Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
The study group returns to Greendale with its friendships intact but still uneven. Jeff's attraction to Britta and Annie resurfaces, while Pierce's resentment grows whenever he thinks the others have shut him out. Troy and Abed become closer through shared routines, and Annie keeps pursuing academic success without leaving the group behind. The friends rally around Fat Neil when his depression becomes dangerous, using a Dungeons & Dragons campaign to draw him back into company. Abed's anxieties about change also shape a stop-motion Christmas fantasy, where the group follows him through an imagined snowy world and helps him face what he fears losing.
During the Anthropology final, Shirley goes into labor. Britta helps deliver her son, Ben; Andre is the baby's biological father, and Shirley names Ben after Chang because Chang tried to help. The finale then turns Greendale into the prize in a paintball fight: first a Western-themed contest, then a battle against City College. Pierce breaks with the group during the contest, but wins the last round and gives the prize to Greendale. The friends invite him back, and he refuses, choosing to leave on his own terms. His departure leaves a gap in the study room as the others prepare for another year together.