When the study group takes a break, Annie (Alison Brie) encourages Troy (Donald Glover) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) to have lunch together while she joins Abed (Danny Pudi) in his "Dreamatorium", a room where he and Troy simulate imaginary adventures.
When Annie finds the demonstration silly, Abed shows her the Dreamatorium's "engine", a cardboard contraption which he claims creates objective simulations.
Abed panics and passes out; when he awakens, he pretends to be Jeff (Joel McHale) and simulates a hospital environment that Annie requested earlier.
When the group returns from their break, Troy reveals that he and Britta enjoyed lunch together and apologizes to Abed for leaving him.
In a PaleyFest panel, several cast and crew members explained that the challenges of filming the episode led to concerns during production about the result.
The show placed fourth in its time slot behind American Idol, a repeat of The Big Bang Theory, and Missing.
He appreciated that the show embraced its own way of telling stories with the characters, writing that it "might turn off the casual viewer, but it's exactly the kind of episode fans love to see.
Sean Gandert of Paste gave the episode a rating of 8.0 and found the format to be well-executed but criticized the show for making Abed self-centered, which seemed contradictory to his actions during the previous three seasons.
[7] Joshua Kurp of Vulture respected and admired the show's efforts, but he found the lack of a centerpiece scene or a strong emotional climax to be problematic.