reencounters Rachel (Brie Larson) the coat check girl, and invites her for dinner, as Britta regrets her actions.

In the credits scene, Prof. Duncan tries to call Greendale Faculty Office Supplies for new staples, but accidentally directs himself to a military line, and activates the "Arcadia Protocol" with a guessed passcode and "top" clearance level. After this, Duncan cancels the order as the sound of low flying military jet aircraft is heard. He then discovers that the staples were right in front of him.

Production

This is the final episode of the season to air before going on hiatus during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia; the season then resumed on February 27, 2014.

The episode features several guest stars, including Nathan Fillion as Greendale's head custodian Bob Waite; Paget Brewster as Debra Chambers, head of the IT department; and Robert Patrick as Waldron, the parking lot head security guard.

Ratings

The episode hit season lows in viewers, with 3.01 million American viewers watching the episode, and receiving an 18-49 rating/share of 1.1/3. The show placed third in its timeslot and tenth for the night.

Critical reception

The episode received positive reviews from critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode an 8.8 out of 10, signifying positive reviews, saying "On one hand, “Analysis of Cork-Based Networking" felt a bit all over the place. On the other hand, it was delightfully all over the place, delivering plenty of really funny bits and great lines in the process. And I can’t stop singing, “It’s not made up! It’s not made up!”"

Todd VanDerWerff from The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+, saying

"After season five took a little detour from what appeared to be its main story in favor of two arcs designed to say goodbye to important characters in the show’s run and a David Fincher-esque concept episode, Community gets back on track with the committee to improve Greendale plot in “Analysis Of Cork-Based Networking,” which centers on getting a bulletin board hung and preparing for yet another school dance. It’s a good episode and a funny one, and it’s probably what the season needed right now. I’ve liked the last string of episodes quite a bit, but the show usually works best when it can balance out the concept episodes with some standard issue campus hijinks. “Networking” is about as standard issue as the show gets anymore, which is to say that it ends with Chang teaching everyone a dance called the Fat Dog and Garrett screaming, “IT’S A BEAR DANCE!” (So, it ends well.)"

Gabrielle Moss of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.4 out of 5, saying "For their first Troy-less episode, Community pulled out all the stops. And by 'pull out all the stops,' I mostly mean 'put Castle in a custodial suit.' But hey, that's nothing to sneeze at! Even though [it] wasn't the most enthralling episode of Community Season 5, the half hour was a solid piece of Greendale weirdness, which would have succeeded without any guest spots at all."

Dave Bunting of Vulture gave the episode 4 stars out of 5, saying

"Community achieved something tonight that I didn’t think would be possible in the fifth season of any show: It actually felt new, like a new version of itself. “Analysis” had the same flavor — essence — of the first two seasons, which I suppose is appropriate, considering the first episode of the season was literally titled “Repilot.” Sure, there were a lot of guest stars (Criminal Minds’ Paget Brewster; Robert Patrick; Nathan Fillion [right on the tail of Chang’s celebrity crush confession, no less]; Brie Larson), a move typically reserved for struggling shows looking for a bump and/or renewal consideration, but they weren't too flashy or pointed (I don’t think a single one of them claimed more than a minute of screen time). But this episode felt crisp and rejuvenated … and damn funny."

He also commented positively on Abed's role in the episode, especially after Troy's departure, saying "I was a bit worried that tonight would be more Abed analysis, that we’d have to do more work with him to understand Troy’s absence, and I was very relieved that that wasn’t the case. Naturally, Abed has a void to fill, so he’s a bit more outgoing, at first with the deaf student and finally with Brie Larson’s returning coat-check girl (once the first one proves to be Britta’s ultimate spoiler weapon; well played, Britta)."

In regard to Katie Leclerc's appearance as a deaf student who befriends Abed, Laurel Brown of Zap2it called it "a possible match made in silent heaven." However, overall, she gave the episode a negative review, specifically noting Troy's absence from the series, saying the show "has lost Troy Barnes, and not even a parade of high-end guest stars can fill the man's empty seat at the study-room table. It's too bad, because bringing in actors like Nathan Fillion, Katie Leclerc, Robert Patrick, Paget Brewster and more should have made "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking" one of the best "Community" episodes ever. As it is, the whole thing falls a bit flat."