"The Office": Silly and More
Posted November 2nd, 2007 by Rich Heldenfels
Sorry …
I know, it wasn't it a typical episode on Thursday. But it was also both extremely funny — and a meaningful moment in the Jim-Pam relationship. …
Can't remember all the hilarious parts. The eye/groin comparison. Oscar's The Colin Powell line. Dwight with the can in the car. The mustaches. Yes, it was very "Three Stooges" in its way, but I also laughed at the Three Stooges. And I think the extreme absurdity of it was part of a larger point — that Michael defines himself, first and foremost, through his job.
Didn't he buy the greatest-boss mug for himself? Isn't his one continuous male-female relationship with a woman he used to work with? It was bad enough for him when Karen tried to steal one of his people. It was worse by far when, playing turnabout, he was told what a terrible reputation he and Scranton had — hitting Meredith, the disatrous branch merger. So, when he threatened to burn Utica, it wasn't the sheer lunacy of Dwight unleashed. It was his own, angry, innermost, mama-bear impulse to protect himself and his own from an intruder.
But as wildly over the top as his reaction was, it was counterbalanced by the latest sad installlment in the Jim saga. I've mentioned here before that we're seeing some more unlikable aspects of Jim since he settled into his relationship with Pam, and there was more of that tonight. Not entirely unlikable, of course. His discomfort over seeing Karen again demonstrated how much he knew he had hurt her — but he still went on to hurt her more in his inept and spiraling declaration that he had not come to Utica to see her.
Then there was the Finer Things Club, and Pam's keeping him out of it because "some people think that you monopolize the conversation by trying to be funny." Which, of course, is precisely what he does once he gets invited. And then adds to the insult by not having read "Angela's Ashes."
And his actions are made worse because we've already seen Kevin, Phyllis and Andy's moves to either be a part of the club or to disrupt it. (Another great line: Phyllis's not wanting to make popcorn in the other microwave because it smells too much like popcorn.) Jim gets a seat at the table and doesn't appreciate the honor. Like his bulldozing Pam's work on her computer to show something he is interested in, Jim is once again putting himself ahead of Pam. And I think this may be the first time we've seen Oscar (that is, "some people") with a real dislike for Jim, which of course suggests that other people in the office feel the same way.
In the early going, we were so focused on Jim in the context of (a) his adoration of Pam and (b) his tweaking of Michael and Dwight that it was easy to think that other people in the office liked him the way the audience did. Now, not so much. Even Phyllis's earlier warning to Pam not to give sales calls to Jim takes on an extra layer of meaning; was it just Pam that Phyllis was irked at, or was it also about Jim?
Goooood episode.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Well, I gave Jim the benefit of the doubt because he went to Utica against his will and in an effort to keep Michael & Dwight out of jail. I think he was trying to avoid Karen at all costs, for many reasons, and he was obviously uncomfortable when she got the chance to confront him. I don't think he was being intentionally cruel to her. As for the "Finer Things Club" it seemed a little from left field for me - Oscar & Pam aren't people who I see as those who need to separate themselves from the pack - that seems like a Dwight or Angela trait. Maybe its more of the "Pammy being Pammy" in her efforts to better herself, and in this case, Oscar was the closest person to those interests. (We know why Toby was there - bowtie and all - and when will that angle become more interesting.) But yes, still the best night of my week.