Also called Troy Returns with Pizza · Troy Walks into Fire · Community Darkest Timeline
Troy returns carrying pizza, then the wider view reveals an apartment in chaos. Label the person arriving and the mess they find after being away for what felt like a moment.
The returning person has missed whatever caused the disaster. Their ordinary errand makes the scene they discover seem even more surprising.
Use it for a chat that exploded, a shared document that changed beyond recognition, or a room that somehow became a mess during a short break.
The scene comes from Remedial Chaos Theory, the fourth episode of Community’s third season, which aired on October 13, 2011. A die roll determines who collects a pizza delivery, and the episode explores the different outcomes. [2]
When Troy, played by Donald Glover, goes downstairs, a chain of mishaps leaves the apartment on fire. He returns holding the pizzas and sees the chaos. The episode’s “darkest timeline” phrase also became an online reference to the worst possible outcome. [1] [2]
The pizza errand leads to the disastrous alternate timeline seen in the template. [2]
Fans use the episode’s term outside the show, including in a Pokémon fan-game title. This tracks the related phrase, not the first use of this exact two-panel layout. [2]
Label the returning person in the open space to the left of Troy. Add a short description of the problem near the bottom of the apartment panel.
Keep the time away brief. The contrast between a small absence and a huge mess is the point, so the captions do not need to explain every person in the room.
Original captions to try with this template.
The quiet break contrasts with a conversation that has become impossible to follow.
The shared document has changed dramatically while the writer was away.
The helpful arrival happens just after the situation gets out of hand.
References for this template. Example captions are original.
Identifies the episode, cast, housewarming party, and branching-timeline premise.
Documents the October 2011 broadcast, the pizza-and-fire scene, and later uses of the related phrase.
