'Community' paintball episode: Get your first look at the new game

Time to lock and load: Another extremely colorful installment of Community is headed your way.

The Yahoo comedy’s May 19 episode—which welcomes back Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani and Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz—revives the show’s storied paintball tradition, though this adventure will play out differently than the mass warfare of the past. Jeff (Joel McHale) has promised Greendale efficiency expert Frankie (Paget Brewster) that there will be no splatterfest this year—but a secret game is gaining traction, and at a black-tie gala to celebrate a “Cleaner Greendale,” “I can’t help myself and pull my gun, and it turns into mayhem,” says McHale.

Nodding to spy-film staples like the Bourne trilogy and James Bond, the action showcases fine footwork by Abed (Danny Pudi) and Annie (Alison Brie). “We pretended we were finalists of Dancing with the Stars for much of this episode,” quips Pudi. And fear not: Even though there’s some dressed-up dancing and the game has moved underground (“It’s Cold War paintball,” jokes McHale), cast members assure that plenty of pigment will be shed.

“A lot of people get shot with paint, and there’s a lot of spectacular death,” says McHale. Adds Pudi: “We were all on the same team, but then it culminates into an every-man-for-himself thing at the end… Everyone splits off and has their own unique battles and death scene.”

Much of the plot is being kept under wraps, but you are authorized to know that the formal event will honor Deputy Custodian Lapari (Najiani) and a “Cleaner Greendale,” and that Koogler (Hurwitz) plays an important role in the underground game. (For more on the Koog, click here.) In addition, Pudi offers this tease: “Frankie is really trying to clean up Greendale, and there are some forces within Greendale who aren’t necessarily interested in Greendale being cleaner.”

In addition to all the black-tie-ing and dy(e)ing, “Modern Espionage” also features the ultimate regression of the study group. Hints McHale: “The whole group gets turned into babies.”

Check out these exclusive photos below, and pick up a copy of this week’s issue of EW, which contains even more images from “Modern Espionage.”