Community: Every Paintball Episode Ranked Worst To Best

Technically speaking, season five's Geothermal Escapism is less of a paintball episode and more of a "The Floor is Lava" episode. Still, the school-wide game of The Floor is Lava is as all-encompassing, intense, and action packed as any paintball episode, so, since it effectively functions as season five's paintball outing, it makes this list.

After Troy announces he will leave Greendale to sail the world per the deceased Pierce's wishes, Abed organises a "The Floor is Lava" contest for all Greendale students in honour of his friend. Since the winner will receive a valuable comic book of Abed's, they take the game seriously, forming their own off-the floor hideouts, walking systems, and even lava-lingo.

While the game itself is fun, and leads to some great and hilarious action, the true heart of the episode is seeing Troy and Abed's friendship one final time. A weaker show would have focused the entirety of Troy's final episode on the man himself, but it was far more effective seeing it from Abed's perspective. For him, Troy leaving truly does feel like the end of the world, so the floor actually is lava.

After the game, both Troy and Abed grow enough that, although they still love each other, they can say goodbye. This is one of Community's great strengths, framing character growth through silly seeming spoofs, and no episode does a better job of this than Geothermal Escapism.