Geothermal Escapism
This is also the last episode of the series to feature Donald Glover as Troy Barnes, who left the show for other film and music career commitments.
In this episode, as Troy Barnes prepares to leave Greendale for a year-long sailing trip in order to attain Pierce Hawthorne's (Chevy Chase) reward from his will, Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) organizes a campus-wide game of "The Floor is Lava," which grows surprisingly competitive when Abed reveals the prize: a comic book worth $50,000.
While the game progresses, Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) tries to convince the study group — specifically Abed — to appropriately cope with Troy's leaving other than another campus-wide competition, and she enlists Professor Buzz Hickey (Jonathan Banks) to help her.
They work their way through the campus following Abed and Troy, using chairs and other pieces of furniture to stay off the floor, until they are set on by the "Locker Boys" led by Chang (Ken Jeong).
Most of the combatants, including Jeff and Annie, fall into the "lava"; Abed and Troy escape on a zorb and Britta pursues them into the basement.
Troy similarly lets himself fall into the "lava" (causing Britta to win the game), so that his "clone" can more resolutely face the impending journey.
The boat (the "Childish Tycoon"), pulls up on a trailer, and the supervisor is revealed to be LeVar Burton, of whom Troy, now supposedly a clone, is no longer afraid.
"[5] Britt Hayes of ScreenCrush praised the episode's theme, and Troy's departure, saying "It’s only fitting that Community would send Troy off with a big theme episode, so in “Geothermal Escapism” we get just that when Abed constructs a giant contest of “the ground is hot lava” at Greendale, making a childhood game of imagination into something highly competitive, with his most valuable comic book as the prize.
"Geothermal Escapism" squeezed our hearts 'til they burst, milked our eyeballs for their sweet treasure trove of tears, and eased our worried souls until we were ready to let go.
We’ve all known Glover's departure was imminent, and last week's "Cooperative Polygraphy" pulled off a lot of heavy lifting in not only managing a truly funny and emotionally appropriate farewell to Pierce, but in setting a new path for Troy, whose man-child romps with Abed had perhaps become a tad stagnant.
We're Troys, who need that bit of fantasy to give us the courage to fight our fears, and live our dreams, and make casual conversation with Levar Burton.
