Where Impossible Things May Happen

There is a popular theory circulating within the fan circles of the TV show Community that the study room is purgatory and Abed is actually God making the mortals atone for their sins. Now, Dan Harmon the creator of the show has dismissed this but there is supporting evidence from after this claim was made, for this reason I won’t touch upon season 3 until the end.

It basically goes as follows:

Abed constantly breaks the fourth wall, this could be seen as just a quirk but the theory suggest that this is due to his omnipotence, his reference to being in a TV show implies that he knows everything about their universe(this is furthered when he has the notebook containing all the information about the girls). He is also responsible for bringing the entire group into the study room. Apart from his undiagnosable issue (obsession with film/tv) he supposedly has no flaws, unlike all the other highly flawed characters.

From the pilot there is the line: “in tv we have heros, in real life we have this, we have you” said from Abed to Jeff, the creator shows deep resentment in his flawed creation. He is also able to impart his wisdom on the group when Shirley was giving birth, knowledge he obtained while off helping other humans that needed him more than the study group(see the episode where he’s in the background).

Why is Abed never in any of the easy-pass classes? simple, he’s off in his film classes; the community universe is created through film (it is, after all, a tv show) could he be experimenting with newer, better worlds?

In the first season as Troy begins to get too close to Abed he is stricken by the giant cookie dilema, “too much of a good thing” this good thing could be spiritual guidance. Troy can be regarded through the series as being moulded by Abed as his prophet, we see growth and emulation (by this I mean Troy is embracing Abed’s ways, not imitating him.) as their bond grows whereas when Pierce, Jeff, or Britta tried moulding him things went sour.

Abed is the DM in AD&D (214) and thus controls the destiny of the group, he shows the same control in Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas and similar control in critical film studies. in 205 we see a different approach to the same concept, Abed declares himself both God and his prophet when he makes a film about his camera being God and he’s Jesus and everything gets really meta and self-referential from there. The point of this is that he presents himself to his people but is dismissed as a false prophet. There is also 216 where he refuses to intervene and decides to just watch how everyone is acted, studying his creation to note their progress and ever-present issues.

All this leads to one fact that ties this film in with the overarching theme of this series: The show is about the development/evolution/beginnings of a people or community (this is nothing new, Dan Harmon has discussed this in depth.) To clarify, the progression of the main classes denotes the development of a society. Season one: Spanish, learning a language; the characters have met but it is only through learning a language that they eventually become versed in communicating with each other. Season two: Anthropology, understanding how societies form and function; they have become a community but through the season they will develop rules. Some of these rules are made due to issues from the first season (pascale’s triangle, the solution is to clearly state that they can’t pursue one another; later overturned) or emerging challenges (Senior Chang, banding together to defend from outsiders). Season three has only begun but we’re seeing Biology, how creatures and plants work; as societies begin to understand just how much surrounds them they seek to explain how it all got there. The answer that usually comes from this is the concept of ‘GOD’ and religion. It has been speculated that season four will be religious studies, I would personally like to see Abed pressure the rest of the group to join as though he is guiding them to enlightenment to complete purgatory. The explanation being this: God has studied the flaws in his creations all the while reteaching them how their community should work and preparing their leader/prophet: Troy. Once they are ready (understand religion) he will set them free to live out there lives while he remains but a distant presence, speaking to them through his prophet. To put that in logical terms, after Greendale they all remain together as a group except Abed, he still lives through Troy, now the alpha male of the group, whom he influences.

And so we come to season three, the season that, despite Harmon having said there was no purgatory metaphor toys with our knowledge of this theory, I’ll go through the pertinent episodes one by one.

With 302 (competitive debate club) we see the team working together to solve conflicts which they learned from anthropology. However, they only attain victory when Abed tells them how to manipulate the universe they are in to ensure success.

I’ve already [1] explained 303’s importance in another thread so suffice to say that they learn why they must protect their ecosystem.

And so we come upon 304 Remedial Chaos Theory, where to begin? The multiple universes are acknowledged by Abed and he is constantly encouraging the others to consider what exactly led them where they are. Each universe builds the characters while excluding them one at a time. I like to think of this as moments of spiritual revelation, Abed shows everyone a side of themselves that they maybe didn’t want to face, it is in this episode that what the Islamist call Taqwa (the understanding of spiritual connection that one has between themselves and their god) is produced. Abed, as God, in the either subconscious or unexplored portions of the brain plants these layers of happening; the awareness instilled would inspire self-reflexivity within the group. So all these events while not actually happening are present in the mind of the study group and the only one that happened is timeline 0. Abed catches the die. God intervenes. The study group is saved from all the terrible happenings that would have happened without an omnipresent deity.

305 Is rather flat in this respect save one moment that made me literally jump out of my seat and yell “COME ON MAN! It’s so obvious we must be right!” At the end of the episode the psych tests are laid out, the entire gang is psychotic save one, you all know where this is going. Yes, Dan Harmon clearly states IN WRITING that Abed is the only sane one, imposing a quality on him that has not been visibly imposed on any recurring character in this show Abed is separated from the others as superior, he has a level of knowing the others cannot possess .

A final remark: Abed makes the mention in 308 that “some flies are too awesome to stay on the wall” which could be seen as him implying he will take a less passive role in guiding the group.