The Office: Season 7, Episode 8 “Viewing Party” (C+)
After doing a “classic Michael” episode that didn’t quite work last week, do we really need a repeat of that just one week later? Additionally, it’s yet another field trip that really goes against the premise of what this show is – a workplace sitcom. This episode centers around an idea that’s never really been fleshed out, spoken accidentally by Kevin and then only really addressed by Michael later, and that weakens it considerably. Part of the problem also is that Gabe, unlike the predecessors Michael cites like Charles and Michael (and Ryan, for that matter), isn’t nearly as antagonistic or disagreeable, and also doesn’t actually exert as much influence as he could. The “Glee” isn’t anywhere near as entertaining as I might have thought, save for Kelly predictably being the most into it and Creed finding out what happened after Michael cut the power. What I did enjoy was Dwight managing to quiet Cece and then forcing Jim to do stuff for him in exchange for keeping her asleep. I’ve always enjoyed the peculiar relationship between Dwight and Pam, and I liked their back and forth: “We’ve always been good friends” / “True, but you married my enemy.” What was especially fun after that was Pam’s immediate admission that she knew where Dwight had to be and her willingness to go talk to Angela and tell her that Dwight wasn’t coming to cash in on one of their agreed-upon intercourse sessions. Some of these characters are truly entertaining, and the show would do well to focus more on the people who are going to be around after Michael leaves.
Monday, November 15, 2010
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3 comments:
I actually loved this episode and considered it one of the stronger ones. The Michael and Erin dynamic, the Dwight/Pam/Jim craziness and Daryl and Andy's odd hallway conversation. It all seemed to work really well for me.
I second Andrew, it all worked for me too, and I loved the fact that Erin sees Michael as a father figure. It's weird, but it fits the characters. Michael is a man-child, but I do feel he's growing this season. He's still very immature, but he's a character I've grown to love (I remember I couldn't stand him when I first saw the pilot, and I stayed because of Dwight, Jim and Pam, and eventually Michael won me over).
Glad to hear you both liked it. I guess I just prefer staying in the office. Especially if Michael isn't going to be on the show after this season, it would be okay if he's not the center of attention all the time.
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