Wednesday, March 24, 2010

What I'm Watching: The Office

The Office: Season 6, Episode 19 "New Leads" (B+)

I do enjoy when the people in the office end up taking sides, and surprising alliances and relationships develop that are well out of the ordinary. Having Angela torment Phyllis is one thing, but I'm talking about Stanley trying to get the leads out of the hands of Ryan and Kelly by pretending to like the Kardashians or Andy fighting to borrow a pencil from Darryl. The chain of events that led to the leads ending up at the dump was quite entertaining, including Erin taking out the trash because Toby had baba ganoush, which of course involved a great cut to Toby trying to defend ethnic restaurants over the monotony of pizza. Michael asserting himself immaturely was nothing new, but it was still enjoyable, especially to see just how frustrated it makes Jim, who described having to deal with two babies instead of just one. Michael and Dwight talking about how Dwight has changed made for an unexpectedly deep moment, and it really does make sense since Dwight used to be more of an idiot than just a jerk. It's good that the usually hapless Michael is able to realize that and point it out. In a twisted way, it does make sense that Andy and Erin would have their first kiss in the middle of a pile of garbage, because those two seem so blissfully unaware of what's going on around them yet still so charming. My favorite line of the episode has to be Phyllis' snippy comment shooting down one of the proposed peacemaking ideas: "If they don't have an iPod by now, they really don't want one."

5 comments:

Greg Boyd said...

I really enjoyed this one. It was very funny, if a bit over the top. My favorite part was when Michael hid one of the leads in tomato sauce. Honestly, though, I didn't see what the sales staff was doing wrong. They weren't being jerks. They just wanted their leads. Didn't get that at all. Loved seeing Angela get back at Phyllis (since I hate Phyllis). Really good episode. Not "The Delivery", but pretty close.

Richter Scale said...

I wouldn't say the sales staff were being jerks, but they were showing over-blown egos. They were walking around the office thinking they were better than everyone, just because Sabre said that Sales is king, which might true, but it didn't sit well with Michael (or anyone else who had to work with them or listen to them), so hiding the leads was a way of knowing them down a peg, letting them know that he wouldn't stand for blown egos in the office, which I thought was a great move on Michael's part. I'm beginning to understand why he's manager (even with all the mistakes he's made in the past). Great episode! Probably one of the best this season.

thedemonhog said...

I saw Nancy's guest review, but what grade would you give "The Delivery", Abe?

Greg Boyd said...

Yeah, I'd like to know as well.

Movies with Abe said...

I think I'd give it an A- too. Definitely one of the better episodes of the season, and I very much enjoyed it!