Somewhere at the heart of this cacophonous jumble of an episode are two well-realized parallel stories in which both Troy and Britta come to the realization that they can’t save the narcissist that they love. Instead, focus goes to those narcissists themselves, one of the reasons that this installment felt so flat.

On any other network, Community would never have come back. Luckily, Community airs on NBC. This is great news, not because the network will stand behind a critically acclaimed but low-rated show with a loyal following and huge internet buzz, but because NBC has fuck-all-else to air. The network shifted its line-up around to give more attention to new shows Whitney and Up All Night, and placed its beloved 30 Rock in Community’s time slot. 

Glee and Community are polar opposites. Glee seems revel in how lazy it can be. It’s a show built on routine that seems more intent on maintaining its franchise than taking risks. Risk taking is what Community feeds on. It’s a carefully crafted show that thrives on being as different as possible, constantly walking a tightrope where one false move could send it into failure – but it’s the risk itself that makes each of the more daring episodes work so well. 

There are seven members of the study group on Community, but sometimes it seems like there might as well be six, because Shirley so often gets the short end of the stick. Often she’s given only a few lines an episode and a chance to coo “that’s niiiiice”, or to make a judgemental remark under her breath. But even in the tiny hints we’ve gotten of Shirley’s life we’ve seen we know that she’s hiding a tremendous rage underneath her glittery surface.

When NBC announced its mid-season lineup on Monday a mighty cry echoed across the internet: “Where the fuck is Community?” The network pulled the show from the back half of the schedule, though it will allow the entire season to be produced and to air them…whenever. People have been quick to note that this is not a cancellation, but it’s certainly not good. Hopefully NBC will put the past seasons of the show on Netflix Instant Watch, allowing people who haven’t seen the show to catch up in the wake of this internet buzz, and then be ready for the new episodes, whenever NBC decides to air them. 

When Community is firing on all cylinders, there’s nothing like it on television. From zombie attacks to chicken-finger crime rings to multi-dimensional pizza parties, the show has been continually innovative for the past two seasons. In lesser hands, the wilder episodes could play as empty stunts, but thanks to the efforts of Dan Harmon and his writers, and a cast unparalleled in any comedy on television right now, those episodes are not only hilarious and bizarre, they reveal aspects of the characters that gives the show’s more serious moments a genuine grounding in emotion.