Community: The Best Episode From Every Season
2. Season 5: Geothermal Escapism
It's impossible to watch Season 5's Geothermal Escapism with dry eyes. The episode caps a trilogy of all-time great Community episodes, beginning with Basic Intergluteal Numismatics and Cooperative Polygraphy, but Geothermal Escapism stands out as the best of the bunch.
The episode serves as Troy's goodbye, as he must sail the world to claim the fortune Pierce left him in his will. Abed sets up an elaborate school wide game of The Floor is Lava to say goodbye to his best friend, but Britta believes the game is a coping mechanism to deal with Troy's departure, and spends her time above lava trying to force Troy and Abed to talk about how they are feeling. When Abed reveals that the lava is real to him, he and Troy "clone themselves," so that only clone Troy and clone Abed had to be apart.
In addition to being the most emotional episode of Community and a love letter to one of its best characters, Geothermal Escapism is also a lot of fun. It serves as Season 5's "paintball episode," as a silly game consumes Greendale and features several elaborate action sequences. The episode is not just a perfect ode to Troy, but also beautifully celebrates his friendships with the study group, especially Abed. The iconic duo's goodbye is heartbreaking, but the episode shows that they're ready to be apart.
The only bad part of Geothermal Escapism is that it marks the end of Troy's time on Community, and the show is not the same without him.