"Maybe, despite the "premature endjamulations", it was actually Trey rescuing the band from embarrassing themselves further."

Although I have a feeling that Trey may see it the same way you do, this band is playing entirely too locked in for Trey to be rushing to save every jam just because of temporary miscommunication. Hell, this band built their entire career on being able to push past a small hiccup & turn jams into something transcendant. Not only that, but for every jam where someone else seems lost, there's another one where the band comes out firing on all cylinders yet Trey still feels the need to fire up a "Twist" or "Piper" overtop of a groove in such a rush that he doesn't bother to mold it to the surrounding music melodically or rhythmically.

Truly perplexing. Considering how much ground they can cover within a few short minutes of improv lately, it baffles me that Trey is in such a rush to get out of these improvsational segments. The only set of the last week that really brought some hope to my heart was the 2nd set of MPP II. Not much changed from an improvsational standpoint, but at least the band put together a cohesive set of music without depending on the same dozen standby 'greatest hits'. A show like Bethel (I,II) shows just how much that Phish can do with short jamlets that bridge one song to the next- it's a shame that they aren't exploring that avenue more. They might not want to jam for extended periods of time, but I can't quite comprehend the purpose behind jamming for 2.5 measures and then 1 member starting up the next song completely untethered to the music.
The "Trey Ripcord" just seems totally at odd with the mastery that they're displaying with the rest of their music these days. Trey's playing striking a perfect balance between orgasmic release & fluidly lyrical minimalism, Mike unleashing endless torrents of interesting melodic counterpoint, Fishman and Page playing with more aggression than they've displayed since 1995. I think we'll see the improv become more and more prominent as they continue to round into the home stretch of their career- they're simply playing with too much passion to stay content banging out near-identical versions night after night. They'll eventually bring their newfound precision into the deep end of the pool and start reeling off a string of Nassau Tweezer-esque jams that effortlessly move from one thematic movement to the next. The future looms in my dreams.