A Man. And His Blog.

YES! YES! And YES again! What an awesome episode. Luckily a two-parter, luckily the funniest episode so far this season, and luckily the writers are firing up some promising storylines. While the first couple of minutes were a bit boring, the fire of the episode was burning, when Michael (Steve Carell), Jim (John Krasinski), Andy (Ed Helms) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) were arriving in the “Asian Hooters”, while the office had to deal with a war between two party planning committees. These 43 minutes were a total highlight so far in this season, and probably in te series so far.

It all started with the serious “My heart got crushed”-face by Michael, after Carol (Nancy Carell) broke up with him. It was nice to see that Andy took control over Michael’s life for the day, taking it out on Dwight, and finally getting the two Asian Hooters girls to the office party. The episode could have done more with Dwight though, as he was cut out from the Michael/Andy/Jim threesome in the restaurant. It was a good source for Dwight to act awkward besides the dating couple, but somehow there was nothing.

The stories in the office were really cool though. I loved that Karen (Rashida Jones) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) were building a friendship, and as soon as they were BFFs, they promptly had a great chemistry together. And with Angela’s (Angela Kinsey) awkwardness in this episode, the two really had something to chew on. I just love the duel between the two party planning committees, and how Karen and Pam were looking to Angela, when the office folks decided to which party they are going. Furthermore, the nutcracker-themed party was just too hilarious (“No seconds until everybody had some”) or Hannah (Ursula Burton) cracking the nuts in her very own way. But other than that I found Angela’s behavior a bit over the top here. I know she was always like that, but this time she was even more awkward than Dwight, or even Michael. Maybe her secret relationship with Dwight is rubbing off on her – no wonder why the two are still together.

The moment between Michael and Jim during the last bits of the party was interesting. Like during the booze cruise in the second season, Jim and Michael are somewhat friends for just a minute, and they know that they can talk with each other during that time. It shows that Michael still respects his team in the office, and that Jim is still a friendly guy, who is not just playing pranks on Dwight, but actually a friend to any other person who is not Dwight. And it seemed realistic how Michael talked about marking his “one” during the party, because he couldn’t tell the two Asian girls apart (well, I couldn’t tell them apart, and I didn’t drink during the episode).

The “Dwight in the CIA”-thing was hilarious too. It could have been better, when it was used for a whole episode, but I loved the episode closer (“You are compromised, destroy phone”). I would wish to prank idiots like that.

An almost genius episode, I’ve had fun the whole time. 9/10

Not even Santa can help his little spirit helper

The team of mad faces: It's war between the party planning committees

There are episodes, which are funny because of Michael’s (Steve Carell) awkwardness, but there are episodes, which are even way too awkward for me, thanks to Michael’s awkwardness. Though his prison-Mike performance was still pretty much usual for Michael, locking his staff into the conference room did go too far, even for him. After all, Michael was on the line to lose his job, because of that, considering that somebody could have called Jan. Lucky for all that Toby (Paul Lieberstein) was so nice to Michael, and actually showed him some sort of respect to get his colleagues out.

Other than that the episode was average, and I didn’t get all of this. Putting one of the new characters into the focus of the episode was a nice move, but putting Martin (Wayne Wilderson) into the focus just to get him out of the show was lame. Are the writers planning to exit the other new characters in the same way? Then I can say that the next episodes will be a bit boring. But I loved Dwight’s (Rainn Wilson) way of trying to show that Martin is still a criminal. Him stretching out his ass looked kinda gay.

Jim’s (John Krasinski) prank to Andy (Ed Helms) was alright I guess. He brought a bit of fun in Pam’s (Jenna Fischer) life, but maybe the episode would have been a bit better, when Palm would have played a long, instead of just sitting there and listening to Andy. But as long as the pranks are the only connection between Jim and Pam right now, I can live with that. Since the Jim/Karen (Rashida Jones) couple actually works too – but only when the writers plan to show the Jim/Karen couple a bit more.

I have nothing more to say, except that John Krasinski had a great smile on his face at the end, which deserved a screencap. 6/10

An ass full of money, and a convict. Makes...?

Raise your hands, if you're in love with this guy

Not just the two storylines merge, but two branches as well. How would the third season of THE OFFICE have looked like, when the writers played the game of the previous seven episodes a bit further? After all, the Stamford branch was as “nerdy” as the Scranton branch, they were just working when they had to. But then I realized that it really is great to see how the workers of a paper company branch are thrown into a lazy branch, and how the new guys are handling the new colleagues. It was the perfect suit for a 30-minute episode, and the producers could have blown this episode up to a full  hour, because it was fun. Awkward, but fun.

But I don’t know who made the mistake of letting the expectations rise for the return of Jim (John Krasinski) to the Scranton branch, and therefore the return of the Jim/Pam (Jenna Fischer) romance in the series – me or the writers? I expected something, but basically nothing happened (as in 21 of the 22 episodes of the second season). Or maybe I just didn’t expect for the episode to go so deep into the actual merge and how the new crew can’t stand the old crew.

I kinda liked the awkwardness of Andy (Ed Helms). He really fits in between Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Michael (Steve Carell), but I hope that the writing will go more satirical in Andy’s humor in the future. He was funny in the previous episodes, but he was a bit too awkward here for my taste, when he started to sing with Michael, “bullying” Tony (Mike Bruner) while he was at it, and matching it out with Dwight (okay, that was cool). Or have to say that Pam’s lovely way of mocking Dwight was much more interesting than Andy’s behavior – in this case maybe just I adore Pam and love how she treated Dwight with respect during the run around the block, but still didn’t care any about all of this and just wanted to go back to work.

The orientation video was hilarious. THE OFFICE should have more moments of that. In addition the only moment of a real Jim/Pam scene was feeling Pam being “hurt”, when she realizes that Jim obviously moved on with his life. And she didn’t. Those little scenes you barely notice are the reason, why THE OFFICE feels and looks like a realistic TV show, and why I (and everybody else on this planet should) love this couple-yet-not-couple.

A good episode. Not really that great as I wanted it to have, but good entertainment. 8/10

What he has on his head

A nice view? Ehhmm...

That's how a young woman looks, when she has a crush on somebody

I wonder if the writers planned the merge storyline already during their writing for the second season. I wonder if the writers planned the merge for an earlier episode, like during the second season, since it was part of the second series in the original series. Or maybe the writers just planned ahead and wanted to tell a little character story, with somebody from the Scranton branch working for a different branch for a handful of episodes, just to return during the season. The original series focused on David Brent trying to come clear with the new guys; the American workplace obviously focuses on two new characters and a new relationship, just to stall the Jim/Pam story – which is actually not that bad. After all, Rashida Jones is as cute as Jenna Fischer, and the chemistry between the actors couldn’t be better.
It was a good episode, though it felt more like an intro for the next episode. And I kinda missed the staff’s reaction in the Stamford branch (since we mostly only saw Karen, Jim and Andy anyway).

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The prologue of an awkward moment

Here we have another episode of proof: watch television and you’ll learn lots of stuff you didn’t even consider to google. For the first time I heard of Diwali and a bit of the Indian culture. That didn’t just give Kelly a bit of character development, but it shows that the writers care about which stories they are telling.
It was a good episode with some awkward moments, some funny moments and nothing prepared for the next two story-changing episodes. This time, Michael was back in the center of awkwardness, giving me headaches, just because I was asking myself at various times, why the head of a Dunder/Mifflin branch can be so … well, stupid. But I am stunned about how often the writers are managing not to let the story look really awkward, until the eyes are rolling out of the viewer’s head. And I am stunned that there is an office, where it is practically allowed to drink, until you are on the floor and too drunk to drive home – which is why you brought an air mattress with you…

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It's a very productive day at the office, as you can see

Give Jim and Pam the opportunity to have a little phone call and after-hour work is much more easier to do than before. This episode showed perfectly, how the separation of BFFs Jim and Pam is affecting their life at least in a small way, and they are missing each other without saying that loud. And maybe they still have to realize that the kiss back in Casino Night was more than just Jim showing Pam that there is more. The Jim/Pam story could be one of the most realistic, sweetest and interesting love story in television. At least in my eyes.
The episode was good. It had some hilarious moments; it followed more than just two stories during 21 minutes, which is not only surprising for me, but it doesn’t even make the episode boring for one second, when the writers need every second to tell their stories. The WGA should watch a bit closer how the The Office writers deal with their characters and stories, because this episode couldn’t have been better done in a hour-format.

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Two happy faces: Karen has her chips, and Jim is always happy.

Do you remember Ed Truck? No? Okay, he just died. He awkwardly landed under a truck and lost his head. It sounds funny, but for Michael, it isn’t.
This episode of The Office deals with the death of one of their own, even though we only saw Ed Truck only once throughout the series, and we only heard stories from Michael, who knew him the best. No wonder, why the rest of the office didn’t care about the death of a man the barely talked to or even met.
So, what do we see here? A funeral for a bird, Dwight trying to press a dead bird into a can, and Pam singing a song with me realizing that she doesn’t have a singing voice. It was a good episode, though some parts weren’t working for me. Especially the story in Stamford – somehow, nothing happens with Jim and his new colleagues, and the writers are just waiting for the merge to happen. At least they could have given the Stamford branch some stories…

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Dwight has to pay for what he did. And since he is loyal, he does everything...

It is Tuesday, and it is time for another episode of The Office. This time it was an average one, since I didn’t really like the story and Dwight, who started to lie, just to rule the office and be the boss of everyone. Until now, I was thinking that Dwight was always destined to be the assistant regional manager, who is on his knees, when boss Michael enters the stage.
This episode showed, how the writers could go over the top with this story and let the characters act out of character for one episode. It didn’t really satisfy me, and you could practically say, it could be one of the weakest episodes of the series so far. But I don’t really have a great memory to tell you, how I rated all the other episodes before so far.
Anyway, I hope that the boring episodes will come at the beginning, to make space for awesomeness in the second season half. Though I would love to not see such an average episode anymore.

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If looks could kill: Ryan chews on freedom fries during a double-date

It is the second season of the third season and the writers don’t make any indications to change up their status quo for now. Jim stays in Stamford, Pam stays single for the time being, and Michael couldn’t be more brown – was he in a tanning salon during the season? Or somewhere nice and warm during his holidays? Especially during his hotel room scenes I saw some real brown face color on him, and it freaked me out. How can he be so brown and how can’t I?
The convention scenes reminded me of all the conventions and exhibitions I was attended to during the setup or destruction. It’s nice to have some flashbacks and be distracted, while watching a series episode. Well, not really…

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I am speechless. So speechless.

The American workplace of Ricky Gervais’ British comedy show smuggled itself in my very popular “Must-see” list, while watching the second season. Now I am kinda a fan of this show, and I am miles behind to the new episodes. I am still hoping to catch up until the premiere of the seventh season, but since I am doing this here, I don’t think I will ever catch up. Nonetheless I decided to put The Offices in to my list for single episode reviews. And why not? This show is funny, has great actors, has characters you cheer and root for, and the stories are anything from ridiculous to completely hilarious to groundbreaking.
Of course I can’t write very much about the single episodes, since they are only half-hour (with examples), so don’t wonder, why you are finished with reading after two, three minutes…

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