Best Boss, and Worst Human
Last night I watched TV, and I saw a curious thing: Henry Winkler, dressed in a leather jacket for which he was way to old, riding a surfboard over a water-dwelling predator as if it was a perfectly normal thing for a Henry Winkler to do. It happened when I was watching The Office, and I hope you other American Office fans feel the same way about last night’s episode as I do, because if I have to watch another one like that, I may spontaneously combust in my chair.
(Looks like I’m alone out here, again. Nathan Rabin of The Onion AV Club gave it an “A-” and calls it “kick-ass.” Some commenters hated it, but some commenters always hate every episode. I guess the best I can hope for is a divisive, “love-it-or-hate-it” attitude among Office fans when everything settles. At least AV Club readers gave it a collective “B.”)
Allow me to present the opposite case as Rabin and his ilk. Let’s start with the “B” story, shall we? This one could be titled, “Suddenly-smart Dwight is able to pull off a multi-layered plan to get Jim fired, and the only reason it doesn’t work is because Jim is friends with his boss.” Let’s count off the problems with that, shall we? 1) Suddenly-smart Dwight 2) Pulls off a multi-layered plan to 3) get Jim fired (which will never happen, obvs.) and 4) The only reason it doesn’t work is that 5) Jim’s friends with his boss. Maybe I misunderstood the point of this show, but isn’t it about Jim being annoyed by his boss and Dwight? I understand changing the dynamic to temporary comedic effect (and believe you me, the law of diminishing returns has caught up with “everybody in the office hates boss Jim”) , but that doesn’t explain why Dwight was able to pull off this plan without Jim, or anybody else, realizing it. Since when is Dwight so much smarter than Andy? Since when is Jim unable to figure out that he’s being set up? This is how the show should have gone:
1) Dwight commences his plan. 2) Pam finds Dwight’s master plan on the copier. 3) Hilarity commences, ends with Dwight getting into a fight with Andy over whose idea the Employee of the Month thing was. 4) Ryan still allies with Dwight at the end of the episode, but we know they are doomed to fail.
Do I have to come over there and write these episodes myself? The problem with The Office this year is can be summed up in two words: surveillance pen. Once Dwight successfully tricked Jim with the fake bug in the duck, they committed to a bad direction. It’s reminiscent of last year’s Michael Scott Paper Company story arc, with Jim’s new boss inexplicably choosing to trust Dwight over Jim. But that worked out ok because the Office is about JIM BEING ANNOYED BY HIS BOSS AND DWIGHT. It’s not about JIM BEING OUTSMARTED BY DWIGHT AND SAVED BY HIS BOSS. Also, the payoff last year (with Charles Minor finally learning that Dwight is a total idiot) was tremendous. What could the payoff to “Dwight bugs Jim’s office and plots with Ryan to get him fired” possibly be? Either Dwight or Jim gets fired. Those are the only things that would seem true at this point. I’m pretty sure bugging the office of your boss would be fireable, if not an actual crime. Heck, Dwight should have been fired after the duck.
Ok, that was bad, but what about the main story? If I told you that Michael Scott promised to pay the college tuition of a bunch of kids 10 years ago, then had to tell them it wasn’t true as they graduated from high school, would that seem like a good story to you? How patently evil do you like your Michael Scott? Do you like him “hating Toby” evil, or “ruining Phyllis’ wedding” evil, or “breaking up with Pam’s mom on her birthday” evil? I submit to you that (like Pam even tells him) ruining the lives of a bunch of kids is really, really terrible — Michael at his absolute worst. It’s not that I can’t picture Michael Scott saying that to a bunch of kids, but it’s that I can’t imagine anybody believing him. I also can’t imagine his bosses at Dunder Mifflin not making him recant. Here’s the thing: I went to college more than 10 years ago. Even then, tuition was a lot of money. So him offering that was stone-cold unbelievable. I realize this is a TV show, and they exaggerate things sometimes, but making the promise that outlandish destroyed any real feelings the show might have evoked. Couple that with the Dwight crap, and it felt very much like the Bizarro Office.
Michael offers each kid $1000 dollars, doesn’t want to deliver, ends up capitulating after some humiliation? Good and in character.
Michael offers each kid free tuition, doesn’t want to deliver, ends up ruining a bunch of kids’ lives? Bad and out of character.
Again, don’t make me come over there and write these episodes myself. And this is not to say that I didn’t laugh during the episode — Stanley’s giggle fit over Michael’s predicament was funny, as was Pam’s cocky declaration that she doubled her sales (from 2 to 4). Andy’s opening baby-talk segment was well-done. Pretty much anything Creed says is funny. But the stories? Fonzie on a surfboard.
Dwight better get his comeuppance. Big time.
I with you on this. Actually I haven’t really haven’t liked the whole season thus far for numerous reasons. Here’s my breakdown:
Jim…gone from likable smart butt in the back of the room making fun of the boss/co-workers to the boss. Can’t be the funny smart butt when your the boss…if you are then your just a butt, and not very likable.
Now what they could have done is replace smart butt Jim with a new version to torment Jim(in irritating but harmless ways)…kinda of a karma thing…that might have worked. it seems like that’s what they are trying to do with the whole Dwight thing, but the difference is that Dwight is trying to get Jim fired when he just got married, and a kid is on the way. That’s not funny no matter how it’s written
Pam…again a likable character who gets less and less likable. We all know good people who are trapped in their jobs for various reasons, and we root for them to breakout of that. That’s what she was before. However we also know people who are lousy at their jobs, and only keep it because of who they know…that’s what she is right now, and it’s also not very likable. And in my view, Pam and Jim were the “good” guys before this season…now…not so much.
As for the other characters…Dwight has gone from a loon who one could still like because his weirdness was harmless to a backstabbing jerk who isn’t likable at all. Ryan should have been gotten rid of two seasons ago. The other characters I still like…in fact, they haven’t utilized enough IMO, because of the main plot points this season has shut them out.
Plus the whole shareholder meeting episode bothered me too. Scranton’s branch is the only one that makes money…gimme a break. I’m willing to take small leaps of faith to make the show work, but believe me I’ve worked in paper companies where half the people did nothing….it wasn’t profitable at all.
Anyways…I got more…but I’ve rambled on long enough.
The show’s always taken the stance that Michael and Dwight, despite their lunacy, are fantastic salespeople. I don’t know if that reflects an anti-sales bias, but they’ve always used that as the justification for their continued employment. Ryan, on the other hand, is famous for never making a sale.
You’re right on about Jim and Pam, I think. Has their wedding ruined the show? I didn’t really like the Michael Scott Paper Company thing last year, and that feels like a small version of the big plots their doing this year. I agree that it’s been subpar. It’s like they’re trying to transition to a show where Andy and Erin and possibly Oscar are the good guys. No offense to them, but that show would get canceled.
I just hope it gets better, for all of our sakes.