History Recap / CommunityS5E05GeothermalEscapism

* BadassGrandpa: Hickey proves to be the strongest player in the game. He drives a desk vehicle capable of knocking people to the floor, destroyed Shirley Island and destroyed the Orb.

* IfItsYouItsOk: Chang asserts that everyone has a same-sex celebrity crush. For him, it's Nathan Fillion.

* IfItsYouItsOk: Chang asserted that everyone has a same-sex celebrity crush. For him, it's Nathan Fillion.

* LeftForDead: Britta's fate before being picked up by Hickey.
-->Troy:''' ''[guilty]'' ... We kind of... l-left her?\\
'''Annie:''' [[WhatTheHellHero Left her for dead?!]]\\
'''Abed:''' It sounds bad when you put it that way. Can you put it in a way that sounds good?

* LavaAddsAwesome: Even imaginary lava is enough to turn Greendale into a post-apocalyptic hellscape.

* SteamPunk: Hickeys bulldozer emits excessive steam.

* RefugeInAudacity: Shirley skipped her son's birthday to participate in the game, though to be fair $50,000 was on the line.

* HarbingerOfImpendingDoom: Hickey and co. attack Shirley Island shortly after Troy and Abed arrive there.
-->'''Shirley:''' What have you brought to my door?

* AbsurdlyHighStakesGame: The Dean agrees to let Abed draw the entire school into a game of "The Floor is Lava." Then he offers a prize worth approximately ''fifty thousand dollars''.

! The ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Geothermal Escapism" provides examples of:

* FridgeLogic: In-universe; while they're waiting to reach the ocean, Troy takes the opportunity to question Levar Burton about why ''Franchise/StarTrek'' wasn't called 'Planet Trek':
-->'''Troy:''' You never went to a star. Not one episode.

* HopeSpot: At one point, Star-Burns is seen making his way through the corridors, and upon getting no response to his cries of "Hello?" comes to believe he has won the game. He takes a moment to joyfully celebrate winning $50,000 ("[[WhatAnIdiot That's fifty-thousand lottery tickets!]]"). Then he gets knocked down and run over by Troy and Abed while they're in a large plastic bubble.

* InsistentTerminology: Played with; when Troy and Abed's betrayal of Britta is exposed, they object to the entirely accurate way the other members of the study group phrase what they've done, but are unable to find a way that makes them sound better:
-->'''Jeff:''' Is that Britta? Is she alive?\\
'''Shirley:''' ''[glaring at Troy and Abed]'' Why would you think she was dead?\\
'''Troy:''' ''[guilty]'' ... We kind of... l-left her?\\
'''Annie:''' Left her for dead?!\\

* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Averted. Abed and Troy ditch Britta when they see Hickey's steampunk tractor-thing (and because Abed doesn't like the fact that Britta's pegged his abandonment issues and is trying to make him confront them, and Troy is too weak-willed to challenge Abed). Hickey's not pleased and picks Britta up to join him.

* RunningGag: When Hickey mentions his son's upcoming gay wedding, Britta replies "I understand. I lived in New York."

* TemptingFate: Starburns rejoices over being the last player standing a mite too soon.

--->'''Abed:''' It's not a game for me, Troy.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never see Dean Pelton following the countdown to the start of the game, so we never learn how he gets "killed".

-->'''Duncan''': I'm not afraid to push a girl into make believe lava! In fact, it's been my primary strategy.

* FantasyPantheon: PlayedForLaughs. As part of the ridiculous {{Apunkalypse}}, the players have begun developing new religions.

* AbsurdlyHighStakesGame

-->'''Britta:''' You can't outrun your emotions! I will ''force'' you two to grieve properly, even if it KILLS US ALL!

* BigBad: Buzz Hickey is the group's biggest enemy in the Lava Game, complete with BaldOfEvil and BeardOfEvil.

*** Along that same line, [[Recap/CommunityS3E22IntroductionToFinality it's not the first time Abed has struggled to accept being separated from Troy and suffered a breakdown because of it]]. The major differences are that Abed convinced himself that becoming Evil!Abed from the Darkest Timeline was the best option, here he actively realises he's having a breakdown; and that whilst Britta went along with the Evil!Abed delusion and wound up emotionally distraught over it, this time she tries to get Abed to face the reality of Troy leaving. On top of that, whilst Abed thanked Britta for her efforts and making him realise he does need help, here she actively helps Abed face up to Troy's departure.

-->'''Troy:''' [[Recap/CommunityS1E09Debate109 Why am I crying? Did I accidentally listen to "Come Sail Away" by Styx again?]]

* CloneDegeneration: Abed's "clone" does not share the original's wild emotionality, which enables him to let go of Troy.

--> '''Magnitude''': (In an upper-class English accent) I'm actually British!
** And behind the scenes, Magnitude is played by Luke Youngblood, an English actor.

** Trekkies, as is their nature, would split the hair that, for certain definitions of "went", numerous episodes involved the Enterprise travelling to stars to study them. Your Light-yearage May Vary.

-->'''Britta:''' The adults are here and we're going to tear down your fort! Chair Walkers, attack! (Battle Cry)

-->'''Annie:''' Britta, I'm your ''friend''.\\

'''Shirley:''' ''[Glaring at Troy and Abed]'' Why would you think she was dead?\\
'''Troy:''' ''[Guilty]'' ... We kind of... l-left her?\\

--> '''Jeff:''' Hey, seat-feet! ''[[{{Pun}} Chair]]'' to dance?

* [[PutOnABus Put on a Boat]]: Troy leaves Greendale [[Recap/CommunityS5E04CooperativePolygraphy to fulfill the stipulations stated in Pierce's will to gain his bequeathal]].

** Jeff and Annie partner up in the Lava War, and this is ''meaningful'' especially considering how the Dean called them on it in a previous episode, since they use things like this to "get close to each other and hold hands in the dark" as a way of "addressing their urges."

-->'''Troy''': I'm better at sex than Jeff, right?\\

-->"Who's there, bitch?! Floor! [[LargeHam FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR]]!!!"
* WhamLine
-->'''Abed''': Oh, and because the not-awesome often need incentive to do awesome stuff, the final survivor will win my near-mint-condition #1 Issue of ''Space Clone''. Valued by the comics authority at ''$50,000''.

-->'''Abed:''' It's not a game for me, Troy.

* CelebrityParadox: Chang's same-sex celebrity crush is NathanFillion, who guest stars on a later episode this season.

* GenreBlindness:
** For whatever reason, Britta is at disbelief that the students are taking the game so seriously for the first half of the episode. Even though the school has done this several times in the past. She waved off Jeff's suspicions about Chang's trap, believing nobody would care that much about the game. Although to be fair to Britta, everyone else does seem to be taking the fantasy to levels they've never ''quite'' gone to even in previous examples of Greendale taking children's games to SeriousBusiness levels:
--> '''Chang:''' You're in no position to make threats, Floorstrider[[note]]Abed.[[/note]]! Our truce ended when you banished us from the payphone bench!\\
'''Troy:''' You used that bench to upset The Balance. By the vapours of Magmorath, we ''will'' restore it.\\
'''Britta:''' You have ''gods''?!
** The other study group members display a bit of this themselves, sneering at Britta's concerns that the SeriousBusiness levels of the game might reflect Abed's fragile mental state at the prospect of Troy leaving as reflective of her poor psychology skills -- conveniently forgetting the many other times that Abed's psyche has fractured due to a big change, often involving Troy.

* SeriousBusiness: [[GenreSavvy Abed intentionally turns]] "The Floor is Lava" into this by offering a comic book worth $50,000 as the prize. This being Greendale, of ''course'' it ends up with everyone acting like it's TheApunkalypse.

'''Abed:''' It sounds bad when you put it that way. Can't you put it in a way that sounds good?

** Jeff and Annie partner up in the Lava War, and this is ''meaningful'' especially considering how the Dean called them on it in the previous episode, since they use things like this to "get close to each other and hold hands in the dark" as a way of "addressing their urges."

** Jeff and Annie partner up in the Lava War.

** Also Britta. She's definitely the killjoy of the group, trying to spoil the fun everyone's having with the game, but she's only doing so because she doesn't want them to waste their final hours with Troy and is concerned about Abed's mental state. While she does join Hickey in leading the assault against Shirley Island, she's only doing so because Troy and Abed abandoned her for 'dead'.

** For a given value of 'jerkass'; everyone in the study group assumes Britta is just being a humourless killjoy and ignores her when she protests about playing the lava game, but she's really only doing so because she doesn't want them to waste their last hours with Troy in childish denial over his leaving without admitting how much he means to them and is concerned about Abed's mental state.

* ActorAllusion:
** Magnitude revealing he's [[FakeAmerican actually British]] is a reference to Luke Youngblood's nationality.
** Prof. Hickey, played by Jonathan Banks, who also played Mike in ''Series/BreakingBad'' suggests Troy and Abed better get ready for "closure of their caskets" when body disposal barrels are shown to be conveniently placed in the same basement.
** Troy's boat being the "Childish Tycoon" is a reference to his rap name, Childish Gambino.

* AndManGrewProud: Garrett's story in Shirley Island refers to the "Now-Now Time" following the arrival of the "Burny-Touch", with everyone gasping in amazement. For perspective, this is a few hours into a children's game about imaginary lava covering the floor we're talking about here.

* GenreBlind: