“Community,” at its best, exposes the sitcom format in order to heighten its characters’ awareness and development while brimming with jokes and insanity. At its worst? The show tries to fill chracter and structural expectations to the point of losing any real personality, originality, or emotional investment.

If Buzzfeed ever feels inclined to create a list of the worst episodes of “Community,” season four could provide all the material on its own. Despite a few shining moments and a decent season-or-possibly-series finale, the entire season felt like a shell of its former self. Most attribute the downfall to Dan Harmon’s departure from the series and others even claimed the show was doomed from the start. Regardless of the reasoning, however, everyone agreed: new “Community” sucked. Those few months of discomfort put a perpetual damper on the fans’ usual excitement and intensity. Even the news of Dan Harmon’s return alongside Chris McKenna failed to reinvigorate the obsession to its former height. What everyone needed was tangible evidence of the show’s resuscitation. No amount of podcasts and Reddit rants can guarantee a show has lived through zombification.  

Thursday night’s two-part season premiere provided more than enough proof. Thank the sitcom gods: “Community” is back.

The first episode of the evening, “Repilot,” functioned much like the actual pilot of a show. It established the connection between the main characters and their environment and introducing the humor of the show. Any show in its fifth season should have long since solidified these qualities, right? Well “Community,” as we all know, is not just any show. It needed to confirm the blip of the fourth season as exactly that: a blip. The only proper way to do this was to treat the show as an entirely new animal. New premise, new cast members (I’m looking at you, Jonathan Banks), and new jokes. The study group’s reunion and fresh conflicts achieve this goal well enough on their own but in true “Community” fashion Abed drives the point home with his consistent references to season nine of “Scrubs.” 

Not only does this episode set season five apart from its predecessor but it also sets itself apart from everything sure to follow it. This first episode lacks much of the basic sitcom structure the next episode does so well. It also opts for a bluer color and darker direction different from the show’s usual bright self. Within these differences much of what makes “Community” so great still appears. The study groups’ reunion around the table seeps with nostalgia. The moment has a typical meta twist—the actors remember “Community” with Dan Harmon the same way their characters remember Greendale pre-graduation—but it’s not meta for meta’s sake (a fault season four fell into quite often). The characters earn these memories all on their own. The connection to real life is just a cherry on top for the self awareness-addicted audience. The aggressive argumentation between all of them has real intensity because it reminds each other of their shared trials. It’s a microcosm of the difficulties they’ve been through and the ones the audience has endured alongside them.

The second episode, “Introduction to Teaching,” feels like the “Community” the first episode opened the gates for. Sure, it falls short of the inventive highs of the shows’ most memorable episodes, but it shines with the possibility of reaching those highs once more. The episode feels crisp and exciting in its own way because it was just being itself. A regular episode of “Community” feels like a Godsend compared to last year. By virtue of a smart story, a B-plot in which Abed shines, a new set of complications and power dynamics between the core characters, and a dash of ridiculousness and hilarious jokes, “Introduction to Teaching” pulses with vigor. A riot against grades with minuses provides an especially inspired moment. Seeing Annie lead a group of students against Jeff the Teacher and his new all-faculty social circle conjures up thoughts of a world in which Jeff can’t overcome his jump onto the other side of Greendale. The anticipation for how the season plays out is nothing short of exciting. Everything feels right, and not because of Jonathan Banks’ new and incredibly welcome presence at Greendale. But, let’s be honest, it certainly helps. 

"Community" airs on NBC Thursdays at 8p/7p Central.

Reach Staff Reporter Annie Lloyd here; follow her on Twitter here.