And we’re back. Last Thursday, Oct. 19—for those who don’t know—NBC’s Community and the Greendale Seven returned to airwaves with “History 101.” Despite the loss of the show’s creator and showrunner, Dan Harmon last spring, the cult classic show introduced some changes, but fans will be relieved to hear that the show, for now, has kept its essence.

The show begins with a “Community” sitcom moment, revealing what could possibly be viewers’ worst nightmare. A laugh track, spotty lighting and jarring comedic timing make the opening scene one that’s hard to love—until one realizes that this program is brought to your eyes courtesy of “Abed TV.”

A quick transition later and it becomes apparent that this staple sitcom-esque scene takes place entirely in Abed’s (Danny Pudi) head, a method of coping suggested to him by Britta to deal with the stress and worry about senior year.
While Abed wants things to stay the same, the rest of the gang is moving forward and changing. New Jeff (Joel McHale)—a sensitive and caring friend—spends the whole episode winning a hilarious combination of events known as “The Hunger Deans,” a competition designed by Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) to select the final seven seats in Greendale’s “History of Ice Cream” class.

Annie (Alison Brie) purposefully infects herself with senioritis and insists on playing pranks and not saying her g’s—a train that Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) quickly boards, Troy (Donald Glover) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) have begun some sort of intimate relationship, going  as far as to hold hands in front of the group. Pierce (Chevy Chase), however, seems to be the only one to remain stagnant, still being excluded and attempting to make gay jokes, and barely receives any screentime.

Yet, despite the changes the study group seems to have undergone over the summer, Greendale and its students seem to remain the same. Perhaps it is the cast’s acting; according to Joel McHale’s Ask Me Anything on Reddit, “We as a cast have become more vocal about jokes in scripts and such. Since we’ve lived with these characters for four years we have a pretty good sense of what they might say or do.” Or perhaps it’s simply the writers, both new and old, who were able to assimilate themselves into the “Community” community. Either way, there is a certain comforting familiarity to the first episode of season four.

That being said, the first episode definitely came with some faults. Though “Community” has always been a show that could walk the fine line between meta and obnoxious, referential and original and camp and serious, “History 101” fell on the more obnoxious and camp side, relying on a single Winger speech and some Annie-induced existential crises to take a show based on a “Hunger Games” parody and a dream-within-a-dream of “Greendale Babies”—courtesy of Abed—and ground it in some form of reality.

These faults are easy to forgive, though, and fans of the show will be extremely thankful to see that Dan Harmon’s absurdly loveable show remains intact—for the most part. Despite the small slip-ups, you can tell that one extremely important and underlying factor remains in the show: a love for the fans.

The writing, even if it stretches a bit, demonstrates that those working on the show still want to make it work, against insurmountable odds and an ungodly amount of pressure and expectations. On writing the finale, former writer Megan Ganz stated on Reddit, “I wanted it to be a finale worthy of a show it could never be worthy of.”

Writing aside, the cast continues to perform admirably, portraying each member of the Greendale Seven just as well, if not better, than they ever have. Few casts have taken such a direct interest in their fans and even the show itself, many shamelessly promoting the show during its delay and reaching out to the fans through various forms of social media.

“History 101,” ironically primarily revolving around the future, may not have been perfect—but it was “Community.” Much like the lesson Abed learned in the episode, fans can learn much the same thing: Everything ends. Whether it’s in 12 episodes or after the fabled “six seasons and a movie,” Community will end one day. Something about the premiere, though, makes that notion comforting, almost as if saying goodbye to a best friend—sad, yes, but worth time you had together.