Community: 10 Reasons Why Season 5 Is MASSIVELY Underrated
Troy and Abed's farewell still brings a tear to this day.
Everyone who is a fan of Community has a favorite episode or two, and it might be fair to say that those episodes often come from the first three seasons. All the original characters were present in nearly all the episodes, the story lines were funny and original enough that they deserved a re-watch.
It's somewhere in the middle of the fourth season that interest might get lost and that's understandable. Something changed with the show, and while the three later seasons weren't bad, they did lack some of the charm that came with the original three.
The fifth season sits in a strange limbo where it was in between behind-the-scenes changes. The quality of the fifth season belongs with the greats like seasons one, two and three. Between the firing a showrunner and the switching of a network entirely, the fifth season rests in an awkward twilight zone where it's overlooked with its classic episodes thanks to coming off the heels of a relatively bad fourth season.
As sad as it is to admit, the fourth season ruined it for the fifth but fans shouldn't accept that. The fifth season of Community had some amazingly written storylines and character arcs and deserves a lot more praise than what it was given.
10. Dan Harmon's Return As Showrunner
If you binge-watched the entire series of Community from start to finish, you could be forgiven for not noticing the tonal shift between seasons three and four. A majority of the characters are still on screen and the adventures of the Study Group still continued.
But if you watched season four through the lens of knowing that series creator Dan Harmon was not around, you are guaranteed to spot some inconsistencies. The cracks showed in the fourth season, and if you have time I implore you to read into Dan Harmon's firing from the show and his reactions - you might argue that his exit was in some way justified.
But nevertheless, Harmon did return in the fifth season as the show's lead writer and it's for the better. The narrative arcs seem more coherent to the characters, there's multi-episodic arcs that resonate with audiences, and the season as a whole felt revitalized.
The show essentially got its heart back with the fifth season. And despite Dan Harmon coming off as not the most pleasant of people, his attitude towards being protective over his show was understandable. His leading return in season five proves series just wasn't the same without him.