Community: Every Season Ranked Worst To Best
4. Season 5
Season 5 and Season 6 are at about the same level in terms of quality. However, Season 5 narrowly edges out its Yahoo! Screen follow up because of a fantastic trilogy of episodes near the start of the season.
The arc begins with the season's third episode, Basic Intergluteal Numismatics, which follows the infamous and mysterious Ass Crack Bandit and ends with the sudden off-screen death of Pierce. Then, the next episode, Cooperative Polygraphy, functions as a goodbye to Pierce, as the study group attend his will reading slash interrogation.
Finally, Geothermal Escapism follows Troy as he prepares to embark on an adventure at sea, saying a hard goodbye to the study group, Abed, and Greendale. These three episodes work together better than any other set of episodes in Community's run.
In addition to these five episodes, Season 5 contains many other fun outings. Analysis of Cork-Based Networking (featuring the iconic "Bear Down for Midterms" scene), App Development and Condiments, and Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons come to mind. The season also introduces Buzz Hickey and elevates Ian Duncan to a larger role, effectively taking the place of Pierce and Troy. Both men make for fun additions to the main cast.
However, despite the aforementioned successes, Season 5 has some major flaws. Despite returning to form, the season did not open on the strongest note. The first two episodes, Repilot and Introduction to Teaching, make it seem like Community would never regain the charm it had in its earlier seasons.
Additionally, the two part season finale, Basic Story and Basic Sandwich, comes dangerously close to jumping the shark. Plus, although their replacements proved to be funny, the show was never the same without Pierce and especially Troy.
Though Season 5 failed to live up to the show's first three seasons, after the Gas Leak Year, it proved that there was still life in Community.