NBC’s ‘Community’ season 5, episode 4 review: Why is Troy Barnes leaving?

Remember the classic episode of “Community” where Pierce Hawthorne tried to “bequeath” various belongings to the Greendale study group? That was one of the show’s best episodes, since it brought out all of the insecurities of the group, a guest appearance from LeVar Burton, and more insanity. It was also one of the first times that Jeff Winger’s father was brought to the forefront.

On Thursday night’s episode, the person doing the manipulating was actually man helping to manage Pierce’s estate, played pretty brilliantly here by Walton Goggins of “Justified” fame. It was the ultimate mental mind-game to figure out what everyone was hiding from one another, and there were great moments throughout here. Annie drugging the group, Chang doing something unmentionable to himself everywhere, and Jeff Winger admitting that he keeps trophies from his sexual exploits were all worth either a laugh or a smile.

All in all, it was a pretty strong episode of the show, mostly because it did tie together all of the loose ends regarding Chevy Chase’s exit. Not only that, but it also set the stage for the exit of Troy Barnes from the show. He took advantage of Pierce’s author to him to travel all over the world, and then take ownership of much of his Hawthorne Wipes business. This actually was more emotional than funny most of the time, but there is not necessarily anything wrong with that. Sometimes, “Community” can be strong just based on its characters, and producing moments that feel real and genuine.

Luckily, the tail end was a chance to calm down a little bit, and see that Goggins’ character was a pretty fun-loving guy. Also, Pierce died “filling up cylinders.” A nice end to what was at times a pretty dark episode. Grade: B+.

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