The Office - Feb 14

OK I don’t get what the writers are trying to do with the whole Andy plotline. Didn’t he used to be a likeable (and annoying, but still basically OK) character? Now he’s just a complete douche. Was the audience supposed to be on Andy’s side at the end of this episode? It felt very weird that the end was him so happy, like he had done a good thing and we were supposed to be rooting for him.

How many episodes do they have left?

I can’t get into The Office anymore, I will watch the final season when it hits Netflix but I never go out of my way to watch it like I used to. I really hope Michael comes back. I think it would be kinda cool to hire back the guy they fired in season 1 too.

That could have been trimmed to a lean 23 minutes, though it is always a treat to see Bob Odenkirk.

Pam doesn’t have a leg to stand on as far as wanting to stay in their rut in Scranton. No one loved the DM “family” more than Michael, and he left too, Beasley. The pros and cons stack up so heavily in favor of Philly for the Halpert family, it is ridiculous. Wost case scenario, the startup folds and they’re out 10k, but Jim could land another dead end sales job - or likely get the same job at DM again. More likely, the new business does well, Pam could have the luxury of focusing on art and her kids if she chose to, and Jim doesn’t work at a soul-sucking job.

Change is hard, though. I liked that they’re showing real issues between Jim and Pam over a major life change. Pam sees moving to Philly as possibly a step back (loses her painting, back to a receptionist) - Jim of course is more excited, because it’s a big step up for him.

And being physically apart is causing them to grow emotionally apart to some extent, which also feels real. I’m hoping that they reconcile and move to Philly, of course.

I thought the parts with Bob Odenkirk doing his Michael Scott routine were pretty funny. The rest was mildly amusing at best.

I enjoyed Toby’s storyline. Looks like they might actually get him and Nellie together by the end of this. Though I’m disappointed that the Scranton Strangler they convicted appears to be the right guy - I was hoping it would end up being Gabe.

ETA: GABE! He’s back, and smooth as a porpoise down there.

Hard to think Pam really wants them to stick with their jobs at DM. A paper company that’s almost gone out of business how many times? And they have a kid and a house. DM goes out of business tommorow and they’re both immediately unemployed, in Scranton.
I wouldn’t have taken the job at the real estate office with Michael II either but then go find something else. Go look for a job doing office work at a graphic design firm or something in the arts field.

I was kind of surprised about that as well, although I thought perhaps it was Creed. And was the scene at Dwight’s farm the footage from the canceled pilot that we were going to see? If so, I was disappointed.

I don’t believe so, I think we’re going to get an entire episode of that at some point. Plus I don’t think Angela Kinsey was in The Farm pilot.

Agreed, but even here the writers had to ruin it by having Pam state the obvious in an aside to the camera: “Oh my God, he’s just like Michael Scott.” They did the same thing earlier in the episode when Andy went back to the annex and asked the gang if they knew who Pete was. Funny enough, but ruined again when Pete tells us in an aside “I think Andy has been calling me ‘Plop’ for so long that he’s forgotten my actual name.” Thanks guys. Hey, how about an aside from the audience now: “Gee, the writers must think we’re complete idiots if they have to underline the jokes for us.”

And yes, Andy is an irredeemable prick at this point; I seriously thought he would try to physically harm Erin and Pete, and found absolutely no humor in bringing back Alice and Gabe (Boy, they sure built up his entrance up like it was some great revealation. I never gave the guy a second thought, and frankly couldn’t tell you when his character left the office). Guys, this is how you started with Michael in the 1st season, but you realized the boss needs at least a few redeeming qualities to mitigate his petty antics and make him at least a watchable comedy character. On the contrary, Andy has regressed to be worse than Michael ever was.

The Angela/Dwight subplot was OK–I’ve come to expect steady stream of ridiculous, over-the-top situations whenever we delve into Dwight’s non-office life–and they actually shared a human moment in the last ten minutes. The Toby subplot seems wedged in to give him and Nellie something to do in the hour-long time stretch. And personally I’m getting a little tired of Jim and Pam–taking Jim out of the office did shake up the couple’s dynamic, but at the cost of not having him around as much to play off the other characters. The trade-off, IMO, has been a loser.

Oh, I’m surprised this hasn’t been mentioned yet - but did everyone notice the very last frame of the episode? After Oscar’s little upside-down sit-ups adventure, the camera panned back over to his computer and showed a pop-up ad advertising: “The Office: An American Workplace” debuting in May.

Saw that, which leads me to wonder if the final episode will be the office characters attending the premiere. I then wonder if the documentary crew will still be filming them as they go and sit in the audience, and if the final scene will be the cast watching themselves on screen as they’re watching themselves on screen as they’re watching…

BTW the Oscar bit failed in part because they hadn’t set anything up for it in the previous hour. It wouldve taken all of 10 seconds for him to say he’s gotten hooked on watching Mexican soap operas on his computer because “it’s a lot less dramatic than here”. Or how since he started going to the gym with the Senator he’s gotten on a fitness kick which includes purchasing dodgy exercise equipment like the gravity boots. Instead, the way it was presented, it looked like something they’d planned to throw up on their website or Hulu.

Bolding mine- two kids, apparently, according to Pam. I guess I’ve been paying less attention to this show than I thought; I don’t remember them having a second kid.

Agree, the 1-hour ep was pretty stretched out. There was really only enough action for a regular episode.

I was going to point this out; when did Ceci get a sibling? :confused:

Season 8. Pam was pregnant with her second kid at the same time as Angela. She had a son named Phillip. She was gone for maternity leave for a bit and returned in the episode “Jury Duty” with both kids. Link here (under Season 8).

Jim’s supported every attempt for Pam to ‘discover herself’. Pam owes Jim that. Maybe she should let her husband do something for once.

I thought it was a great episode, although, I agree that it was probably a bit stretched out. The Odenkirk as Real Estate Michael Scott had me rolling. But, the Dwight stuff was way over the top, and really not that funny.
I don’t think Andy’s being an ass is especially out of character. Even when we were rooting for him last season, he did stupid unlikable stuff. Like taking Erin with him when he broke up with his ex-girlfriend. It does make where his character is going at the end of the season kind of depressing.
Gabe’s return was very funny.
Toby’s thoughts on what was going to happen when he went to see the Scranton Strangler were very funny.

It’s no wonder why he’s not getting the spinoff.

I thought it was funny as hell (most of it) especially when that new kid said “I’ll give you $100.00 if you wear that sweater in here tomorrow”

You people sure are picky!

Who are you and what have you done with koufax?

:smiley: