Sunday, October 30, 2011

What I’m Watching: The Office (Halloween Episode #4)


The Office: Season 8, Episode 5 “Spooked” (C+)

There’s something about this episode that just didn’t work, and I think it’s mainly that none of the multiple threads has much impact, so there was nothing to carry the episode or tie it together. Revisiting Andy and Erin’s relationship is all fine and good, but it’s a little too late for that since they’ve been working together for a while now, even with him as her boss, and for her to suddenly express an issue with working for him seems random at best. His confession that he’s been on thirty-one dates with another woman stings, and a silent hug at the end of the episode isn’t going to cut it for the resolution of their relationship issues. Jim’s concern with Pam expressing a true belief in ghosts makes some sense, but that plotline went absolutely nowhere. I’d imagine that Pam was pushing it mostly to mess with Jim, but it still didn’t have much of a hook or a point. Robert asking everyone about their fears and then saying “What am I up to?” was great, and it would have been perfect if it had stopped there. His story was just creepy, and didn’t produce any laughs aside from Kevin’s failure to pick up on the fact that he was talking about mummies. I much prefer Robert in a more subtle context, like stepping back but not leaving when things become none of his business in Andy’s office and telling Andy that he dressed like a laborer on this day of fantasy. It’s about time Dwight befriended a kid, and tasking him to fire Toby was predictably harsh.

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