"The Office" Thursday
Posted October 12th, 2007 by Rich Heldenfels
"You're so hot, you could melt all this stuff."
I'll elaborate later, after I finish a couple of assignments. But, in brief, it felt like the weakest episode so far this season, and the second half-hour was especially draggy. …
The kidnapped pizza kid didn't work, for one thing. Did like the Phyllis-Angela duel. And it's interesting that a happy and secure Jim is also a bit of a jerk. Taking an entire pizza for himself and Pam and their own private party was not an endearing act, as the reactions made clear. And he was either oblivious or indifferent to Dwight's pain, pushing the prank way too long — when Pam knew that it was time to give Dwight a break.
But Andy-Angela? Such possibilities.
And I see that I have begun elaborating after all. Maybe more later. Anyone else care to share?
In light of the discussion over Jim's behavior, both here and over at What's Alan Watching
I offer this photographic evidence of the reaction to Jim's pizza snag:
Neither Kevin nor Creed looks pleased.
October 12th, 2007 at 10:15 am
It's somewhat obvious from the last few episodes that Greg Daniels is an ex-Simpsons writer. The Simpsons has always been a show, where, depending on the person who wrote the episode (or had input on the writing), Homer is either much more stupid than he should be or much meaner than he should be. The last few weeks on The Office, I've noticed the same with Michael. He's become very Homer-like. And, unlike previous seasons, we have yet to see any real reason as to why he actually keeps his job. Once again last night Ryan had reason to fire him right then and there if he so desired, though I have to think that the Dunder-Mifflin CFO would at least be interested to see that there is one salesperson who can out-sell the new website (Ryan's "baby").
October 12th, 2007 at 11:45 am
I thought it was a great episode, especially the first half, when I lost count of the number of times I laughed out loud. I especially liked the cold open with the screensaver driving the Office folk crazy, because I've felt the same way about that same screensaver too
Regarding the observations on Jim's behavior, I didn't notice anything unusual for him during the episode, but it could be an interesting development that "The Office" could take, i.e. after all the pain of being apart, Pam discovers that Jim isn't exactly the person she thought he was…won't that be tragic? It's not a storyline I would hope to see, but it does open up some possibilities for the show, and would be in keeping with real-life too.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I don't know which future, potential super-couple makes me cringe more: Kelli & Darryl or Andy & Angela.
October 12th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
The Kelly and Darryl thing could be kind of interesting, Elizabeth, since he made clear in last night's show that he would be VERY protective of her. And _bales, you've got an interesting idea there, about Pam suddenly seeing Jim differently, now that he has to be studied as boyfriend material. But I still think there was something unpleasant about him last night, and that may have consequences. And yes, Gus, I think Miichael is protected from Ryan by having a successful office and a top salesman in Dwight; the show has also indicated that Ryan is not all that powerful at corporate, since his attempt to fire Kelli was overruled and last night's episode showed one guy pleased that Michael had mouthed off to Ryan.
October 12th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I would only 'endorse" the Kelly-Darryl (shall we go ahead and join them into either Kellryl or Dally) if it means Ryan gets the snot beat out of him at some point.