Geothermal Escapism

. Troy (Donald Glover) is prepared to now enjoy his last day at Greendale before setting out on a sailing trip around the world as set forth by Pierce’s (Chevy Chase) will. While the rest of the study group wishes Troy their best, Abed (Danny Pudi) announces over the school's PA that the school is now holding a campus-wide game of "The Floor is Lava," with the last "survivor" set to win a comic book valued at $50,000. The campus breaks down into chaos as the game begins. Britta (Gillian Jacobs) suspects Abed is holding back his feelings and trying to prevent Troy from leaving. Britta initially teams up with Jeff (Joel McHale) and Annie (Alison Brie). 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). Professor Hickey (Jonathan Banks) then attacks both sides from an improvised tank, and Troy and Abed leave Britta for dead. Britta joins Hickey and the two lead an assault on "Shirley Island", a fortification set up in the cafeteria where Abed and Troy are hiding. 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. As Britta presses Abed to acknowledge his feelings, he admits that he is terrified of losing Troy but cannot allow this to hold Troy back. Handing the prize comic book to Troy, Abed lets himself fall into the "lava" and plays dead. Troy and Britta, now seriously concerned with Abed's well-being, act out a scene where they resurrect him as a clone. Abed accepts this resolution, explaining that as a "clone" he can now accept Troy's departure rationally. Troy, who is scared of leaving, similarly lets himself fall into the "lava" (causing Britta to win the game), so that his "clone" can more resolutely face the impending journey. As the school recovers from the game, Troy says goodbye to the group, who all claim to have been brought back as clones too. He notes that Pierce's will assigns a supervisor to his journey to make sure he doesn't cheat, as Pierce once did. 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. The group gives Troy a final goodbye as the boat on its trailer pulls away. In the closing scene, the boat is stuck in traffic and Troy asks Burton a list of questions about Star Trek. ==Reception==

Ratings The episode attained with 3.02 million viewers, and received an 18-49 rating/share of 1.1/3. The show placed fifth in its timeslot and thirteenth for the night. but was down in overall viewers. Critical reception The episode was received positively by critics. Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A−, saying "The concept episodes of Community usually work best when they hook in to some emotional element in the show’s core. So it makes sense that the show would haul out a concept episode for the episode where Troy leaves, and it makes even more sense that that concept would be “post-apocalyptic,” because Troy’s departure feels like the end of the world for the characters on the show, just as surely as it does for many of the show’s fans." Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode a 9 out of 10, saying the episode "was always going to be a big episode of Community and it delivered a fitting farewell to Troy Barnes. While the "Greendale goes all-in on a game" concept had been done before, it set the stage for a funny and emotional goodbye to a character that will be missed by the audience and characters alike." 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." Tim Surette of TV.com also gave a positive review, despite presenting skepticism of the episode's theme, saying "For about 13 minutes there, I was pretty worried about "Geothermal Escapism," the Community episode that will forever be known as the episode where we said goodbye to Troy and learned that self-publishing books don't publish themselves. Sorry to be taking bribes from Big Buzzkill, but a silly Waterworld/Mad Max parody was not how I wanted to see Butt Soup off. However, this is Community, and as is generally the case with the show's spirit, Abed, indulging childish fantasy was the show's way of facing a difficult reality and confronting the truth. "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. The episode as a whole wasn't perfect, but Troy's send-off was, and that was the whole point." He also commented positively on Abed's role in the episode, saying "Abed's schoolwide game of Hot Lava was ridiculously fun, but it was also ridiculous and it elevated the proceedings to a point where the return to "real life" would hit that much harder." Gabrielle Moss of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.9 out of 5, saying "we're all Abed; we aren't seeing actual lava on the floor (well, most days), but we need fantasy not as escapism, but to carry us through the feelings we're sure no one else is feeling; to allow us to fight our battles and experience our emotions in ways that won't get us dumped or arrested or ruin yet another Christmas. 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. Community encourages us to embrace imagination's ability to help us survive." ==References==