Director: Joe Russo — Writer: Matt Roller — Aired: March 20, 2014 —Season: Five — Number: Ten Summary: The gang decides to help Hickey reconnect with his son through a game of Dungeons & Dragons.
A satisfying sequel is difficult to pull off. So many geniuses have defeated themselves through hubris making this a chance to prove I'm better than all of them...I'M IN!!!
— Abed
Dean Pelton makes an appearance at the Save Greendale Committee meeting, advising the group to make getting the school some insurance a priority on their agenda. Hickey interrupts the discussion angered by an e-mail he just received. He reveals he wasn't invited to his grandson's birthday party because he doesn't get along with his Dungeons & Dragons obsessed son Hank. Annie then suggests that they all help father and son reconnect through the role playing game since they've all played before. Abed is hesitant but eventually convinces himself it's an opportunity to prove he can pull off a satisfying sequel. Dean Pelton also expresses his eagerness to participate, unaware he wasn't actually invited. The next night, they all show up at Annie and Abed's apartment and meet Buzz's son Hank. As Dungeon Master, Abed reviews his game notes while Hank skeptically questions his father about his sudden interest in D&D.
Fa...bulous Neil, still doing this and that in the background.
Abed lays out the adventure he prepared for the group. They are adventurers trying to free the land of "Galindor" from the evil "Necromancer" located in "The Black Tower." Abed suggests they introduce each other starting with Hank, who was given the character "Joseph Gordon Diehard." Hank's suspicions are confirmed when Hickey reveals he is playing as his father "Sir Riggs Diehard." Unwilling to take part in such a contrived father/son bonding exercise, he collects everyone's character sheets and redistributes them. Hank then becomes "Tristram Steelheart the Cleric," Hickey is "Tiny Nuggins the Thief," Britta is "Fibrosis the Ranger," Shirley is "Crouton the Druid," Annie reassumes her previous role of "Hector the Well-Endowed," and Chang is "Dingleberry the Troll." Pelton is ecstatic when he and Jeff end up with the father and son roles meant for Hickey and Hank. Abed starts the game but Hank chooses to make his character forgo the quest presented to him.
Hank Hickey questions his father's sudden desire to play Dungeons & Dragons.
Annie uses "Hector" to forcibly set "Tristram" back on the right path but Hank casts a fire spell, injuring her character. The spell causes more damage by burning a bridge the characters were on and sends them plummeting into "Skull River." Hickey angrily confronts Hank over his actions in both the game and real life. As things get heated, Jeff relates his own prickly relationship with his dad and implores them to try and salvage theirs before it's too late. Abed then interjects and updates the status of the game: the group has been separated, with Annie, Hickey, Jeff, and Shirley's characters having washed ashore away from the others. Abed tells them if they plan on continuing the game, then Hank, Pelton, Chang, and Britta must go to a separate room. Hank says he has no interest in playing until Hickey decides to offer him some incentive.
Hank casts a flame spell to prevent his character from going on the quest.
Hickey offers that should he lose, not only does he not attend the birthday party, but he will not attend two other major holiday family functions as well. However, if he wins, he gets to go to the birthday party. Hank agrees to those terms and joins his group of players in Abed's room while the others remain outside. Abed tells Hickey's party they are surrounded by a jungle where Annie tries to set up camp. Hickey elects to continue the journey and the others reluctantly follow his lead instead. Unfortunately, their characters run into a pack of hobgoblins and a failed attack by Hickey ends up causing the death of Shirley's character. With Shirley's departure from the game and the apartment, Abed criticizes Hickey for not taking the game seriously. Abed then goes to update Hank's party on their status. Before they begin, Hank helps Britta's character and explains to the other players his attitude towards his father stems from years of neglect.
Shirley's character "Crouton the Druid" is the first casualty of the game.
Abed then tells the players they have been surrounded by three "Sky Spiders." Hank communicates with the arachnids, earning their trust and also the respect of his teammates. Meanwhile, Hickey is now acting in concert with his party and successfully raids a hobgoblin encampment. He then interrogates two of his prisoners and learns where the "Black Tower" is located. Elsewhere, Hank and his group are bonding as he sings an inspirational war hymn just as Abed arrives. Abed informs the group that the "Sky Spiders" have flown them close to their destination. Meanwhile, Pelton repeatedly tries to contact his "father" Jeff. It's only after many failed dice roll attempts by Abed does one of Pelton's messages gets through. Following instructions Pelton gives him, Jeff activates a magical beacon that alerts the groups to each other's locations. Abed reveals to both parties they will be arriving at the "Black Tower" at the same time.
Hank then talks to the Sky Spiders and earns his party's respect.
Jeff and Anne suggest to Hickey he call this off but he refuses, believing Hank has already turned their friends against them. His fears are proven right when the two groups rendezvous and the other party demands Hank be given the victory. Pelton has his character switch sides but accidentally gets impaled on a sword when he rushes to embrace his "father." Pelton's death causes a bloody battle to erupt between the two parties which leaves Hank and Hickey the only survivors. As the two argue about who gets to kill the "Necromancer," their target escapes. Abed tells them they might still catch it if they work together. Jeff advises that the two should just bury the hatchet and move on but they insist on continuing to play. As the Hickeys begin arguing over strategy, Jeff and the others quietly exit the apartment, content that they somewhat succeeded in their quest to reunite father and son.
The Save Greendale Committee inadvertently succeeds in reuniting father and son.
Abed is playing Dungeons & Dragons with Annie's stuffed toys. Annie emerges from her room and asks if he is done yet since she can't go to sleep without her "stuffies." Abed then ends the game by having a goblin slaughter the stuffed toys and goes to his room.
Hickey gets to use his interrogation skills on two hobgoblins which are both portrayed by Abed.
Hank sings in a falsetto which entrances his fellow D&D players.
Previously:
Annie, Jeff, and Abed mentions the time the members of the Committee first played Dungeons & Dragons back in the Season Two episode "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" and prevented a fellow student from committing suicide.
Hickey mentions his gay son again, this time revealing his name to be "Furio."
Abed's map features Brutalitops Memorial Bridge, commemorating the Death of Brutalitops, Chang's character from the last D&D game; and Hawthorne Mountain, a reference to the now-deceased Pierce Hawthorne.
Replay:
Once again, the group forgets another person is in the room who invites themselves to join their game. This time it's Dean Pelton; Ben Chang did the same thing in the previous game.
Abed oversees the gameplay by once again taking up the role of Dungeon Master.
Annie once again plays the character of "Hector the Well-Endowed".
Annie says "Huzzah," which was said by Troy in the original game.
Hank responds to a fist bump the same way Hickey reacted to Britta trying to fist bump with him in "Geothermal Escapism".
Once again, the group attempts to use the game for sentimental purposes, only to be sabotaged by one of the players.
Winger speech: Jeff tries to resolve the differences between Buzz and Hank Hickey with a speech that doesn't work.
Recurring or debuting running gags in this episode:
Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?: Annie say "huzzah" and then points at the others asking confirmation "huzzahs".
It's a vase: During the game, Dean Pelton rubs the blade of his imaginary sword while staring at a picture of Jeff.
Man crush: Dean Pelton demonstrates his obsession with Jeff again through role playing as his son "Joseph Gordon Diehard," most notably with the line, "Each night, I will think of you and rub, praying for the night fate will find us rubbing together".
Know Your Meme: In the final showdown between the two parties, Hank repeatedly casts the spell "Lightning bolt." This is a reference to a popular internet meme of a video which features LARP (Live Action Role Playing). In the game, a player calls for the spell several times against his opponent. The video can be seen here.
Product placement: Abed mentions that longer character names get a higher score in Scrabble.
Use your allusion:
Hank refers to Abed as "Aziz". This is a reference to comedian/actor Aziz Ansari, who is Indian American. He also happens to star in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation which followed Community on Thursday nights. Aziz Ansari and Danny Pudi have also joked about switching roles on their respective shows for an episode.
The character name "Joseph Gordon Diehard" is a multiple reference to actor Joseph Gordon Levitt and the 1988 movie Die Hard, which starred Bruce Willis, who was Levitt's co-star in the 2012 movie "Looper," where they played older and younger versions of the same character.
Britta's character "Fibrosis the Ranger" is a reference to a character named "Varus" from the MOBA game League of Legends. Both characters use a bow as a weapon and their names are related to a medical problem; "Fibrosis" is an excessive growth of fibrous connective tissue, while "Varus" refers to a deformity of a bone or joint.
Dean Pelton screams "I Will Find Him," which references General Zod in Man Of Steel. The scene can be seen here.
Shirley says "Remember whenever the wind whispers through the woods, you got me killed," a parody of Marge's quote "Whenever the wind whistles through the leaves I'll think Lowenstein, Lowenstein," (The Simpsons, "Fear of Flying"), which was itself a parody of Prince of Tides: "I feel the words building inside me, I can't stop them, or tell you why I say them, but as I reach the top of the bridge these words come to me in a whisper. I say these words as a prayer, as regret, as praise, I say: Lowenstein, Lowenstein".
IRL: Hank's character is called "Tristram Steelhart." This is a reference to "Community" executive producer and director Tristram Shapeero.
Up against the wall: When Jeff says "Neil felt like a nobody, and thanks to us, he's still out there, doing this and that in the background," an out-of-focus Neil can be seen in the background.
Production[]
Episode writer Matt Roller posted on Reddit a page he wrote which featured a completely different cold open. It mimicked the first D&D episode with a dramatic "Lord of the Rings" style voiceover.
One of several openings considered for the episode.
Exclusive promotional material[]
On several official Community media outlets, exclusive "scraps" of a Dungeons & Dragons map were released to promote this episode:
The entire map was later released on the Community Twitter page one day after the episode was broadcast:
The troubled realm of "Galindor".
Quotes[]
“Now, you listen to me, young man. I've punched about a thousand hearts in my life. I never, never missed.”— Hickey
“Have you ever been a 3-foot-tall halfling running through 2-foot high vines trying to punch a 7-foot monster? I'm gonna go check on the others. You might want to check your character. Or just kind of generally take this game seriously. Your son does.”— Abed