All The Community Paintball Episodes, Ranked From Worst To Best

"Community" was always a great show, but the moment it elevated to god-tier status was when it introduced the concept of a Paintball Episode (an idea that, sadly, the "Community" movie will not revisit when/if it comes to pass). That's when an otherwise-normal sitcom suddenly has its characters start shooting at each other with paintball guns, complete with genuinely impressive action cinematography. Why doesn't every sitcom do stuff like this? Because they lack the audacity.

"Community" would do three more paintball episodes throughout its run, all of them featuring at least one moment that's so cool it'll make you forgive the show for any of its other faults. Are you mad at how the series dragged out the romance between Jeff (Joel McHale) and Annie (Alison Brie) for six seasons? Well, at least the scene where the Dean (Jim Rash) recreates the "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" elevator fight scene can distract you from your sorrows:

But although every paintball episode is one of the best "Community" episodes of its respective season, not all paintball episodes are created equally. Some have more emotional heft than others, some drag a bit in the middle, and some fail to give every member of the study group the proper time to shine. But before we get to ranking them, it's time for a quick shout-out to the "Community" stories that aren't literal paintball episodes yet still feel like they belong in that category.

After the triumph that was the two-part season 2 finale (more on that later), the "Community" writers seemed concerned about the paintball concept overstaying its welcome. So, in season 3, they offered something new: a pillow fight episode. It was just as silly and high-concept but done from a fresh new angle. This time, instead of paying homage to Spaghetti Westerns or "Star Wars," the show set its sights on Ken Burns documentaries, covering the war between Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) with all the mock-seriousness it deserved.

Later, "Community" season 5 offered fans an entire episode based around a school-wide Floor is Lava game. Somehow the school descends into a "Mad Max" style apocalypse within mere hours, with the students devolving into warring factions and forming their own lava-based religions. This episode's next-level in its sheer whimsy; the fun methods the characters use to stay off the ground (and to knock others onto it) feel like they've been created by writers who are very much still in touch with their inner child.

Most importantly, both these episodes do what the best paintball episodes do: they use their silly premises to explore some surprisingly dark themes. "Pillow and Blankets" is actually about the devastating near-breakup between Troy and Abed, while "Geothermal Escapism" is about the gang making peace with Troy leaving "Community" forever. Both episodes understand that they can't only be silly for silliness's sake; they also have to use their high-concept setups to say something meaningful about its characters. Now, onto the official list!

"Modern Espionage" is ranked last among the paintball episodes because it's the one with the least to say. The closest thing the episode has to a serious theme or plot development concerns the growing trust between Jeff and newcomer Frankie (Paget Brewster), but there's nothing vital here. You could remove this entire episode from the season and the larger story wouldn't change, whereas all the other paintball episodes are crucial to "Community" canon.

This episode's other big flaw involves its treatment of Britta (Gillian Jacobs), who spends the episode being treated like an incompetent, irrelevant clown despite proving in seasons 1 and 2 that she's a paintball pro. I've often complained about how Britta was written in later seasons of "Community," and this episode's a prime example of how just dirty she was done in the final season especially. Why is newcomer Elroy (Keith David) lecturing this veteran on her paintball strategy? For shame!

"Modern Espionage" also lacks the tight pacing of its predecessors; it takes a while for most of the fun paintball stuff to get going, and the set-up isn't all that entertaining to watch. Of course, none of that can ruin the excitement of the action sequences. There's the aforementioned elevator scene, but there's also the riveting parking lot shootout between Star-Burns (Dino Stamatopoulos) and Todd (David Neher). My favorite is the simple moment in the study room where a reluctant Jeff must somersault across the table to pick up Chang's (Ken Jeong) gun and shoot three intruders "dead," all without breaking a sweat. Never before has anyone looked so cool:

This is the triumphant second half of the season 2 finale, the one where the Greendale students decide to team up against the evil City College players. It's hilarious, exciting, and it offers a much-needed redemption arc for Pierce (Chevy Chase). This is far and away the most high-stakes paintball episode, because if Pierce doesn't change his ways he'll be kicked out of the study group forever. It's nice to see Pierce finally come through for the gang after a season's worth of villainy; if Pierce's goodbye speech had been his final moment on the series, that would've been a fine way for him to go.

If there's a fault with "For a Few Paintballs More," it's that this is the point where you can feel fatigue setting in. By this point, the novelty of the paintball premise has worn off. The action set pieces we get are still fun, but it doesn't feel like it's raising the bar like the first two paintball episodes were.

It doesn't help that outside of Pierce's redemption, little else in this episode seems to matter much. The sudden rivalry between Jeff and Troy feels like a B-plot idea that was picked out of a hat, while the choice to have Britta and Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) be the final two survivors at the end feels a little random. There was a deleted scene where Britta and Shirley argued with each other; it's a shame it wasn't included in the final cut, as it would've made Britta and Shirley's team-up feel more climactic:

The episode that changed Greendale history, "Modern Warfare" gets props simply for how bold it is. We all remember how we felt when Abed jumped over Jeff in the hallway in a clear homage to "Terminator 2: Judgement Day." It was stunning to realize that not only was "Community" doing something this wild, but it was also doing it well. The way the camera follows dual-wielding, scripture-quoting Shirley as she shoots her enemies down is badass, as is the way Britta slides across the floor to shoot two attackers aiming for Jeff. This episode tries to give its characters as many badass moments as possible, and so much of the humor boils down to how competently the show is pulling that challenge off.

The boldest part of "Modern Warfare" is the mere fact that it's a canon episode. The safe move for a standard sitcom would've been to try to avoid having such a silly episode connect to any of the more serious storylines going on throughout the season, but "Community" picked this episode to let Jeff and Britta finally act on their attraction to each other. It's a moment that clarifies the show's willingness to mix the silliness with the sincere, even if it means throwing a lot of real-world logic out the window.

The biggest problem keeping this episode out of the #1 slot is that, outside of Jeff and Britta, most of the study group doesn't get a ton to do. Troy, Annie, and Pierce are all taken out of the game disappointingly fast. It makes sense given that it's a one-part story that needs to dedicate time to selling skeptical viewers on the premise, but it does feel like a waste to let someone like Annie get eliminated so easily. Luckily, season 2 makes up for this.

The first part of the "Community" season 2 finale hits the ground running. We start off with Greendale already thrown into chaos, with cowboy Annie shooting down Neil (Charley Koontz) in the hallways. From the Western aesthetics to the mysterious flashbacks to an apparent card game in the study room, "A Fistful of Paintballs" makes clear that "Modern Warfare" was a trial run; this is the real thing.

There are plenty of great action moments here, but the most impressive sequence to me is when Annie's chasing a blindfolded Chang down the halls. She enters one room, the camera pans over to show it empty. Then the camera pans back to Annie and reveals the handsome Black Rider (Josh Holloway) is right behind her. Even when nobody's shooting at each other, these paintball episodes have style.

Whereas Jeff was the main character of "Modern Warfare," "A Fistful of Paintballs" wisely puts him on the back burner to focus on Annie and Pierce's relationship. Annie is the only member of the study group who doesn't want to kick Pierce out, which is why her disappointment in Pierce for giving Jeff a bad gun is so meaningful. Pierce can handle being the villain to everyone else in the gang, but Annie's his favorite. When she turns on him, too, we've officially reached Pierce's rock bottom, and Chevy Chase sells that moment of despair well.

The second part of the finale might be Pierce's triumphant redemption, but Annie and Pierce's showdown here is the finale at its realest and most compelling. The human drama is always the hidden strength of these high-concept episodes, and "A Fistful of Paintballs" dives right into it.