Cooperative Polygraphy

Returning to the study room after Pierce's (Chevy Chase) funeral, the study group is greeted by Mr. Stone (Walton Goggins), Pierce's executor.

Pierce's will stipulates that, no matter the apparent cause of his death, the group must undergo a polygraph examination as part of a private inquest to determine if any member of the group murdered him. During the session, the group is asked a series of personal questions that reveal selfish things they have done, such as Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) using Jeff's (Joel McHale) Netflix account without his permission, Abed hiding GPS tracking devices on everyone to track their locations, and Annie (Alison Brie) having slipped the members of the group pills in order to make them more alert for studying.

The group repeatedly becomes tense and confrontational over these revelations. They eventually begin revealing other members' secrets in an attempt to shift attention from themselves. When they try to blame Pierce for setting them up, Mr. Stone points out that "Pierce" had not posed them any questions in a long time. However, after a speech from Jeff, they decide to stick it out, as they will each receive a bequest upon the session's completion.

The session concludes with Pierce's final words to each group member, which are mostly heartfelt, positive, and uplifting, with the exception of Jeff (to whom Pierce makes one final accusation of closeted homosexuality) and Abed (to whom Pierce simply says “nothing you ever said made any sense to me”). All are bequeathed gifts from Pierce, including a tiara for Annie, a used iPod for Britta (Gillian Jacobs), access to Pierce's Florida timeshare for Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and her family, a bottle of top-shelf scotch for Jeff, and frozen samples of Pierce's sperm for everyone. Troy is given the most exceptional bequest: Pierce's share of Hawthorne Wipes, valued at $14.3 million, which Troy will receive after he fulfills a stipulation to sail around the world in Pierce's boat. Pierce was supposed to do this for his father but never did, causing him lifelong regret, and he believes the experience will help Troy discover who he truly is. Troy decides to accept the offer, leaving the rest of the group, particularly Abed, in shock.

During the credits, Mr. Stone has become intoxicated after joining the group at a bar. After rambling about his aspirations, he reveals that Pierce died of dehydration while collecting the sperm samples he gave to the group.

This episode introduces a plot line to explain Donald Glover's leaving the show. The name of Pierce's boat, Childish Tycoon, is a nod to Glover's stage name, Childish Gambino.^[2] The subplot with Troy can be viewed as an overall metaphor for Glover's rocket-trajectory career track. It also resolves the character arc of Pierce, played by Chevy Chase who left the show after the previous season.

"Cooperative Polygraphy" is a bottle episode as the entire episode, excluding the tag, takes place in the library study room, a primary set for the series. It also occurs in near real-time. The title is a reference to "Cooperative Calligraphy", another bottle episode set in the study room.

This episode was chosen for a 2020 benefit table read where the cast and Dan Harmon reunited over video conferencing to raise money for the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] The main cast all participated in the table read; however, due to scheduling conflicts, Walton Goggins was unable to participate, and his role was filled instead by Pedro Pascal.^[4]