“Michael. You’ve had two ideas today, and one of them was great. And the other one was terrible.” -Pam
This may have just been my favorite The Office episode ever. Did I laugh the most in this episode? No. Did I care about all the side stories? No. But The Office struck me emotionally a bit tonight. I’m not the guy that applauds a comedy when they go rogue and do something emotional to try and show its range, but I applaud when a show is so true to itself that everything just works. Tonight The Office worked. It worked like it hasn’t before. Tonight was the first real push to the Michael Scott farewell episode. In a brilliant proposal scene Michael asks for Holly’s hand in marriage and then tells the office that he’s leaving for Colorado. What a great final 5 minutes.
Tonight’s episode was so great because it got back to what it does best: make us enjoy the great characters. Every character served their purpose tonight. Yes, the point of the episode was Michael Scott’s proposal, but it wasn’t even half the episode. Every person did something small that added to their character. The only time we saw Creed was when he traded Dwight a knife in a quick cut, but yet what a great 1 second. Michael even added to the characterization of Toby and Meredith by just uttering a sentence about them to Holly as he was taking her around a tour of the office. This is the type of symbiotic relationship that always needs to coexist between characterization and plot development. As Michael was getting to the proposal, the plot element, he added to the characterization of other characters. The fact that we know and love all these people makes it so heartbreaking when Michael announces that he’s leaving and no one in the office is excited about it. For as much grief as he’s given the, they still really like their boss and don’t want to see him go.
We now have the escape plan all mapped out. I was happy to see that the events leading up to the decision for Michael to leave are plausible. It would have been easy to send Michael away on some bizarre journey where he invests in a Sbarro’s in India or something, but they chose something way better. I love that he is moving to follow Holly. Michael has a good job and he’s happy, but he’s happiest with her and we see that he’ll leave everything to be with her. Michael has been defined by his job for so long, but now Holly is his life and the evolution of Michael Scott is almost complete. As he was proposing, I started to well up with tears, but when the sprinklers came on, I busted out laughing. Those 15 seconds are The Office in a nutshell. Again, not to keep up with the love fest, but I really loved this episode! And Steve Carell needs an Emmy!
Other thoughts:
Jim is a ploarizing figure on the show and he often gets on people’s nerves, but tonight he was great. He’s at his best when he has a few light hearted moments with Pam, but mostly spends his time trying to prank Dwight out of boredom.
Kevin is a straight up hustler. He ran that Dallas board game.
Was that a Gabe sighting in the final scene? Feels like we haven’t seen too much of him. I would be happy if I never saw him again. With Michael leaving, I feel like the Andy Bernard and Erin love story may move to the front.
Good job by The Office writers on coming up with the garage sale idea. We can get a lot of information about characters by the trinkets they keep and choose to sell.
Why does it not surprise me Holly has a “neon guy?”
Showing posts with label Michael Scott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Scott. Show all posts
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Office - "Todd Packer" Review
“Who is Justice Beaver?” -Dwight
I’ve defended The Office to a lot of non believers. When they’ve said the show has slipped the last few years, I was quick on the “they’re focusing on the story rather than telling jokes” defense. I think The Office’s strengths lie in it’s ability to tell multiple stories at once while letting supporting characters shine in limited screen time without muddying up the main plot. This episode however, got everything wrong. From start to finish this episode was dreadful. I might have laughed once or twice with the Dwight and Jim banter that I’ve loved for almost 7 season. Erin had some nice moments with the ants, but other than that, ouch.
My main problem with this episode was Todd Packer. I find his character intolerable. I’m not above silly blue humor, but his is just downright uncomfortable. Many characters made mention of just how much of a jerk he is and yet, more screen time. He also, brought out the worst in Kevin. I usually love Kevin’s naivety, but this just made me feel sad for him. To defend such an ogre was painful to watch. I know he’s part of the Michael Scott farewell tour. All the loose ends had to be tied up, but he really didn’t need to be the focus of the episode. We already saw last week in “Threat Level Midnight” that Michael Scott had a growing sense of self awareness, I didn’t need it again in the form of realizing Todd Packer is a jerk.
There were two main subplots at work in this episode. One I liked, Jim and Dwight’s quest to prank Packer, and one I felt wasn’t funny or interesting enough to occupy as much of the 22 minutes as it did, Pam and Andy’s computer feed. The Dwight and Jim prank story line was a type of throwback to the days of old. A lot of the charm in The Office comes from finding small exciting tasks to distract you from the mundane life of working in a cubicle. I very much enjoyed thinking about the amount of time Jim spent NOT working to create a list of 400 pranks to pull on Packer all while pranking Dwight himself. The more I see Dwight and Jim act as team, the more I like it. I hope to see more of their united front when the new boss rolls in. As for Pam and Andy, well I just don’t get a lot of pleasure in listening to Andy whine and take advantage of Erin. I did enjoy the scene where he purposely broke his computer. “Enable all cookies? Yes please.”
This makes two straight below average episodes of The Office in a row. The Michael Scott Farewell Tour is important, but I find that it’s getting in the way of telling a good story. Hopefully they’ve figured out how to keep the charm of the show and advance the plot while not losing a lot of viewers. If there are more episodes like this one, there won’t be a lot of believers left when the show becomes Michael Scott-less.
I’ve defended The Office to a lot of non believers. When they’ve said the show has slipped the last few years, I was quick on the “they’re focusing on the story rather than telling jokes” defense. I think The Office’s strengths lie in it’s ability to tell multiple stories at once while letting supporting characters shine in limited screen time without muddying up the main plot. This episode however, got everything wrong. From start to finish this episode was dreadful. I might have laughed once or twice with the Dwight and Jim banter that I’ve loved for almost 7 season. Erin had some nice moments with the ants, but other than that, ouch.
My main problem with this episode was Todd Packer. I find his character intolerable. I’m not above silly blue humor, but his is just downright uncomfortable. Many characters made mention of just how much of a jerk he is and yet, more screen time. He also, brought out the worst in Kevin. I usually love Kevin’s naivety, but this just made me feel sad for him. To defend such an ogre was painful to watch. I know he’s part of the Michael Scott farewell tour. All the loose ends had to be tied up, but he really didn’t need to be the focus of the episode. We already saw last week in “Threat Level Midnight” that Michael Scott had a growing sense of self awareness, I didn’t need it again in the form of realizing Todd Packer is a jerk.
There were two main subplots at work in this episode. One I liked, Jim and Dwight’s quest to prank Packer, and one I felt wasn’t funny or interesting enough to occupy as much of the 22 minutes as it did, Pam and Andy’s computer feed. The Dwight and Jim prank story line was a type of throwback to the days of old. A lot of the charm in The Office comes from finding small exciting tasks to distract you from the mundane life of working in a cubicle. I very much enjoyed thinking about the amount of time Jim spent NOT working to create a list of 400 pranks to pull on Packer all while pranking Dwight himself. The more I see Dwight and Jim act as team, the more I like it. I hope to see more of their united front when the new boss rolls in. As for Pam and Andy, well I just don’t get a lot of pleasure in listening to Andy whine and take advantage of Erin. I did enjoy the scene where he purposely broke his computer. “Enable all cookies? Yes please.”
This makes two straight below average episodes of The Office in a row. The Michael Scott Farewell Tour is important, but I find that it’s getting in the way of telling a good story. Hopefully they’ve figured out how to keep the charm of the show and advance the plot while not losing a lot of viewers. If there are more episodes like this one, there won’t be a lot of believers left when the show becomes Michael Scott-less.
Friday, February 18, 2011
The Office - "Threat Level Midnight" Review
“It’ll take a lot more than a bullet the brain, lungs, heart, back and balls to kill Michael Scarn.” -Michael Scarn (as played by Michael Scott)
OK, I love the Michael Scarn movie, Threat Level Midnight, but why are we seeing this? 3 years ago this would have been a great episode, but The Office has shied away from episodic gag episodes. They’ve been very narrative heavy the last few years. Are we seeing this just for some nice cameos? If so, a Roy cameo would have been nice seeing as how Jim said he did the movie just to impress a receptionist(Pam). Which would put Roy in the picture. Or is it really just an extended metaphor of the evolution of Michael Scott?
It’s really nice to see Michael Scott be self-aware. It’s why we love him as a character and where he differs greatly from David Brent. But self-awareness was always present. It’s the ongoing maturation of Michael as a person which will ultimately land him Holly. She puts up with a lot of his silly antics, but occasionally she just can’t keep the charade up any longer and has to bring him down to earth. The scene where he calls her a “real pain in the ass” was perhaps the best example of where Michael is as a character. He rambles and says some hilarious ideas he has other than his movie and then yells at Holly when she doesn’t immediately take his side. Before Michael wouldn’t have expressed his frustration, instead he would have tried to “fix” something that wasn’t really broken. Then as he storms off, he has the self awareness to still tell Holly he loves her. He’s not afraid of losing her and that is a profound change in his character.
Anybody else notice the lack of Gabe? No way he lets the whole company take the time to watch this movie. Did anybody miss him? I didn’t. I really enjoyed seeing Erin sit next to Andy and become excited when she heard him do an accent on screen. In fact, I really just enjoyed the whole company being together in the conference room. I’m not sure I loved the timing and placement of this episode in the series, but I sure didn’t mind sitting back and enjoying the laughs.
OK, I love the Michael Scarn movie, Threat Level Midnight, but why are we seeing this? 3 years ago this would have been a great episode, but The Office has shied away from episodic gag episodes. They’ve been very narrative heavy the last few years. Are we seeing this just for some nice cameos? If so, a Roy cameo would have been nice seeing as how Jim said he did the movie just to impress a receptionist(Pam). Which would put Roy in the picture. Or is it really just an extended metaphor of the evolution of Michael Scott?
It’s really nice to see Michael Scott be self-aware. It’s why we love him as a character and where he differs greatly from David Brent. But self-awareness was always present. It’s the ongoing maturation of Michael as a person which will ultimately land him Holly. She puts up with a lot of his silly antics, but occasionally she just can’t keep the charade up any longer and has to bring him down to earth. The scene where he calls her a “real pain in the ass” was perhaps the best example of where Michael is as a character. He rambles and says some hilarious ideas he has other than his movie and then yells at Holly when she doesn’t immediately take his side. Before Michael wouldn’t have expressed his frustration, instead he would have tried to “fix” something that wasn’t really broken. Then as he storms off, he has the self awareness to still tell Holly he loves her. He’s not afraid of losing her and that is a profound change in his character.
Anybody else notice the lack of Gabe? No way he lets the whole company take the time to watch this movie. Did anybody miss him? I didn’t. I really enjoyed seeing Erin sit next to Andy and become excited when she heard him do an accent on screen. In fact, I really just enjoyed the whole company being together in the conference room. I’m not sure I loved the timing and placement of this episode in the series, but I sure didn’t mind sitting back and enjoying the laughs.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Office - "PDA" Review
“It’s like a time bomb. It’s ticking down and when it goes off no more kissing, no more hugging. Sexual time bomb.” -Michael Scott
When The Office is firing on all cylinders like it was tonight, there’s not a better comedy out there. I know that The Office has lost some viewers along the way, but I have remained a fan throughout the journey. Hopefully tonight’s episode brings some people back home. The Office works best when the story is woven around a theme that allows characters to intertwine with each other and have separate instances to shine.
Tonight’s theme of love, or Valentine’s Day, or sex, or PDA or whatever you want to call it centered largely around the new relationship of Michael and Holly. Through this main line we were able to see an Erin and Andy/Gabe branch, a Pam and Jim branch and a Gabe and Michael branch. We were able to see story lines about characters we’ve long since cared about develop and make us smile. Gabe’s three theories on Holly and Michael’s PDA were simultaneously hilarious (xtc), poignant(reminding them of how transient Holly’s stay is), and uncomfortable (the weakening of their sexual climaxes). It was a great way to snap Michael and Holly into focus and accelerate their relationship to the next level. I really enjoyed seeing Michael and Holly react to the thought of Holly leaving soon. I believe that they hadn’t thought about her leaving. It looks like the escape plan is Michael leaving with Holly. I do look for a nice moment when Toby returns and essentially causes Michael to skip town with the love of his life. Will he finally show compassion? Maybe it’s not that important.
The show is dying for Andy and Erin to be together, but I’m glad they aren’t. If you recall the beginning of the series when Pam and Jim weren’t together, we were treated to some of the best moments the show had to offer. It’s good to see the writer’s taking their time with this one allowing for the desire for them to be together build up in the viewers heart. Remember, there’s going to be a drastic change in screen time once the new boss shows up.
The conference room is where the show lives and dies. We are able to see the whole cast as one making decisions that set the tone for the rest of the episode. When a scene takes place in the conference room, it’s as if the writers are highlighting the scene for the viewer. Tonight’s meeting on PDA was brilliantly done. The closets being dubbed as hook up zones was great. “What’s the hook up zone’s policy on masturbation?” “Pro.” Classic The Office. It must be tricky for the director’s to catch every glance and every nod that the actors give them. I’m always amazed at the cast’s listening ability.
One can only hope that the rest of Michael’s episodes are this good.
Other thoughts:
-Dark way to start the episode. You think Pam would have told people what the card was for or at least read it. Dead grandma jokes are a tough sell.
-Although hilarious(like them sitting in the same chair at the meeting), I just don’t think Holly would be so oblivious to the thoughts on PDA. She’s good at her job.
-Kevin with some great one liners tonight. “Let me finish! I enjoy watching them because it makes me horny.” “She goes to another school.”
-If I haven’t mentioned it before, I think Creed, pound for pound, is the funniest character on the show.
-Welcome back Jim! Missed you the last 3 weeks.
When The Office is firing on all cylinders like it was tonight, there’s not a better comedy out there. I know that The Office has lost some viewers along the way, but I have remained a fan throughout the journey. Hopefully tonight’s episode brings some people back home. The Office works best when the story is woven around a theme that allows characters to intertwine with each other and have separate instances to shine.
Tonight’s theme of love, or Valentine’s Day, or sex, or PDA or whatever you want to call it centered largely around the new relationship of Michael and Holly. Through this main line we were able to see an Erin and Andy/Gabe branch, a Pam and Jim branch and a Gabe and Michael branch. We were able to see story lines about characters we’ve long since cared about develop and make us smile. Gabe’s three theories on Holly and Michael’s PDA were simultaneously hilarious (xtc), poignant(reminding them of how transient Holly’s stay is), and uncomfortable (the weakening of their sexual climaxes). It was a great way to snap Michael and Holly into focus and accelerate their relationship to the next level. I really enjoyed seeing Michael and Holly react to the thought of Holly leaving soon. I believe that they hadn’t thought about her leaving. It looks like the escape plan is Michael leaving with Holly. I do look for a nice moment when Toby returns and essentially causes Michael to skip town with the love of his life. Will he finally show compassion? Maybe it’s not that important.
The show is dying for Andy and Erin to be together, but I’m glad they aren’t. If you recall the beginning of the series when Pam and Jim weren’t together, we were treated to some of the best moments the show had to offer. It’s good to see the writer’s taking their time with this one allowing for the desire for them to be together build up in the viewers heart. Remember, there’s going to be a drastic change in screen time once the new boss shows up.
The conference room is where the show lives and dies. We are able to see the whole cast as one making decisions that set the tone for the rest of the episode. When a scene takes place in the conference room, it’s as if the writers are highlighting the scene for the viewer. Tonight’s meeting on PDA was brilliantly done. The closets being dubbed as hook up zones was great. “What’s the hook up zone’s policy on masturbation?” “Pro.” Classic The Office. It must be tricky for the director’s to catch every glance and every nod that the actors give them. I’m always amazed at the cast’s listening ability.
One can only hope that the rest of Michael’s episodes are this good.
Other thoughts:
-Dark way to start the episode. You think Pam would have told people what the card was for or at least read it. Dead grandma jokes are a tough sell.
-Although hilarious(like them sitting in the same chair at the meeting), I just don’t think Holly would be so oblivious to the thoughts on PDA. She’s good at her job.
-Kevin with some great one liners tonight. “Let me finish! I enjoy watching them because it makes me horny.” “She goes to another school.”
-If I haven’t mentioned it before, I think Creed, pound for pound, is the funniest character on the show.
-Welcome back Jim! Missed you the last 3 weeks.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The Office - "The Search" Review
“Is that a palm tree or did Gabe get skinnier? Either way let’s pee on it.” - Gabe via Angela
The Office is in a great transition period. We know Michael Scott is leaving and we know there will be a new boss and thus two huge questions remain. Will Michael Scott end up with Holly and who will replace him as Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin? In this, not so funny yet enlightening episode, I think we inched closer to knowing the answer to both of these.
It appears as though Michael is going to end up with Holly. After years of Michael massively failing at love, it looks as though he finally find it. I think this is the right move. Enough people will be upset at the fact that he’s leaving the show period, no need to pour salt on the wounds by sending him out the door unceremoniously and dejected. They even went as far as to make Dwight realize that someone had the mind of Michael more figured out than he did. And even sweet little naive Erin is starting to come around. (It should be noted that I think the scorn Erin feels toward Holly is quite hilarious.)
As for who is becoming the new boss, it’s a little more muddy, but I think the front runners have started to emerge. I believe it’s a race between Darryl, Gabe, and Dwight. We saw a shift in power toward Darryl over Gabe during the meeting about the caption contest. Darryl subtly ran the show and Gabe showed desperation. If Ron Swanson isn’t moving from Pawnee to Scranton, than count me as one of the Darryl supporters. I think it would be a seamless transition and the writers have done a great job setting him up as an extremely capable business man.
It’s hard to judge this show until they resolve Michael leaving as all of the focus is clearly on that. Until then, the show appears to be stuck in neutral.
Other thoughts:
Jim has been noticeably absent the past few episodes. I wonder if he’s had another job that conflicted with the shooting, or an exit plan is starting to be formed, or the writers are moving him to a role much smaller? Very curious about this one.
Dwight threw a gem of a line at us tonight. “You drive. I got a car full of fox meat.”
Pam made me laugh after her terrible joke fell flat over the phone with Jim. “Did the phone cut out?” A classic thought I’ve had several times.
Do you think Michael ends up with Holly? Who do you think takes over regional manager?
The Office is in a great transition period. We know Michael Scott is leaving and we know there will be a new boss and thus two huge questions remain. Will Michael Scott end up with Holly and who will replace him as Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin? In this, not so funny yet enlightening episode, I think we inched closer to knowing the answer to both of these.
It appears as though Michael is going to end up with Holly. After years of Michael massively failing at love, it looks as though he finally find it. I think this is the right move. Enough people will be upset at the fact that he’s leaving the show period, no need to pour salt on the wounds by sending him out the door unceremoniously and dejected. They even went as far as to make Dwight realize that someone had the mind of Michael more figured out than he did. And even sweet little naive Erin is starting to come around. (It should be noted that I think the scorn Erin feels toward Holly is quite hilarious.)
As for who is becoming the new boss, it’s a little more muddy, but I think the front runners have started to emerge. I believe it’s a race between Darryl, Gabe, and Dwight. We saw a shift in power toward Darryl over Gabe during the meeting about the caption contest. Darryl subtly ran the show and Gabe showed desperation. If Ron Swanson isn’t moving from Pawnee to Scranton, than count me as one of the Darryl supporters. I think it would be a seamless transition and the writers have done a great job setting him up as an extremely capable business man.
It’s hard to judge this show until they resolve Michael leaving as all of the focus is clearly on that. Until then, the show appears to be stuck in neutral.
Other thoughts:
Jim has been noticeably absent the past few episodes. I wonder if he’s had another job that conflicted with the shooting, or an exit plan is starting to be formed, or the writers are moving him to a role much smaller? Very curious about this one.
Dwight threw a gem of a line at us tonight. “You drive. I got a car full of fox meat.”
Pam made me laugh after her terrible joke fell flat over the phone with Jim. “Did the phone cut out?” A classic thought I’ve had several times.
Do you think Michael ends up with Holly? Who do you think takes over regional manager?
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