In what is reassuring news for those who worry that it’s all being pulled out of class to hunt down seemingly unstoppable serial killers for America’s young FBI agents, The Hollywood Reporter reports that, occasionally, they also get to watch episodes of Portlandia. According to the article, an instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, recently approached the IFC show’s producers about using a sketch in its advanced intelligence classes, which focus on combating terrorism, espionage, and IP theft.
Strangely, the sketch wasn’t the famous one where Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein threaten to put a bird on everything—birds being nature’s terrorists. Rather, it was “Sanitation Twins,” a mock-PSA in which the duo demonstrates Portland’s labyrinthine, color-coded recycling system, an exhausting procedure designed to trick terrorists into believing they’ve already won.
Or, actually, perhaps there is no logical connection between Portlandia’s sketch and the FBI’s advanced intelligence-gathering techniques, strange as that may sound. “This falls under the surreal category,” Brownstein said. “We granted permission, although [the instructor] didn't tell us why he was interested. Maybe they’re just making fun of us?” Maybe. Or maybe this is just the first, know-your-enemy phase of the shadow government’s brewing war on hipsters for their rebellious non-conformity. Maybe you should have listened to that guy you know with all the stickers on his bicycle. Maybe now it’s too late.