What I’m Watching: The Office

The Office: Season 9, Episode 11 “Suit Warehouse” (B-)

It definitely doesn’t feel like this show is on its way out in terms of where the plot is headed, except for the tearing up of the carpeting on the floor, which didn’t even get finished. Either Pam and Jim are going to move together to Philadelphia or they’re not, and dragging it out like this just isn’t necessary. Darryl almost tanking his audition and then sinking a basket into a tank wasn’t all that funny, and him moving to Philadelphia doesn’t have much relevance, especially since Val is not a main character and therefore their relationship working out just doesn’t matter. It’s nice to see that, after all these years, people still know how to waste time at the office while there’s no boss around, and trying all of the espresso flavors to see which ones they like best is one way of doing that. Erin getting stressed out about being tasked with receiving the pen delivery was too much of an obvious metaphor for her concern about starting a romance with Pete behind Andy’s back, and it’s about time we saw Andy again since the show might end before he has the opportunity to return. Dwight posing as Clark’s father on a sales call was hardly as entertaining or speedily effective as his joint efforts with Jim, including the ones that were referenced at the beginning of the episode, and I’d love to see a less forced attempted integration of the new characters into this show’s final season.