Sunday, April 29, 2012

What I’m Watching: The Office


The Office: Season 8, Episode 22 “Fundraiser” (C+)

This show doesn’t seem to have any sense of where it’s headed. Benching Andy only makes sense if he’s going to have some more productive purpose, and adopting multiple dogs at an auction is hardly the best use of his character. He also doesn’t even have a conflict with Nellie anymore, and instead it’s just with Robert, which is nothing new since they’ve always had a bit of a strained relationship. Dwight not knowing that the silent auction was for purchase rather than guessing the amounts didn’t track at all with his character, since he’s much brighter than Joey Tribbiani, who famously got a boat he couldn’t possibly afford out of a similar situation. Technically speaking, Dwight is the show’s most inconsistent character, appearing excessively dumb in scenarios in which he should be expertly intelligent. It’s hardly worth it just to make Kevin feel smart. This show also pulled an awful stunt just like this with the miserable installment “Scott’s Tots,” in which Michael failed to deliver on his promise to fund an entire class’ college educations. What this episode did present was the first genuinely funny usage of Nellie, in which she tried to woo Darryl and hoped that tacos didn’t have eyes. Fortunately, Darryl appreciated her painful consumption of a taco, since it meant that she was trying. The opening scene with Ryan’s ridiculousness was amusing, and, as before, Oscar’s frantic desire to proclaim that the State Senator is gay proved entertaining as he kept getting mixed signals.

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