Community (Fear Itself episode)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Community
Series = Fear Itself


Caption =
Season = 01
Episode = 07
Airdate = July 24, 2008
Production =
Writer =Kelly Kennemer
Director = Mary Harron
Guests =
Episode list =
Prev = New Year's Day
Next = Skin & Bones

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

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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 did not succeed in getting pregnant and that if she had a baby, she wants to raise the child in a safe and secure environment. Bobby agrees to move out and Tracy gets up to get dressed 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 informed the community 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, Nancy, manages to convince the couple to sign the agreement. Bobby and Tracy move in, and are greeted by their kind and excitable neighbors, Phil (John Billingsley) and Debra (Bonita Friedericy). They are invited to a dinner party that night, but it takes a turn for the worse when Phil loses control and makes a spectacle of himself in front of the community.Debra is seen angrily stuffing something into a garbage can and when Bobby approaches her about Phil's fate the next morning, she merely states that Phil's brother died and Phil was away. Bobby returns home and at night, begins to watch TV, stumbling across a live hidden camera where a woman is having an affair with another man and her husband finds them. It becomes an issue for the community committee to handle and they make Ron, the husband, choose Sandra's (the wife) punishment. He makes her wear a pig mask and stand bound, while children and adults throw groceries and wasted vegetables at her.Bobby returns home and gets into a small argument with Tracy because she discusses her pregnancy problems with her friend Arlene and suddenly their faces appear on the TV screen. Bobby is confronted by Nancy, who tells him that he and Tracy must conceive a baby within 6 months, because it was all written down in their agreement.Tracy 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 whisked away to her parents' cabin. Nancy discovers the plot, however, and drags Meryl away. She ties Bobby up and sedates him. When he wakes, he struggles against his restrainers and manages to break away.He runs away from the search patrol and the watch dogs and crouches behind grass. Suddenly a car pulls up and Bobby gets up to find Tracy exiting the car. He tells her to get back in but she tells him that it's all for the best. Even Scott, who is driving the car, agrees. Bobby realizes everyone has been brainwashed and he fights against the people who try to restrain him. However, they manage to shove him into the backseat of the car, and the car drives away and goes back through the Commons gate.

Tracy is standing outside a house, pregnant, with another little boy standing next to her. She is greeting a new couple and introducing them to the Commons. They are so excited so see it and ask where Tracy's husband is. She tells them he's working and points up at the top window. The audience sees Bobby, who is prematurely old (with gray hair) and he is sitting in a wheelchair. He limply lifts the remote and turns the TV on to see the happy new couple celebrating. His face sets into a hard line and the camera moves downward to show that Bobby has no legs.

Cast

*Brandon Routh as Bobby
*Shiri Appleby as Tracy
*John Billingsley as Phil
*Bonita Friedericy as Debra