I’ve been a fan of The Office since it was on the air with original episodes. One year back then, a former teaching partner of mine and I actually exchanged Office desk calendars and wall calendars for Christmas (I got the desk calendar, she got the wall calendar). The summer I adopted my dog, I spent hundreds of hours sitting in the living room watching reruns with him, just so he could learn to get used to my presence and become comfortable in his new home. I listen regularly to the Jenna Fischer/Angela Kinsey re-watch podcast. To this day, it would be the unusual week when I don’t see at least somewhere between five and ten episodes.
Because of all this, I have strong opinions regarding many things about the show. It’s a great show, but it’s not perfect. Today I’m going to share what I believe to be both the high and low points from the whole series. Now, this is by no means a comprehensive list; I didn’t look up an episode guide and take notes or anything. This is just a compilation of my most immediate go-to opinions, the kind of things I’m ready to argue over with little provocation with anyone willing to go at it with me.
Bad: Season 1 Michael
In season 1, they were trying too hard to make Michael Scott into an unlikeable Americanized David Brent character, his counterpart from the British version. It was a mistake. The hardest part about getting someone interested in watching The Office now is convincing them to have the stamina to make it through season 1 and that the whole show isn’t like that. Luckily it’s only six episodes.
Really Bad: Seasons 8 and 9 Andy
Ed Helms had his success with “The Hangover” movies during his run on The Office, which led to him being positioned as a lead character after Steve Carell left the show. It didn’t work. Andy became extremely unlikeable. Ninety percent of the time he was on screen in the last two seasons was draining. His sailboat storyline, his search for fame, his taking over the manager position.… Sure, he had his good moments, but overall? Too much.
Super Bad: Athlead
The storyline at the end of the series with Jim getting a job in sports management in Philly and how it took a toll on Jim and Pam’s marriage? I never bought it. It felt like two of the stars getting a vanity storyline about their characters, and it didn’t work.
Perfect: Holly
Holly is one of my favorite characters. She rescued Michael, who in his best moments wanted nothing more out of life but to be rescued by a woman who could love him as he was.
Mildly Annoying: Cartoon Dwight
Anytime a show survives a long run, it runs the risk of the characters becoming exaggerated versions of who they once were earlier on. A perfect example of this was the show Cheers. In The Office, it happened noticeably to characters like Kevin, Meredith, and Kelly, but there were so much superfluous odd moments attached to Dwight and all of the Schrute family traditions he introduced that they seemed to be one-upping each other for basic weirdness.
Empty: Jim and Karen
Jim Halpert and Karen Fillippelli had absolutely no chemistry. There. I said it.
Puzzling: Inconsistent Michael
Michael ran the risk of being cartoonish throughout the mid-years of the show. His character had a recognizable zone, but occasionally he would veer outside of that into a moment or a storyline that made him seem stupider or smarter or more naive or more competent than we had been told he was. Those moments worked sometimes, but too often they irked me.
Hilarious: Creed
Darn near every moment Creed was on screen and most of the words he spoke were comedy gold. He gets extra credit for executing what was perhaps the most subtle and best “That’s what she said” of the whole show.
So Unnecessary: Andy and Angela
See “Jim and Karen” above, and increase that point by a factor of ten. It made Andy look stupid and Angela look unredeemable.
Perplexing: Ryan’s Non-Evolution
Characters are supposed to have a developing arc throughout a narrative. Ryan was redefined into some other version of a wild card almost every season, and after he got his corporate job they were all equally obnoxious. I can understand making a character obnoxious for comedic purposes. I just think in his case it was handled poorly.
Good: Clark and Plop
If The Office had continued with a cast centered around Dwight as a manager and characters like Clark, Pete, and Erin taking the place as the anchors, as I believe had been considered as a plan, I’d still be watching it. I thought those guys were some of the best things about the final seasons of the show.
Good: Broken-Hearted Jim
Anyone who has had to ever spend time in close proximity with someone they had feelings for but but couldn’t act on them has to be able to relate to Jim in the early seasons. For better or worse, it clearly defined who he was and made the audience root for him.
Great: Jo Bennett
Back to what I said about Clark and Plop: If Jo Bennett had stayed on as the CEO in a new iteration of the show, it would have been great. She may be one of my favorite characters out of the whole series. The moment where she introduces herself to the camera crew in the space of a paragraph was one of the best moments of establishing a character I’ve ever seen in any medium.
Smile-Inducing: Jim and Dwight’s friendship
For all the time Jim and Dwight spent in a nemesis-driven relationship, I loved seeing them evolve into good friends in the final seasons. One of my favorite moments of the entire series was in Florida, after Jim had chased a predatory Cathy out of his hotel room and Dwight was hiding from a drunken Nellie. They were sitting together on the bed, just talking and watching TV while eating room service desert. Whenever that episode comes on during an all-day Comedy Central marathon, I’ll watch the whole thing just for that scene.
Great Moment: Ricky Gervais cameo
The moment when David Brent and Michael Scott met up by the elevator outside Dunder Mifflin and immediately recognized themselves in each other was perfect.
Good and Bad: Robert California
He was a positive and a negative for the show. There were things he did that were truly hilarious, especially the cadence of his dialogue (“Have they ever improved on the Oreo?”), but as a character he was sometimes too much, even in the company of the other characters on the show. Plus he always sounds like Ultron.
Really?: Date Mike
In the episode at Dave and Buster’s (or maybe some generic Dave and Buster’s equivalent), when Michael suddenly realized that Jim and Pam were setting him up with one of Pam’s friends, he morphed into a misogynistic creep he called Date Mike. It would have been in his character to have some dating plan at the ready, but to turn into the ultra douche canoe he was here didn’t fit for someone who had an innocent sweetness at the core of who he was.
Home Run: The Finale
Simply put, The Office had one of the best final episodes of any TV show.
So, what did I get wrong? Or what did I overlook?
No comments:
Post a Comment