The cast of Community has opened up on the circumstances of Troy Barnes’ departure and what life without Donald Glover on set is like.
Since news broke that Donald Glover would be leaving Community after five episodes of season 5 to pursue his rap career just kind of hang out, we’ve all wondered how the much beloved character of Troy Barnes would depart. Now we have our first answers…barely.
In an interview with TV Line, several Community cast members shared some details about Glover’s exit.
Early in the season Troy receives “a tantalizing offer,” teases Gillian Jacobs which leads him to do “some soul-searching and looking inward, trying to figure out who he is and who he wants to be.”
“There’s a build up to it, and there’s a really good, really funny reason why he leaves,” Joel McHale adds.
Painful as it may be to see Donald Glover depart, at least he chose to take his leave while Dan Harmon is back in control of the show. If nothing else, Harmon has a special feel for these characters and an appropriately sad yet hopeful departure for Troy seems utterly plausible now. Contrast that with Chevy Chase’s choosing to leave last year, in which Pierce got lost in the woods and just kind of stopped showing up to the study room.
And more importantly, it seems as though Troy’s absence is going to affect the characters in interesting and appropriate ways, most obviously Abed.
“We would never want to split Troy and Abed up, but it’s probably good for Abed, to push him to see who he is outside of that friendship… It was kind of a crutch for both of them,” Jacobs said.
For what it’s worth, Abed, himself, Danny Pudi seems to be taking things in stride.
“This [departure] is sad because a large part of the show and the experience for me has been this Troy/Abed relationship, and even more so it’s been Donald and Danny hanging out. But I’m excited for him because I know he’s got a lot of things to pursue,” he said.
Naturally, however, the cast doesn’t seem to be ruling out an eventual Glover return for a guest spot. This is Community, after all, where improbable returns aren’t that rare.
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