While at SXSW to promote his new documentary, Harmontown, Community showrunner Dan Harmon took some time to talk to us about True Detective fever and they sky-high expectations surrounding this Sunday’s series finale. Never has a TV show become so popular so quickly and, with the looming shadow of highly-criticized finales like Lost or even Breaking Bad, the pressure is on to really deliver. In a recent Twitter exchange, True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto told Harmon “if the finale tanks, I’ll be leaving the country.” But, according to Harmon, there’s no way the finale can disappoint. He says,

I don’t care if they just walk into a warehouse and it’s a birthday party that the chief was throwing them. Like there were never any murders and this was all part of the surprise. [...] There's no way for the finale to do me wrong because what’s for sale with that show isn’t the pay-off, it’s smelling the roses along the way. [...] It’s just sort of unfolding like a flower and, at this point, enough of the flower is unfolded that if the last petal is a kazoo, I’m not going to go “this is a bad flower.” I really enjoy it.

Will that rose-smelling attitude be enough to please audiences this Sunday who have spent the last few weeks chasing theories and poring over every little detail? Can the HBO show stake its reputation on what it has already built? Harmon argues that what we’ve seen so far has already changed the face of television and why it’s perfectly okay if you don’t really like Rust and Marty. He says,

Dexter had to have his serial killer rules and had to kill other serial killers before we could get down with the idea of watching a show about serial killers and enjoying it. Walter White had to have cancer, he had to want to provide for his family. But, in the end, we were watching a show about a meth dealer. We were watching a show about a murderer. [...] We were watching a man fall apart and we were enjoying the hell out of it.

But as we watch True Detective we don’t have to deal with any of that. Television has evolved to the point where you can enjoy watching characters and you don’t have to want them for your neighbor you can just enjoy watching them.

The overlap between Harmon’s breakneck comedies and Nic Pizzolatto’s grim HBO drama may not seem immediately obvious, but True Detective, Community, and even Harmon’s new animated series Rick and Morty all play havoc with genre and storytelling tropes in a way that both sucks us in to a familiar story and then flips that story on its head. When asked if he would ever be interested in pursuing drama, Harmon eagerly said yes.

It seems like if you’re a little bit funny in a drama, you’re hilarious. If you’re a little bit funny in a comedy, you’re failing at your job. I have this urge to go play in that basketball court.

Troy and Abed for True Detective season two?