Basic Lupine Urology

Overall, the episode parodies the television series Law & Order, with the main and supporting cast members representing the detectives, prosecutors, and other figures seen on the show.

In its original broadcast, it was seen by 3.21 million viewers and received acclaim from critics, with much of the praise going to the show's execution of the format.

Annie (Alison Brie) seeks an A for their work; Professor Kane (Michael K. Williams) demands proof that someone "murdered" the yam.

Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) question Pierce (Chevy Chase), who could not enter the biology room to water the yam because the door was locked.

Afterwards, Jeff and Annie celebrate with Kane and Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) until they learn Star-Burns has died in a car crash.

[5] Within the episode, Troy and Abed fill the role of the cops or detectives and were likened to Lennie Briscoe and Mike Logan by some critics.

[6][8] Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) was likened to Lt. Anita Van Buren,[5][6][8] while Pierce serves as a crooked informant.

[9] Britta (Gillian Jacobs) makes a brief appearance as a crime technician, Chang (Ken Jeong) serves as the bailiff in the trial, and Dean Pelton represents the district attorney.

Leslie Hendrix, who played medical examiner Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers in Law & Order and several of its spin-offs, makes a cameo as a botanist in the episode.

This placed the show fourth in total viewership in its time slot, behind American Idol, The Big Bang Theory, and Missing,[21] but marked a slight uptick from the previous episode.

[6][10][13] Bill Wyman of Slate went so far as to deem it a better police procedural than any Law & Order episode, commenting that it is "better plotted, more engrossing, has better surprises, cuts deeper, and says more about the human condition.

[13] Both Sean Gandert of Paste and Alan Sepinwall of HitFix remarked in their reviews that the episode lacked a serious emotional story or character arc, though neither thought that was a major problem.

[24][8] Similarly, Joshua Kurp of Vulture appreciated that the show moved away from the overly sentimental plots of the previous few episodes while keeping the characters true to their personalities.

[25] Other aspects of the episode that received praise were the appearances by Ironside and Williams[7][24] and the way the main and supporting cast members were able to aptly fill their new roles.

[27][28] Entertainment Weekly named it the fourth-best episode of the show and the second-best of the season behind "Remedial Chaos Theory", citing its commitment to the premise.