Community (Fear Itself)

"Community"
Fear Itself episode
Bobby removing Sandra's pig mask
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 7
Directed by	Mary Harron
Written by	Kelly Kennemer
Original air date	July 24, 2008
Guest stars
Brandon Routh; Shiri Appleby; John Billingsley; Charlie Hofheimer; Bonita Friedericy; Brooklyn Sudano; Barbara Tyson; Meredith Bailey; Emily Talia; Alex Fatovich; Peter Strand Rumpel; Tom Carey; Jordan Schartner; James D. Hopkin
Episode chronology
← Previous "New Year's Day" Next → "Skin and Bones"
List of Fear Itself episodes

Community is the seventh episode of the NBC horror anthology Fear Itself.

Story

A man is running away from a search patrol and watch dogs. He crouches behind grass and hides.

Bobby (Brandon Routh) comes home to find his wife Tracy (Shiri Appleby) lying on the floor crying. She tells Bobby that they're still not pregnant, but if she had a baby, she wants to raise the child in a safe and secure environment. Bobby agrees that they should move and they start to prepare for a dinner they are hosting. Their friends, Scott (Charlie Hofheimer) and Meryl (Alex Fatovich) tell the couple about a place called the Commons: beautiful homes, a secure environment, and a welcoming neighborhood. Meryl notes that when she announced she would not be having a second child with Scott, they "lost interest". Bobby is hesitant; Tracy, however, is ecstatic and so Bobby agrees to check out the Commons.

When they arrive, the head of the community, Candace, manages to convince the couple to sign the agreement. Bobby and Tracy move in, and are greeted by their excitable neighbors, Phil (John Billingsley) and Debra (Bonita Friedericy). They are invited to a dinner party that night, but turns uncomfortable when Phil loses control and makes a spectacle of himself, bawling and showing everyone his prosthetic leg.

The next morning Debra is angrily stuffing something into a garbage can and when Bobby asks her about Phil. She merely states that Phil's brother died and Phil was away. That evening Bobby begins to watch TV, stumbling across a hidden camera show where a woman is having an affair and her husband catches her and her lover. The community committee makes Ron, the husband on the show, choose Sandra's (the cheating wife) punishment. She has to wear a pig mask and stand in the town square bound to a post while people throw rotten vegetables at her.

Bobby later has a small argument with Tracy because she openly discussed her pregnancy problems with her friend Arlene and it was broadcast on the hidden camera show. Bobby is confronted by Candace, who tells him that he and Tracy must conceive within 6 months, because it was all written down in their agreement.

Tracy eventually discovers she is pregnant and Bobby decides to get her out of the Commons. After she collapses at a local cafe, Bobby contacts Scott and has Meryl take Tracy's place after Tracy is spirited away to her parents' cabin. Candace discovers the plot, however, and drags Meryl away. She ties Bobby up and sedates him. When he finally wakes up, he struggles against his restraints but only with the help of Phil does he manage to break free.

Bobby escapes from the search patrol watch dogs and hides in the grass. Suddenly, a car pulls up and Bobby sees Tracy getting out. He yells at her to get back in but she tells him that it's all for the best. Surprisingly Scott, who is driving the car, agrees with her. Bobby realizes everyone has been brainwashed and he struggles to get away from his friends who are trying to restrain him. Eventually, they manage to shove him into the car's backseat drive back into the Commons compound.

A long time later, a pregnant Tracy is standing outside her home in the Commons, with her oldest son by her side. She is greeting a new couple to the Commons. They are excited to meet her and asks where her husband is. She tells them Bobby's working and points up to the top floor window. Inside, Bobby looks listless, old and gray, while sitting in a wheelchair. He limply uses the TV remote and watches the new couple celebrating moving into their great home. His face sets into a hard line as the camera slowly moves downward to reveal that his legs have been amputated.

Deaths

• Candace (Barbara Tyson), the Commons spokeswoman, killed by Phil with a scissor
• Sandra (Emily Talia), hit by a car
• Meryl (Alex Fatovich), possibly killed (off-screen) by the neighbors

External links

• Community at the Internet Movie Database