@andre:
I feel like Mixology Certificate had better focus than this episode. I thought the part about the bars being the same was funny, and good payoff, along with Abed's gay sex part. Plus, the episode was treading old ground with Abed and Hickey and I didn't care, just like I don't care about Hickey in general and his comic. He's just not an endearing character to me, especially as the "replacement" for Pierce.
The show may have tread old ground with Abed and Hickey, but at the same time, it broke new. Up until this point in the series, whenever there has been an episode focused on Abed's issues and how they affect other people, it's always ended with people caving to him. That was my biggest problem with Virtual Systems Analysis. Here Hickey follows through, he sticks to his word and, for what seems like the first time in the history of the show, makes Abed suffer the repercussions. And we see the effect it has on Abed, he has what I would call an emotional breakthrough. He immediately shares something very personal to him, that I doubt anyone but Troy ever saw.
In Hickey Abed has found someone who is going to treat him as an equal, and as great as his relationship with Troy was, that was never really a part of it.
I personally love Hickey. His character and what he brings out of the group is why I think season 5 is my favorite yet, especially with what's coming down the pipe.
Also, you shouldn't look at Hickey as a replacement for Pierce, they're two completely separate characters. That would be like looking at Chang as a replacement for Troy. They have different uses. Hickey and Pierce, as characters, occupy two different ends of the spectrum. The only way they're similar is that they're both old and white.