Thursday, April 28, 2011
AS A PERSON WHO BUYS A LOT OF EROTIC CAKES, IT JUST FEELS GOOD TO BE REPRESENTED ON ONE: What I can say about tonight's episode of The Office without spoiling is that it was manipulative, predictable, and still deeply affecting. And funny. I (or someone else) will have more to say in a bit; it's a little dusty in here.
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It got a little dusty in my TV room also. I could've done without the Andy subplot, but I guess they had to establish that the Deangelo character is a bad salesman in order to explain why Will Ferrell will leave. I thought the episode was a sweet way to say good bye to Michael, and I loved, loved, loved the talking head after Oscar's present.
ReplyDeleteI had stopped watching "The Office" last season but came back when they brought Holly back. I'm really glad I did because the last string of episodes have been really worth it.
The Andy/D'Angelo plotline was painfully out of tune with the rest of the episode and not funny enough to justify the clashing tone, but those last few moments with Carell were so good, despite continuity issues (if the "subjects" are miked, why didn't Pam have a mike on her when she and Michael were talking?) and realism issues (apparently, TSA regulations at the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre airport are less stringent than elsewhere).
ReplyDeleteAlso, big points to NBC for, as far as I could tell, not having the constant Voice promos on the bottom third of the screen during the episode, even though they had them through the rest of the night.
Pam went to the movies; she was off-duty. The cameras didn't follow her into Firthland and presumably she was unmiked. But, yeah, the airport security thing?
ReplyDeletePhyllis was great this episode. And I liked that it was Jim saving the day by reading Michael right, understanding what was going on, giving Michael a clean exit and getting Pam to the right place.
Steve Carrell on The Office is one of the great television performances of all time and this last show just got the tone right. Although the show has been very uneven, this sent the character off just right.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to miss Holly more than I'm going to miss Michael. Well, I'm actually going to miss Amy Ryan more than I'm going to miss Steve Carell. Nothing against Carell or his work -- but Amy Ryan is an absolutely incredible actress. It's because of her that I cared about Michael getting his happy ending as much as I did.
ReplyDeleteLiked the meta. Liked the Lost in Translation shoutout. Liked that Phyllis thought Michael had managed to keep a secret for 15 seconds, much less 15 years.
ReplyDeleteWill Ferrell just isn't meshing, though.
I felt it didn't add anything from last week and could have easily been a half hour. It was true to Michael, so from that sense, it worked, but it also dragged. Oscar's reaction to the photos of the state senator and Andy's pants were genuine comedy gold, though. And I did like Dwight being touched by the letter of recommendation.
ReplyDeleteThe piece Condi played on 30 Rock is one I'm working on in the chamber music group I'm in -- Mozart's piano quartet in G-minor, 1st and 3rd movements, though I don't know the last piece, the one that flummoxed Jack. I know with certainty that Condi is better at piano than I am -- having seen her play with ease a Dvorak piano quintet that gave me a hard time -- but the pieces she played weren't really that difficult.
It was predictable but it was heart-warming. Like Adam said, I liked how Jim helped get it right for Michael's departure. I loved that Michael wanted Phyllis' mittens after the crap he gave her for the pot holders in Yankee Swap. I loved his gift to Toby but I wanted to know what he gave Creed.
ReplyDeleteThe hug was where it got dusty -- I held up pretty well throughout, but those silent moments on this show are kryptonite.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing on the show that makes me return week after week is the unspoken bond the lesser characters have that Michael knew he could never be a part of. The fact that in the end he showed he knew them at least partially was touching, considering his past self-centeredness.
ReplyDeleteI never got the "Lost In Translation" homage until now -- Thanks! There was a aide of me that didn't want to know what they said to each other.
Interesting theory I saw dropped somewhere--is Phyllis Erin's biological mother? The age more or less fits, and could add some interesting storyline.
ReplyDeleteWow.... that would... wow.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't cross my mind until just now but I am absolutely certain that you are right. Even if they never address it, it is so.
ReplyDeleteThe more-than-usual acknowledgements of the documentarians also made me wonder if they are toying with having it air in the world of the show and seeing those ramifications on the future, non-Michael episodes. Ryan McGee on his podcast with Mo mentioned Jim's super early, pretty dark line about how he would kill himself if selling paper became his career. Having characters look those kinds of past statements in the face could provide some fodder.
The "let me know if this ever airs" line was probably more like a "ha ha, we acknowledge that it makes no sense to be filming for years without making anything" but it did occur to me that it could be a bigger hint. It's just so mysterious what they're going to do after this season so I can't help coming up with theories. They should put it in the DSM as like "LOSTitus" or something.
I very much liked Michael's line of "I guess the people you work with..." It was certainly pulled from the British Christmas Special, but tweaked to represent Michael's POV- and they got that just right.
ReplyDeleteWhether you choose to believe it or not, I hope they never address it. One reason that I like this show is that it's not a soap opera like that. Another thing is that having the possibility out there is like having two characters the right age named Cheese and Randy Wagstaff, and just letting the pregnant possibility amplify the sadness of the idea.
ReplyDeleteWell, Pam-Jim-Roy was a soap opera, no? And it hit the kind of sincerity moments that I assume you'd like the show to avoid here.
ReplyDeleteRomance and soap opera are not the same thing. Pam-Jim is an ordinary, realistic, naturalistic romance. Coincidentally working in an office with the mother who gave you up for adoption is a soap opera storyline. Erin's backstory has been well used but not exploited, and it would be nice to keep it that way.
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand why people think I have anything against sincerity. I love sincerity. One great thing about sincerity is that it cannot be faked or contrived. From my perspective, what I don't want is insincerity.