Thoughts: The first episode started out slow, and didn't really feel like Community until it was about half over. I assume this was due to the introduction of Paget Brewster's character, who is apparently the new Shirley. The entire episode pokes fun at itself in traditional Community meta-humor fashion ("somtimes dead is better"), and is riddled with coy references to the show's seemingly inability to die.
There's a cameo from the best janitor on TV since Neil Flynn, and I giggled with delight when he popped up (I'm sure @gwahir will also appreciate it), as well as an awesome cameo in the tag at the end of the episode that was both incredibly well done, and quite funny.

My biggest complaint about "Ladders" (and episode 2: "Lawnmower Maintenance And Postnatal Care") is Ken Jeong's character, Chang. I loved Chang in season 1. As the seasons progressed he became more and more absurd. In the last couple seasons Chang seems to be just an afterthought. The idea seems to be to get Chang to do the weirdest or dumbest things to try and get a laugh. They can do so much more with Ken Jeong and the Chang character. I really hope they do as this season progresses.