Thoughts on today’s Office? I thought it was a bit of a stretch plot-wise, but there were some great lines. I chuckled more than once.
I was expecting the “hobby for a job” prank to backfire really badly. Come to think of it, I’ll bet that the writers are going to fake us out a few more times this season.
The Dwight versus Andy plot was gold. The two characters are both so petty that things spiral out of control almost immediately, but the actors have the chemistry to make it work.
Is Holly really leaving the show? I hope not. I hate to say it, but The Office hasn’t been very good this year. I did like the Dwight and Andy scenes this week though.
I don’t think Amy Ryan was ever going to be a permanent cast member. They did wrap that relationship awfully quickly, though. I suppose it’s totally beliveable that neither Michael or Holly bothered to actually figure out how far apart Scranton and Nashua are.
I agree that the Dwight/Andy stuff was good and the Michael/Holly and Jim/Pam stuff was awkward and unfunny. Last week’s episode was also sadder than it was funny. I don’t see how they can keep this up and hold an audience. And they need to figure out whether Ryan is part of the show or not.
I liked the Halloween costumes a lot. Did Ryan have on a fake torso? He looked a little bulky in his Gecko (like the insurance commercials) outfit.
Is there info/rumors that the Michael/Holly thing is winding up?
I can see them “breaking up” so that Holly can come back to Scranton and then trying to keep a relationship secret. Or at least denying it when everyone else sees that it is obvious.
I thought it was an impressive bit of acting in the scene where Holly started crying in the truck. She went from smiling and bopping along with the song to staring out the window, face breaking into emotion and tears in about ten seconds. Best sitcom acting I’ve seen in a long time.
Loved Stanley’s costume. The contrast of the mask with the suit was hilarious. Also, Creed as The Joker was a little too perfect.
Darrell was a great friend to Michael this ep. Loved the blues song that Darrell tried with Michael. It really is a shame that Michael and Holly can’t be together, since they are practically the same person. They go together like PB&J, though PB&J have their acts together a bit more. Michael going, “I’m weak! I’ll get back with Jan, and I hate Jan!” was funny… because it’s true.
Sometime’s the throw-away lines are the funniest: “Did Darryl touch you?”
At times Dwight can be an evil genius.
Me too. His response was just right. If he had defended Pam too strongly, it might have looked to Pam like he’d been thinking the same thing.
I must be a weirdo, I really liked last night’s episode. I thought the Dwight/Andy stuff was hilarious – silly, but funny, and only those two actors could have carried it off so well. It seemed a bit out of character for Dwight to be so perceptive about another human being’s emotional life (remember how completely he failed to understand Angela’s feelings about Sprinkles), but I just went along with it for the fun.
The Michael/Holly thing I liked, too; the gradual descent from starry-eyed optimism to heartbreak. Good acting on both parts. The way Holly burst into tears on the way there, and on the way back, Michael trying to sing along with Darryl and wiping away tears at the same time. I really like the way The Office doesn’t make Michael consistently a jerk. It would be unwatchable that way, as far as I’m concerned. Most of the time I want to slap him, then they’ll put in something like that break-up and I want to hug him. I appreciate that The Office isn’t always funny; I like the darker moments too.
I thought last night’s was probably one of my favorite Office episodes (I’ve seen them all multiple times).
I think the story line between Michael and Holly is that Holly’s the rebound. She’s exactly what Michael needed at the time. Holly gave confidence to him that he didn’t have, possibly enough that he’ll be able to tell Jan that there’s no way he’s ever going to back to her. Also, Holly’s not coming back. I DO think it’s pretty stupid that she just didn’t quit and find another job to be with Michael.
Dwight and Andy – it’s already been said here. Brilliant actors, hilarious writing. The part of the whole thing that I like best is that Dwight went after what matters most to Andy – Cornell. He’s slowly undoing all that anger management training that Andy went through a year ago. When Phyllis said last week that Andy wasn’t much of a risk, I think she was dead wrong. He’s a ticking time-bomb. Dwight was smart enough to pick up on the fact that she was wrong and is all over it.
What will Angela do now? Mrs. Garrett thinks Angela’s just going to dump them both.
I also nearly fell out of my chair when Darryl started singing “Life is a Highway.”
I liked the competing Jokers – especially Creed’s.
I thought it was ok, but one part confused me; Why did I find Pam particularly cute with her Charlie Chaplin costume on!?
I reminded me of this sketch (NSFW).
Jim showed remarkable restraint during the restaurant scene.
Has he ever lost his cool in any episode?
After he called Ryan to stand up for his job, he let out a sigh…
I thought to myself at the time that I never saw him do that.
Are the characters speaking directly to the documentary makers more this season? I don’t remember them doing that in earlier seasons, outside of the individual interviews. They’ve always looked into the camera on occasion, but it seems like they used to pretend to ignore them, and didn’t directly address them.
Thank you so much for typing that out. Throughout the episode I kept thinking that they were saying “Nashville” and it was extremely confusing.
I thought this episode was pretty good (this coming from someone who thought the entire post-Strike portion of last season was putrid). Loved three of the guys coming to the office as the Joker, thought the Dwight/Andy thing was pretty good (my favorite line of the night: “It’s pronounced Ker-nal and it’s the highest rank in the military!”), and liked the conclusion to the Michael/Holly thing.
I don’t think it was odd that Holly would move back home rather than staying with Michael. She had only been in Scranton for a few weeks, as I recall, and even in that time her interaction with Michael hadn’t been entirely smooth sailing.
Do you have a Hitler fetish?