History Recap / CommunityS5E05GeothermalEscapism

* LargeHam: When Britta gives up and finally decides to embrace the game to deal with Abed on his terms, she ''really'' gets into it.

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

* YankTheDogsChain: 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.

** 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.

** Again, the Dean is forced to watch as a friendly game is turned into a campus wide obsession thanks to someone offering a massive cash prize- Abed in this episode, Dean Spreck in "[[Recap/CommunityS2E23AFistfulOfPaintballs A Fistful of Paintballs]]."

** When Troy told Jeff he was the coolest person he knew, Jeff confessed to him that he never left Colorado and remarked that Troy would be much cooler than him after his world wide voyage. Looks like he learned something about [[Recap/CommunityS5E04CooperativePolygraphy honesty after Pierce's round of questioning]].

** Troy is now able to converse with Levar Burton, after spending [[Recap/CommunityS2E16IntermediateDocumentaryFilmmaking their last meeting frozen in wide eyed shock]].

* ShipTease: 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." At one point Annie uses Jeff's binoculars while he's still wearing them in a transparent attempt to get closer; they didn't even need to use the binoculars at all.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Abed sitting on top of the table while making his announcement showed that he was ready to start playing the Lava Game from the get go. But it also hints that he's been seeing lava before the game ever started.

** 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.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Troy and Abed abandon Britta for 'dead'. In return, Britta joins up with Professor Hickey and his 'chairwalkers' and they attack Shirley's Island with Troy and Abed inside.
* LavaAddsAwesome: Even imaginary lava is enough to turn Greendale into a post-apocalyptic hells-cape.

* OnlySaneMan: Britta is the only one who points out how stupid the whole thing is, mainly because of the absurd lengths everyone's going to to embrace TheApunkalypse fantasy rather than actually confront the fact that they're upset that Troy's leaving. Eventually she reveals herself to be NotSoAboveItAll, when Abed abandons her to her "death" she decides to really confront him about his abandonment issues, by going as crazy as everyone else.

** Jeff tries to pull this on Britta with a knock-knock joke, but she refuses to play along. Their back-and-forth argument about the subject ends up getting him so riled up that she's able to knock him onto the floor... and to add insult to injury, she then delivers the same put down he was going to deliver to her as a BondOneLiner.

-->'''Britta:''' I wanna say some things to you guys about mental health. You ''do'' realise that this isn't just a pile of chairs, right? This is a crib. And you're curled up inside there, sucking your thumbs, because you're too scared to say goodbye. Well, it's time to grow up. The adults are here and we're gonna tear down your fort.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: 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.

** "Lava World" for ''Film/WaterWorld'', continuing TheApunkalypse theme. Shirley Island resembles the Atoll, and if you gave Professor Hickey an eye-patch he'd almost be a match for the villain of that movie, played by Dennis Hopper.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** We never see Dean Pelton following the countdown to the start of the game, so we never learn how he gets "killed".
** We never hear of the prize money again that Britta obviously won.
*** It's a good guess Britta gave the comic back to Abed. That likely would have been the result for any member of the committee winning (except maybe Hickey).

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

* SpiritualSequel: The episode is essentially one to the {{Paintball Episode}}s of past seasons, with a high-stakes school-wide competition being the main focus while also tying into a major ongoing plot arc (in this case, Troy leaving Greendale).

--->'''Troy''': I'm better at sex than Jeff, right?\\
'''Britta''': I've [[LousyLoversAreLosers yet to have anyone worse]].

* ShipTease:
** 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." At one point Annie uses Jeff's binoculars while he's still wearing them in a transparent attempt to get closer; they didn't even need to use the binoculars at all.
** Britta and Troy get a very heartfelt goodbye with each other with Troy telling Britta she was the best and that he loved her.
--->'''Troy''': I'm better at sex than Jeff, right?\\
'''Britta''': I've [[LousyLoversAreLosers yet to have anyone worse]].

* AllThereInTheManual: The group (well, half the group) already played "The Floor is Lava" before in one of the Study Break mini-episodes. That one was much more subdued while in this episode, Abed cranks it UpToEleven.

* NiceHat: The sea captain's cap that [=LeVar=] Burton presents Troy with at the end.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: The fact that Jeff's lack of emotional connection makes him bad at sex gets brought up again. Britta confirms that Troy (the nicest of the study group) was better.

'''Britta''': I've yet to have anyone worse.

* AndManGrewProud: Garrett's story in Shirley Island refers to the [[AfterTheEnd "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.

* StealthPun: Early in the episode, Britta's status as the group's resident buzzkill is restated, and in the end [[spoiler:she literally (kind of) kills Professor Buzz Hickey]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Troy and Abed, Intimidation Stance]]

* DarkActionGirl: Britta turns into after being LeftForDead by Troy and Abed.
* ADayInTheLimelight: An odd case. Britta has the lion's share of the screentime among the main cast for most of the episode, but the primary focus here is on Abed and Troy's relationship - that is, its breakdown as a result of Troy leaving Greendale.

* GilliganCut: Britta refused to learn any new words when joining Jeff and Annie. Cut to her commenting on "centipeding" not being the fastest form of travel.

-->'''Troy:''' You never went to a star. Not one episode. [[note]]In fact, many episodes involve the crew visiting, studying and interacting with stars, and at least one episode has ''The Enterprise'' physically entering a star's corona.[[note]]

-->'''Troy:''' You never went to a star. Not one episode.

* RealityEnsues: The episode ends with Troy saying goodbye to his friends and leaving on the boat he's supposed to use to travel the world. But as TheTag shows, starting your sea voyage from Colorado isn't the best idea.

* EviCostumeSwitch: Britta adopts a different hairstyle and black leather outfit when she joins forces with Hickey.

* EvilMakeover: Britta adopts a different hairstyle and black leather outfit when she joins forces with Hickey.

* ADayInTheLimelight: An odd case. Britta has the lion's share of the screentime among the main cast for most of the episode, but the primary focus here is on Abed and Troy's relationship - that is, its breakdown as a result of Troy leaving Greendale.

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

* PostMortemOneLiner: Britta, after she knocks Jeff onto the ground
--> "Who's there bitch? Floor! FLOOOOOORR!"

-->'''Britta:''' Who's there, bitch?! Floor! [[LargeHam FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR]]!!!

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

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