[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nup_158499_0109_6286.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Humans make better banks than piggies."]]

--> "''Out of the shadows, down the coin goes''"
--> "''Why, oh why, do you suppose?''"
--> "''Only the bandit knows...''"

Everyone is up in arms when an anonymous bandit starts dropping coins down people's pants. While Dean Pelton mobilizes the school to investigate, Jeff and Annie pursue their own theories - methodically interrogating staff members. When someone eventually confesses, the school heaves a sigh of relief, but Jeff thinks there is more to the story than meets the eye.

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!!The ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics" provides examples of:

* AffectionateParody: Of most serial-killer Creator/DavidFincher style movies such as ''Film/{{Se7en}}'' and ''Film/{{Zodiac|2007}}''. They got the atmosphere down to a T, with a [[UnnaturallyBlueLighting tinted color scheme]], and [[EmpathicEnvironment constant rain]] and smoke. It also parodies 'dark' crime TV shows such as ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'', ''Series/CriminalMinds'', ''Series/TheBridgeUS'' (which even gets name-checked in a FreezeFrameBonus) and ''Series/TheKilling'' which center around troubled law enforcement officials hunting serial killers.
* AloneWithThePsycho: PlayedWith in service of the homage, as Annie being stuck with Duncan in his office is a ShoutOut to the basement scene from ''Film/{{Zodiac|2007}}''. Ironically, Duncan is himself a victim immediately after this. And the last scene suggests that Annie herself could be the bandit.
* AnimalJingoism: Star-Burns designing a Cat-Powered Car that uses a dog to scare cats into pulling the vehicle.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: During the Dean's press conference addressing the Ass Crack Bandit's return, he's asked if it is indeed the Bandit's return & not a copycat; if it's true the Dean's office has since received a letter from the Bandit; and how the Bandit's return will have an effect on soccer.
* AssShove: The bandit's M.O., which is really more of an "ass drop", but it's [[MinorInjuryOverreaction treated like a far more violent action]] in-universe.
* BigSecret: Both Star-Burns and the botany professor run from Jeff and Annie because they had something to hide.
* BrickJoke: Star-Burns' crowd-funding video wherein he asks for donations for his cat car idea.
* TheBusCameBack:
** Professor Duncan makes his first appearance since "[[Recap/CommunityS2E22AppliedAnthropologyAndCulinaryArts Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts]]" in Season 2.
--->'''Jeff:''' Hey, buddy. Where'd you go?\\
'''Duncan:''' I was taking care of my sick mother. She's still alive, but I've put in my time.
** Star-Burns makes his first appearance since "[[Recap/CommunityS3E22IntroductionToFinality Introduction to Finality]]" and marks the in-universe reveal that he had faked his death in "[[Recap/CommunityS3E17BasicLupineUrology Basic Lupine Urology]]."
* BusCrash: Pierce.
* CallBack: This isn't the first time that [[Recap/CommunityS3E17BasicLupineUrology a murder mystery parody has abruptly ended with the study group learning about someone's death via phone call]].
* CallingCard: Well, in this case, leaving the calling card ''is'' the Ass Crack Bandit's crime.
* TheCameo: Music/BenFolds as a botany professor/pot grower. Folds also wrote the gritty-parody "Ass Crack Bandit" song that plays several times throughout the episode.
* ChariotPulledByCats: Star-Burns tries to develop the world's first cat-powered vehicle. He's seen trying to escape on a prototype with several harnessed kitties. In a BrickJoke, there appears a crowd-funding video in which Star-Burns asks for donations for his cat car idea.
%%* ColorWash: see UnnaturallyBlueLighting
* ContinuityNod:
** The Ass Crack Bandit was previously mentioned in "[[Recap/CommunityS2E17IntroToPoliticalScience Intro to Political Science]]" in Season 2.
** "Troy's Law," which is really just the Dean's plan to put cameras in all the bathrooms marks a return to his previous use of cameras in the women's bathrooms in Season 1's "[[Recap/CommunityS1E11ThePoliticsOfHumanSexuality The Politics of Human Sexuality]]." That time, the justification was that toilet seats were being stolen.
** Neil's eulogy for Pierce refers to him as "[[Recap/CommunityS2E14AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons a helluva D&D player]]".
* CreepyChildrenSinging: Elijah & Jordan Bennett singing "Creep" by Music/{{Radiohead}} at the reopening of Shirley's Sandwiches crosses over into this as it's used as the score to the return of the Ass Crack Bandit.
* DeathGlare: Abed gives one at the end of his "[[DefectiveDetective disordered detective"]] speech (see TakeThat below), showing how contemptuous he really is towards the Dean's suggestion that he use his disorder to perform a SherlockScan.
* DefconFive: The Dean seems to be unsure about the correct use of DEFCON numbers.
-->"From this moment, people, we are at DEFCON 4... if that's the highest DEFCON, and if high [=DEFCONs=] are worse than low ones."
* DownerEnding: The Ass Crack Bandit remains unidentified, and the ending implies it could be one of [[EveryoneIsASuspect several characters]] known to the viewer, and the Study Group is left to mourn the death of Pierce.
* DramaticThunder: When Jeff and Annie visit the botany professor.
* EpilepticTrees:
** In-universe; Annie starts coming up with these to discuss the Ass Crack Bandit's motives. Jeff is unimpressed:
--->'''Annie:''' You know how this school works; we do it, or it doesn't get done. The men on our coins understood that. Maybe the Ass Crack Bandit's point is that we're letting our values slide.\\
'''Jeff:''' Or ''maybe'' he's a frat-boy coming from the laundromat.
** In the full version of the "Ass Crack Bandit" song, the singer gets in on the act as well:
--->''Maybe we're the crooks\\
And he's the hero\\
Maybe he's the ''Messiah''\\
Who's to say?''
* EveryoneIsASuspect: The ending of the episode, with brief shots over many of the show's characters to show how they might've had a reason to be the Ass-Crack Bandit.
* FalseConfession: The Dean paid Star-Burns to do this.
* ForeignFarewell: Duncan responds to Britta's high-five by attempting to kiss her, which she refused. He then blamed it on cultural differences.
* GeographicFlexibility: Lampshaded. "We have ''stables''?"
* GrammarCorrectionGag: The rambling missives left by the Ass Crack Bandit are parodies of both UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper's idiosyncratic grammar and the [[NoPunctuationPeriod unpunctuated]] notes left by the Zodiac killer, causing Shirley to remark:
-->'''Shirley''': He should be called the run-on sentence bandit.
* HardWorkMontage: Parodied. Jeff puts on orchestral music as Annie starts cross-referencing the Greendale faculty with people who like the {{Music/Dave Matthews Band}}, only for her to turn it off ten seconds later declaring she was finished. Jeff admits he thought it would take longer.
* HeldGaze:
** Jeff did this with Annie, but then insisted that it was platonic. He then does the same to a passing Leonard in order to demonstrate how platonic it was. Leonard apparently [[HoYay thought otherwise]].
** Annie does it to Jeff after she reaches the conclusion Duncan's the bandit. He seems quite pleased with it.
* {{Homage}}: The SpecialEditionTitle is an homage to the [[https://youtu.be/O7x_p8pvb1o?t=88 opening credits]] of ''Film/RedDragon''.
* HypocriticalHumor: The Dean calls Jeff and Annie's relationship unprofessional and creepy, before immediately punishing Jeff by making him the new Coach of the Water Polo team and himself the Assistant Coach so he would be able to spend time with a soaking wet Jeff. If one goes even further, the Dean's infatuation with Jeff and favoritism towards the Study Group as seen over the course of the show are themselves creepy and unprofessional.
* InsistentTerminology: Jeff and Duncan about Dave Matthews. Hardcore fans call him Dave.
* InstantlyProvenWrong: When the Dean reminds everyone that buddies is the best way to prevent an assault by the serial killer, someone in the audience gets cracked.
* InternalReveal: The characters finally discover that Star-Burns' is just FakingTheDead.
* {{Irony}}: Troy, [[RunningGag who has an admitted propensity for butt stuff]], is one of the students violated by the Ass Crack Bandit. Despite the violation in question being objectively innocuous, he is ''traumatized'' by the experience.
* ItsASmallNetAfterAll: Subverted when Annie acts as if a Facebook search would give an exhaustive list of faculty that like the Dave Matthews, but it turns out Duncan used a different social network site.
* JustFriends: What Jeff insists several times about his and Annie's relationship, including "platonic shoulder holding," though his and Annie's actions and expressions clearly indicate otherwise.
* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Lampshaded by Annie -- "you know what this school's like if we don't do it, it doesn't get done!"
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: Troy had a quarter dropped down his ass crack. He spends the rest of the episode traumatized and unwilling to leave his wheelchair.
* MissingTrailerScene: A scene with Troy pleading with Jeff to catch the Ass Crack Bandit was featured in the "Beyond the Darkest Timeline" trailer, but wasn't in the episode proper.
* MontageOut: The episode ends with a montage showing that the Ass Crack Bandit [[EveryoneIsASuspect could be anyone]].
* MoodWhiplash:
** The standard opening titles are replaced with a montage of newspaper clippings about the Ass Crack Bandit before the final shot reveals the clippings to be a folder put together by Annie, who has extravagantly decorated the cover with glitter and flowers.
** The DownerEnding is followed by Star-Burns' infomercial asking for donations for a cat-powered car.
** Amongst the various clips seen in the MontageOut, is a shot of Professor Hickey looking over a clipping of an article about a serial killer the police were unable to catch, leading to the police force being downsized; it's heavily implied he was one of the investigators. It's only on screen for a few seconds, but it further contrasts the Ass Crack Bandit being treated in a similar manner by the Greendale campus.
** Neil's heartfelt eulogy to Pierce is followed by the next show on the campus radio, which just happens to be "Dr. Farts" (complete with a squeaky raspberry).
** The episode is a parody of {{serial killer}} mysteries, with a central joke being that [[PokeThePoodle the "villain" is a harmless prankster who inserts coins into people's butt cracks]]--but it ends with the study group learning about Pierce's ''actual'' death.[[note]] Notably, the show did a similar MoodWhiplash in "[[Recap/CommunityS3E17BasicLupineUrology Basic Lupine Urology]]"--where the study group spends the whole episode trying to find out who destroyed their science project (which is treated like a murder mystery), only to learn that Star-Burns ''actually'' died. [[FakingTheDead Or so it seemed.]][[/note]]
* MundaneSolution: The Dean's secretary Rhonda points out that there's no need for a PhoneTraceRace as he could just check the extension.
* MysteryEpisode: Involves an investigation into a local hoodlum called the Ass Crack Bandit, whose "crime" is inserting quarters into the butt cracks of Greendale students.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The pre-air date teaser clips retained the show's original score & coloring. The episode proper removes the score & adds an ominous green/blue tint to the visuals.
* NonIndicativeName: The Ass Crack Bandit himself, given that he's not stealing anything.
* OminousFog: Happens indoors -- [[RuleOfFunny to a ridiculous degree]] -- during the We Caught The Ass Crack Bandit Dance in the cafeteria.
* OverlyLongGag: The Dean spends about a minute and a half clicking his fingers at his secretary to try and get her to trace the call while he's on the phone to the Ass Crack Bandit. Having no idea what he's doing and no way of doing what he wants anyway, his secretary just stares back at him with a mixture of bewilderment and contempt.
* PhoneTraceRace: Parodied. The Dean tries to get his secretary to do this, but given that she's a community college administration worker and not a cop, she has no idea what he wants her to do and no way to do it anyway. He ends up just checking the Caller ID display against a list of extensions.
-->'''The Dean:''' ''[As he runs his finger down the list]'' Tracing... Tracing...
* TheProfiler: Duncan and Britta take this role throughout the story. True to form, [[SuspectIsHatless they're not very good at it]]:
-->'''Duncan:''' The nature of the Arse-Crack Bandit's crimes would suggest that he's angry. ''Or'', just fell in love.\\
'''Britta:''' We know that he hates money or loves it or doesn't care about money and hates butts or loves them.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Garrett when he's a victim: "ASS!!! CRACK!!!!! BANDIT!!!!"
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Pierce's death is due to Chevy Chase being unable to set foot on the ''Community'' set again as part of the agreement regarding his departure in the prior season.
* RedHerring: Professor Duncan is set-up as the Ass Crack Bandit, only to be revealed as innocent when he becomes the next victim.
* RibbonCuttingCeremony: Shirley's Sandwiches had one to celebrate its reopening.
* SchoolNewspaperNewsHound: An entire press conference full of them; Greendale apparently has a ''lot'' of school newspapers. Including a Spanish-language one.
* SeriousBusiness: Judging by the way pretty much everyone except Jeff and Hickey react, the Ass Crack Bandit is apparently Greendale's answer to the Zodiac Killer. Subverted at the end; when news of Pierce's death arrives, Jeff lampshades just how trivial the Bandit truly is.
-->'''Jeff:''' Life is weird. It's a container for all this little stuff, and you get caught up in it, and then... the container just... pfft.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: The episode title basically means "The study of coins between butt-cheeks."
* ShipTease:
** Jeff and Annie's relationship is thoroughly lampshaded by The Dean.
** Duncan clearly has a thing for Britta, although it's apparently one way.
* ShoutOut:
** The Bennett boys singing Music/{{Radiohead}}'s "Creep" at the start of the episode. A similar version of the song was used for ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', a film directed by Creator/DavidFincher. The episode is partially a parody of the films of David Fincher (particularly ''Film/Se7en'' and ''Film/{{Zodiac|2007}}'').
** Jeff's (and Duncan's, and the Ass Crack Bandit's) avowed Music/DaveMatthewsBand fandom.
** A Greendale poster next to Garrett's locker features a girl who looks a lot like [[Film/TheMillenniumTrilogy Lisbeth Salander]].
** Jeff and Annie's research scored to Bach's "Air on the G String" is a specific reference to Mills and Somerset in the library in ''Film/{{Se7en}}''.
** When the ass crack bandit is under the bleachers, we see their perspective from night vision goggles, just like the climax to ''Film/SilenceOfTheLambs''
* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: Played straight and inverted in the same scene: Star-Burns asking Jeff about a Dave Matthews Band song playing in the background is what tips Jeff off that he's not the real Bandit, as one of the few things known about the Ass Crack Bandit is that they're a hardcore Dave fan. At the same time, Professor Duncan gushing about the Dave Matthews Band is one of the contributing factors to Annie suspecting him instead.
* SpecialEditionTitle: The opening credits run over a collection of annotated newspaper articles and research documents chronicling the Ass Crack Bandit's previous reign of terror. The grim effect is then humorously undercut when it's revealed that Annie has collected them together in a scrapbook which has a very girlishly-decorated cover complete with flowers.
* {{Squee}}: Annie does it after Jeff agrees to help her; he promptly tells her that he won't help if she squeals, prompting Annie to start an awkward dance instead. Jeff finds this even ''more'' irritating and lets her go back to squealing instead.
* StylisticSuck: Star-Burns' crowdfunding clip in TheTag.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Hickey's similarity to Pierce is lampshaded when Duncan, upon being re-introduced to the group and seeing Hickey sitting in Pierce's old spot at the study room table, [[ThoroughlyMistakenIdentity mistakes him for Pierce]]... and congratulates him on bravely getting rid of his [[DodgyToupee hairpiece]]. Hickey, naturally, is not amused.
* TakeThat:
** Abed makes one to the current trend of moody serial killer shows, which now often heavily feature "mildly autistic super detectives". In the MontageOut, he's even seen deleting ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' and ''Series/TheBridgeUS'' from his DVR.
--->'''Abed:''' I see a man... using a social disorder as a procedural device. Waitwaitwait -- I see ''another'' man. Mildly autistic super-detectives everywhere. Basic cable, broadcast networks... Pain. ''Painful'' writing. ''Hurts''. ''[shrugs and walks out]''
** Starburns' infomercial in TheTag is one to [[Website/{{Kickstarter}} Kickstarter projects.]]
* ThrowingOffTheDisability: After being wheelchair-bound due to the trauma of being cracked by the Ass Crack Bandit, Troy "miraculously" stands up to slap Star-Burns in the face.
* UnnaturallyBlueLighting: In keeping with the general parody of serial killer / forensic shows and movies.
* TheUnreveal: We never do find out who the Ass Crack Bandit actually is. Though future episodes heavily imply that it's Annie.
* VillainTeleportation: The Ass Crack Bandit appears to possess this.
* VomitingCop: In a blink-and-miss scene a police officer chokes when seeing a coin left at the crime scene.
* WarForFunAndProfit: Leonard and Shirley are shown to be shamelessly profiteering from the panic caused by the bandit. The ending montage suggests that the Bandit might have just been a scheme concocted so she could overcharge people for her sandwiches.
* WhamEpisode: A vile prankster causes havoc on Greendale, Professor Duncan and Star-Burns make their return to the series, and Pierce dies.
* WhamLine: "Pierce is dead."
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous: Only Jeff and Hickey seem to realize that the Ass Crack Bandit isn't that big a deal.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: In keeping with the parody of ''Film/{{Zodiac|2007}}'', the episode ends with a black title card solemnly informing the audience that:
-->To date, no more crackings have been reported.\\
Alex "Starburns" Osbourne later recanted his confession.\\
Greendale's official position was that Osbourne was the Bandit.\\
No investigation is currently open.
* YouJustToldMe: A humorous variation, involving the Dean's plan to use Chang as a decoy:
-->'''Hickey:''' I think this is spending way too much money on a crime that nets us 25 cents a pop.\\
'''Dean Pelton:''' Oh, no, this was all free.\\
'''Hickey:''' Then I think you just admitted you already owned a fake butt.
----