What do you do when a crucial character leaves your favorite show? Cry? Scream? Nervously attribute it to some kind of plot device?
Or… commemorate and let go?
“Community” may have had a funeral for Pierce (Chevy Chase) in the preceding episode, but when the Greendale Community College study group said “Bon Troyage” to Troy (Donald Glover) on Thursday, it was by far more heartbreaking.
A show criminally underrated (and unmentioned in MOVE as of thus), “Community” is known for twisting all conventional storytelling tropes through its tributes to and/or clever parodies of film and TV genres. Although it’s set in a somewhat pathetic (yet endearing) community college, Greendale has managed to bond study group members Troy, Jeff (Joel McHale), Annie (Alison Brie), Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), Britta (Gillian Jacobs), Abed (Danny Pudi) and the late Pierce into a family.
Uncomfortable with the parts of their personalities that don’t fit neatly into categories or make sense to even them, the “Greendale Seven” have attempted to confront issues in weird and occasionally meta ways. When they aren’t at odds with each other and bickering in a self-aware way, they’re also on quests with pop-culture, world-imagining Abed.
Abed over-reads into things, yet this form of comedy has led to adventures believably told in the style of crime procedurals, documentaries, westerns and even animation, and clever banter along the way. “Community” never goes by a formula for any of its episodes, but it does consistently employ winning elements: character development that catches you by surprise, and unique ways of doing it.
It’s a show with a lot of creativity, and no matter how idiosyncratic the characters are, they’re still relatable because “Community” has always found its heart in these connections between misfits.
The most interesting friendship is that of Abed and Troy, so when Troy leaves to go fulfill Pierce’s dying wish by sailing across the world, you know it won’t end well for a man who more or less has Asperger syndrome.
When Abed engages the whole school in a game of Hot Lava Monster, with everyone taking it as seriously as any “Community”-styled war (see also: season three’s “Pillow and Blankets” and basically every paintball episode), you realize the stakes are high for him on an emotional level. And that makes you cheer for these kinds of ridiculous setups.
And I’m finally realizing: This is why I’m glad Troy’s leaving. If he hadn’t, “Community” wouldn’t have had the chance to prove that it can see off a character _right_. Instead of aimlessly dying or “mysteriously disappearing,” the “Community” cast can tie Troy’s departure into an opportunity to let its heart show in way that doesn’t feel cheesy.
At the same time, this episode had nostalgic gags and tie-ins to previous storylines. Fans who have been following the show know “Community” doesn’t need a montage to bring back inside jokes. Instead they use dialogue, enhancing character quirks at the same time.
Troy will go off to find himself as a better man (both the character, and the real-life actor alias Childish Gambino). And the show will hopefully give Abed more room to explore his inner demons without his best friend at his side (all in hysterical but heartfelt ways).
But most of all? Now we know we can trust the show to continue bringing us laughs, ones that aren’t empty despite the loss of a study group member (or two, if you count the slightly insignificant departure of useless and annoying Pierce).