The Office: Frame Toby
By fred | November 21, 2008
(S05E08) We should talk about what The Office is. Much like How I Met Your Mother, this is a great show that has been delivering so much awesome and hilarious episodes with such quality for many years now, that I think most of us have quite high expectations every week, and also we’re not willing to accept from those shows things we would find just fine in other sitcoms.
Because while they’re sitcoms, that is the category they fall under, neither of them are really just that. For once reason or another, they’re outgrow their initial status of “just a sitcom” to become something else, something more, something where having sitcom-esque situations or cartoonish characters isn’t acceptable. And while it might be where the episode went, a little, I have to say I loved it.
Let’s see the cold opening. I knew Michael was going to walk there, see Toby, and just scream. I knew it, and I’m sure you did too. And you could argue that it’s a little bit too much or unrealistic or “below” the level of what you expect from The Office, but here’s the thing : I was watching Michael stare at Toby, I knew what his reaction had to be, and yet when the genius that is Steve Carell started to yell “No!! God!! No, God, please no! No!! No!!! Nooooo!!!!” I just found myself rolling on floor and my stomach hurt I was laughing so hard.
Sure, you can blame it all on Steve Carell’s talent and pretend that he managed to take something you wouldn’t otherwise find funny or expect from The Office and made it work, and he sure was brilliant, but the reality is that that’s not the entire truth.
I am sure some people will have had trouble with how Michael and Dwight plotted to get Toby fired, and quite possibly actually sent to jail. You could argue that while of course it failed and could only failed with Michael going to buy weed from warehouse guys like that, it was never going to work anyway. Or, you could argue that this is irrelevant and the thing is, they did try to send an innocent man to prison.
But first of all, we all saw Michael couldn’t have gone with it and, had it really been pot, he would have said something as well, he actually confess before he knew it was not, because at heart - and even for Toby – Michael isn’t ready to go that far. Secondly, sure it might took too much, pushing things too far or making a mockery of those characters, but the fact and the matter is, I don’t think it was. Yes, The Office has always has this sense of reality, not because it’s supposedly a documentary but because that’s how the show is.
Yet, some characters have always been borderline, Michael has always been close to turn into a parody of himself, but more importantly he has always acted this way with Toby. Sure, it was crossing a line, but that’s always how he acts with Toby, despite what you may think of what he and Dwight did this week, the fact and the matter is, it was still consistent with those characters and their relationship.
Michael did get a rock as goodbye gift for Toby, that’s who he is and how he behaves with the guy. It’s nothing new, and I don’t think you can put on the same category their evil plan tonight, and Michael kidnapping a pizza delivery boy. The former remains true to the characters, while the later is going too far and making a mockery of the character. And then again, Michael might hate Toby with all his guts, he would not have let him go to jail over this, if you really think he would have, it means you didn’t watch the episode good enough, and you don’t know Michael.
Posted in Reviews
Shows: The Office
