As the fifth of an agonisingly short 13 episode season, I was a bit wary of the concept episode theme that kickstarted the last of Troy's Community adventures. While the concept episodes are amongst the favourites of Community fans, overdoing them can derail the show's plot lines into senseless fanservice and jokes for the sake of them (looking at you season 4). Nevertheless, Geothermal Escapism was always going to be fondly remembered for the departure of Troy.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the lava game at the start. Channelling the aura of the past paintball and pillow/blanket shenanigans, the whole school get together for a contest, which like the ones before, is saturated with dark tones and action music for a dramatic effect. It's Harmon doing what he does best, but nevertheless it felt more cramped than the sweeping two part epic of the second paintball war and the pillow/blanket conflict. The action takes place across maybe three different locations, which slightly undercut the concept of the contest, though I suspect this was to focus more on the study group than the other students.
This episode was mainly about Troy and Abed's final appearance, so I admit that several of the main cast would be pushed aside. After Jeff's lawyer arc, it makes sense for him to take a sidestep. It was disappointing for Shirley to drop into what has been Pierce's default role since about season 3, the left out character. She similarly plays the role of the outsider as the fort-owner in the Lava Game, much like Pierce in A Fistful of Paintballs, but without the group conflict which pushed Pierce to his spectacularly season 2 exit, Shirley was forgotten here.
It was a great Britta episode, which has been few and far between. The flanderisation of Britta into a dumb hippie since the coining of the Britta'd phrase has always been a wrong move by the show, but here we saw glimpses of her old self. One of the things I love about season 5 is the toning down of her dumb moments. She seems more sensible and caring than before. The banter between her and Jeff takes me way back to the season 1, where Britta was actually an intellectual match for Jeff and not a running joke.
Which brings us to her role in 'cloning' Troy, in an effort to help Abed cope with his departure. At first glance, it seemed to avoid the emotional moment that Abed would've had if he really came to terms that Troy was leaving. It seems easy to invent some mechanism or loophole which allows Abed to believe what he wants in his own world. But at another glance, it perfectly encapsulates what Abed is all about. Abed views the world differently with his own lens, with his love of television and film, and it allows him to make his own behind the scenes of his real life. In a way, his coping mechanism creates a story behind Troy leaving instead of what Britta wants them to admit: sometimes people leave, things happen. And Britta helping Abed create this story, even if she herself would be normally against it, was a perfect moment of characterisation.
What was even more heartfelt was Troy's final goodbyes. "You're the best, and I love you" wrapped up a very good episode for Britta, while Annie was her usual bubbly self. I was disappointed that Jeff and Troy didn't hug, and Shirley really highlighted that her and Troy never really got story lines with each other, which is disappointing. But the best moment was the homing pigeon line, a "compulsion to come back" and the Troy and Abed hug afterwards. Danny Pudi is such a fantastic actor and he portrayed an emotional Abed to the tee. And then Come Sail Away came on, taking us all the way back to when Troy let slip that he cries whenever he hears this song. What a way to go out, and everyone who has been with Community from the beginning will sorely miss you, Troy Barnes.
My favourite Troy moments, from all the years:
- "We're trying to get Jeff ready for the fiiiiii...ght."
- "Something to do with crabs...they're like a food but they're also a disease.."
- "Dead leaves...pumpkins everywhere...nature's Viagra."
- "My emotions! My emotions!!"
- "You are the opposite of Batman!"
- "Yes I can, it's all terrain dummy!"
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