Review: Community - ‘Geothermal Escapism’

Well, episode 5 of Community, ‘Geothermal Escapism’ finally proved to the world that Dan Harmon is definitely back in charge of the show. While last week providing a stream of witty banter, this week brought back the crazy and chaotic gimmicks that we have grown over the years to love. Personally, I found it so hilarious that I had to watch it a second time.

The episode begins with the gang preparing to say goodbye to Troy. He has a boat and the promise of a huge pile of money and he’ll be gone come next episode. So in order to send him off properly, Abed has the bright idea to form a school-wide game of “Hot Lava” - you know, that game you might have played as a kid where you’re not allowed to touch the floor. To spice it up and get the entire school on board, he offers a $50,000 rare comic book to the last man standing.

Needless to say, the school becomes very enthusiastic. In fact, the game becomes so competitive that everything degenerates into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, complete with raiders, chair-walking warriors and an island of sanctuary built out of desks and other objects. Seeing the game as an unhealthy coping mechanism for Abed, Britta tries to track him down amidst the chaos and explain to him that he just needs to let Troy go.

Featuring such memorable sights as Jonathan Banks (aka Prof. Buzz Hickey) driving around the halls in a DIY death machine, epic plunger fights and Tory and Abed cruising the halls in a giant plastic bubble, this is Harmon’s creation at its best. I was barely able to stop laughing and catch a breath during most scenes. Being a huge fan of post-apocalyptic scenarios, this episode was that much more special to me.

The high points to me, however, were not in the bizarre and crazy imagery and situations. The story of Abed having to let go of his best friend was what brought it all together. Britta running about screaming psychology theories at the poor guy and then the revelation that the game wasn’t really a game to Abed tugged at the heartstrings and gave the episode meaning.

Next week, ‘Analysis of Cork-Based Networking’ brings a special guest star in the form of geek-icon Nathan Fillion. And while once again trailers are absent from the Internet void, you can check out some still shots over at this site.

Photo Credits -

Community courtesy of hypable.com