Advanced Introduction to Finality

"Advanced Introduction to Finality" is the thirteenth episode and the season finale of the fourth season of the NBC sitcom Community. It originally aired on May 9, 2013.

In this episode, Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is set to graduate and expects things to go quietly. But when the darkest timeline breaks through, the evil counterparts make things messy.

The episode received mixed reviews; and the episode was watched by 3.08 million viewers, attaining an 18-49 rating of 1.3,^[1] rising in ratings from the previous episode.^[2]

Plot

Jeff's old partner, Mark, offers Jeff a partnership, claiming even after four years at Greendale, Jeff is still a great lawyer. Jeff says he’ll consider it.

In the study room the group reveals the party they planned to Jeff. Later Jeff applies for graduation, which causes him to agree to a party. That night, Jeff reveals to Britta he is conflicted about leaving Greendale including what it could do to Abed. Back at Greendale, Jeff rolls a die to pick who brings soda to the party to rehash Abed’s delusion of timelines. The die doesn’t land on a number which Abed insists means nothing.

After the die roll, Evil Jeff appears at Greendale. In order to push Jeff toward taking the new job, Evil Jeff sets out to alienate Jeff from the study group. He insults Annie. Annie later encounters Jeff and runs away upset. Abed walks into Evil Jeff and recognizes him as a doppelganger. Abed is shot with a paintball gun and sent to the dean’s office in the darkest timeline. Abed then goes to “his” apartment and meets his doppelganger who is no longer evil. Evil Abed gives his counterpart supplies to defeat the doppelgangers.

Jeff goes to apologize to Annie, but unknowingly meets Evil Annie, who accepts and steals his phone. Evil Jeff goes on to insult the rest of the group. Jeff arrives at his ceremony and is surprised to find no one there. Evil Annie arrives with Jeff's phone and says that there is a message from Mark and that he should call Mark back. When Jeff chooses his friends instead, Evil Jeff shows up to shoot him, but Chang dives in front of it.

Jeff goes to Troy and Abed's to explain what happened. Nobody believes him until Abed arrives and shoots a “warp paintball gun.“ The Evil Study Group arrives in the prime timeline and discuss their plans until the prime study group shows up. Evil Pierce and Britta accidentally shoot themselves.The prime group each eliminates their doppelgangers. With only Evil Jeff remaining, Abed explains to Jeff these events are in his mind because he was anxious about graduation. Abed tells Jeff he is not the same guy as four years ago, but a better one who has the group as his family. Jeff then shoots Evil Jeff sending him back to the darkest timeline. The episode then reverts to the moment that Jeff decided to throw the die. He decides against tossing it.

Jeff’s graduation ceremony then takes place with the group (without Pierce). Jeff gives a heartfelt speech about his time at Greendale. Pierce breaks into the ceremony so he can graduate first. At a dinner in the study room, Jeff announces he will search for work at a small firm and not take Mark’s offer so he can stay close to the group.

In the tag, "Evil Troy and Abed In The Morning" check on Timeline 5 where Britta and Troy have a baby named Chewbacca (an "African" name meaning "He who hunts bounties").

Production

The season finale aired as the thirteenth episode, but was the eleventh episode produced.^[3] In a Reddit AMA, Megan Ganz explained that, because it was written in “a pinch”, she wishes that she could have gone back and redone the season finale. She wrote, "I wrote it too long (like... 6 minutes too long) and we had to cut a ton out of it in the edit bay. […] Finales are generally terrible, and I am expecting that people will say this one is trying to [sic] hard, because it is."^[4]

This is the second "Introduction to Finality" episode of the series, following season three's finale, "Introduction to Finality".

During Jeff's graduation ceremony, "SIX SEASONS AND A MOVIE" is seen written on the chalkboard as the first words of several sentences. The show's production code of #411 is seen in the upper right corner.

In "Remedial Chaos Theory", Evil Abed made a pact with Evil Troy to go to the real timeline and destroy it.

Reception

Ratings

In its original broadcast, the episode was viewed by 3.08 million American viewers, and received an 18-49 rating/share of 1.3/5.^[1] It displays a significant rise in viewers and ratings from the previous episode "Heroic Origins."^[2] The finale also tied in 18-49 ratings with the third season finale "Introduction to Finality," but beat it in viewers.^[5] The show placed third in its timeslot and ninth for the night.^[1]

Critical reception

Eric Goldman of IGN rated the episode "good" at 7.6, saying, "as far as being a fun, nostalgia-packed episode, that may be the very last one, it mostly worked."^[6] Gabrielle Moss of TV Fanatic was positive, saying, "this episode was an excellent tribute to the slow-burn character development of Jeff Winger."^[7]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix was less favourable, stating, "The actual non-dream graduation ceremony was sweet, but nearly everything leading up to it was a mess."^[8] Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club was negative and rated the episode a D, saying it was, "no longer a show that's capable of much beyond repeating elements it thinks the audience will like over and over again."^[9]

References

External links

• "Advanced Introduction to Finality" at NBC.com
• "Advanced Introduction to Finality" on IMDb
• "Advanced Introduction to Finality" at TV.com
• "Advanced Introduction to Finality" at TV Tropes