The Office: Lecture Circuit, Part 2
By fred | February 13, 2009
(S05E15) Last week when the episode ended, it wasn’t over, we were left on a “to be continued” cliffhanger, as Michael – pushed by Pam – decided to change his official plan and go see Holly and get closure. So with this week being the continuation of last week, what we have here is pretty much one of those hour-long episodes we’ve been getting in the past, only it was spread over two weeks.
The reason I’m saying this, is that this is how I felt, it did remind me of those hour-long episodes we all remember as being somewhat unfunny or of lesser quality by the end of things, because while there might have been a strong story that could last for more than the usual half-hour, they didn’t really have enough to last the full hour, and so crazy stunts and stupid fillers were brought in.
This week felt even worse, because the first hour, the one filled with all the best jokes and funny moments, it was last week’s, this time all we had was this episode, the second part, the one where things go wrong and it doesn’t feel like you’re watching the same show you once fell in love with.
I’m gonna go ahead and say it, but I just saw this episode and my gut-feeling right now is to call it the worst episode of the series so far. Probably too much, I guess (I’m sure?), but I really didn’t like it!
It’s not that as it turned out Holly was nowhere to be seen, unlike what I had hoped last week, or that she’s got a boyfriend, but I’m sure that didn’t help. But the thing is, Michael’s presentation really made me cringe, it was uncomfortable and an delightfully horrendous mix of funny and pathetic. Maybe too much, but at the same time it’s Michael, and that’s how things had to go down. What I did not like at all, however, was Pam.
Maybe I’m wrong, but – to me – it felt really out of character for her to continue the presentation she way she did. It’s not that she didn’t just say “okay, it’s over” and left, it’s that she continued just the way Michael would have. And maybe her impersonation of Michael’s impersonation was good, but it’s not Pam! And why would she, adorable and sweet Pam, go on and give everyone an insulting nickname just because Michael would have!??
From the look on her face last week, or the way she was throwing candy at people’s face, you could tell she knew it wasn’t a great presentation, so why would she do it herself?? Plus, Michael is Michael, and Michael – as illustrated again during the last scene – can use such a nickname to actually find the person’s real name, something I have to say I doubt Pam could do! Which in the end makes things much worse, because it’s then plain insulting with nothing more behind it. And she knows it. And to see her taking up the chainsaw was just stupid, and not the good kind…
Sadly things weren’t any better back at the office, because Jim & Dwight teaming up was rather unfunny for the most part, though I like the idea of sleeping at work, and some things were just stupid. Jim isn’t a retard is he? Because apparently he couldn’t think of just pulling out a list of employees or ask Dwight to go have another look at Kelly’s personal file to make sure to spell her name right!? Dude, where’s your brain?
And if in previous hour-long episode it was often Michael who crossed a line and became too cartoonish, this week it was Angela. Angela has always been a cat lady, her selling Andy’s ring and buying a cat for $7000 is just Angela, her putting up a webcam to watch them all day long is just her, but to have her talk – and by that I mean actually meowing – to her cats, and clean then up with her tongue, that’s not crazy lady-cat Angela, that’s crossing a line, that’s a cartoonish version of her. That didn’t make me laughs, nor did it made me cringe, it made me wonder how drunk the writers were and how come no one cut that out…
Not to say everything was bad, of course not, Michael taking a piece of Holly’s sweatshirt was just very Michael-like, and the look on his face when Pam told him it wasn’t over (so maybe there is hope to see Holly again…) was just priceless – and I do wonder what the Hell that letter said, I’m sure there’s something Pam isn’t saying…
Still, overall this wasn’t a good episode, not at all, and I wished they had cut things out from last week and packed that whole story into a single half-hour episode (maybe sending Kelly’s birthday plot to another ep) because as it’s been done here, it wasn’t for the best, and this episode really didn’t do it for me.
What did everybody else think ? Anybody else thought it wasn’t Pam-like of her to continue Michael’s presentation the way she did ? Were you bothered by Angela licking her cats as well ?
Posted in Reviews
Shows: The Office
