Abed Nadir and Appraisal Theory: Emotional Response and Letting Go

"I don't think the lava's here because you're leaving. I think it's here because I won't let go." - Abed Nadir

This heart-wrenching line comes at the end of Season 5, Episode 5 of NBC's Community. An episode where the beloved star Donald Glover, in the role of Troy Barnes, Abed's best friend, leaves the show. This episode conveys emotions of loss, longing, fear, and emptiness from Abed, a Neurodivergent character whose raw emotion we, as the viewer, do not often get to see.

In this episode, Abed announces that on this day of school, Greendale Community College would participate in a game of 'The Floor is Lava' with the prize being a comic book collection of Abed's valued at $50,000. In classic Community fashion, the school is 'All in' with the episode devolving into a MadMax-style parody with students ganging up to win the prize with groups like the "Locker Boys' led by student Ben Chang (Ken Jeong) hiding within the schools' lockers in their punk-rock style outfits to knock people using chairs to 'centipede' around the campus.

The wild and intriguing plot attempts to overshadow the large conflict of the plot being that Troy is leaving. Although it is addressed briefly in the beginning and was known to be the truth as confirmed by the previous episode. Abed persistently attempts to not speak about the topic. In truth, creating a fantasy for all to participate to avoid the problem altogether. 

Abed is a special character. Community is his world. Every homage that is done, whether it's Goodfellas about chicken tenders or constant reference humor. He brings the show to life with his meta-understanding of the show. In this episode, that manifests in attempting to stop his best friend Troy from leaving.  

"I'm seeing real lava because you're leaving.

It's embarrassing, and I don't want to be crazy, but I am crazy, so...

I made a game that made you and everyone else see what I see."  

- Abed Nadir

This line delivered by Abed comes in a conversation where we see an incredible amount of emotion from Abed. His normal robot-like speech pattern becomes short of breath, stuttering over his words, and even referring to himself as crazy for his perception of the world being that the floor was truly lava. This is even shown to the viewers in a few scenes with CGI lava filling the classrooms and closets they were in. Abed's emotions of fear of losing Troy and what the future will hold are complexly deep. They stem from Abed knowing Community is a show. But Troy, his very 'real' best friend, is leaving. These emotions, this whole episode, are constructed by Abed's appraisal of this event. An event that not only let Abed explore and reconcile with his emotions but also conquer or cope with his fears. 

Season 5, Episode 5, Geothermal Escapism, gives the viewer a window into the psychological perspective of Appraisal Theory.  Abed's appraisal of this event, Troy leaving, isn't just loss for Abed. Rather, this event is a crisis and a stimulating one at that. One of the most foundational elements of his reality is disappearing. The emotional character arc of Abed in this episode could truly be a case study in Appraisal Theory as it narratively displays how events are evaluated and sometimes unhealthily internalized, leading to profound, and in the words of Abed Nadir himself, "crazy" emotional responses.