Bon Troyage: Donald Glover Says Goodbye To "Community"

Shepard Price ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

In last week’s episode of Community, Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) had his final moments as a Greendale student before leaving to go sail a ship across the world.  He’s doing this to earn his reward of 14.2 million dollars left to him by the deceased Pierce Hawthorne (formerly played by Chevy Chase) and to become his own man. Because Community has now lost its second original main cast member, and one half of Troy and Abed (in the Morning), here is both what it means to the show and some the best moments from the episode.
Best Moments:

• The boat that Troy will be sailing in is called the “Childish Tycoon” (Glover’s rap name is Childish Gambino)
• The whole cloning process of just putting boxes over Troy and Abed, and Abed’s claim that it was done wrong.
• Chang’s Locker Boyz
• The Orb (a giant plastic bubble)
• Britta and Jeff’s fight over knock knock joke etiquette
• And finally, just how awesome Professor Hickey (Breaking Bad’s Jonathan Banks) is

What does Troy’s departure mean for Community? First off, everyone’s favorite running gag of Troy and Abed in the Morning has come to a close, and it probably leaves Abed (Danny Pudi) broken hearted. That will mean an interesting new spin on things for Abed, who before this departure had not really shown any emotion. And to add emotion, even if its heartbreak, will be a new change of pace, as the group will probably have to find a way to pull him out of it. What it means for the rest of the group, however, differs. For one, it takes away a level of diversity that Community had, as there is now a white majority in the show that had prior to not been there. It also takes away something from each character, as the romantic tension that lingered between Britta (Gillian Jacobs) and Troy is now completely gone; Annie (Alison Brie) has lost a roommate and the only regular relationship she had in her life; Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) lost a son figure and part of her second family; and Jeff (Joel McHale) lost a level of anger, as he was prior to able to take out his anger on Troy and Abed’s antics. With it being hard to see Abed pulling antics on his own, Jeff may need to find a new way to get that pent up aggresion out.
The writers have also lost something in the character that Troy represented, and the many opportunities he represented for the show. Troy was an interesting character, and while it was sad to see him go, it will be exciting to see what Community can do without him during the rest of this season and potentially into the future, as another season seems to be on the horizon.