What I’m Watching: The Office

The Office: Season 8, Episode 17 “Test the Store” (B)

Things in Tallahassee are beginning to get a little weird, but generally, this has been a good extended field trip for the show. I liked the casting of Erin as an undercover tent-dweller, awkwardly mispronouncing Zooey Deschanel’s name as she read it off her notes and shooing away the elderly when they tried to come in and dampen the vibe. Cathy being given the role of flirting with the bloggers was good for her as well, and I’m glad that the trip is nearly over and nothing malicious has happened to derail Jim’s happy marriage. After the fail blog photo was taken, Jim actually managed to spring into action and deliver an appropriately enthusiastic speech with unplanned pauses and mistaken emphases that seems to have done the trick. Dwight is sure to be power-hungry going forward following his promotion, and I’m not sure what that means for the show in the future in terms of what Dwight’s role will be. Jim deserves a pat on the back, while Ryan, as usual, ran when the going got tough. Back in Scranton, Andy and Pam getting attacked by children wasn’t all that funny, and Toby’s self-defense class was fairly boring. I do like how it resulted in the obvious conclusion of Kelly, most like a twelve-year-old girl, attacking Toby so that they could get a realistic view of the situation. Andy may have his faults, but standing up for his people is something he does well, or at least, ably enough. I very much enjoyed the zip code scene in which Darryl made sure to emphasize the last four digits.