“Branch Wars”
November 1st, 2007
This week signals a return to the type of Office episode that I enjoy, find humorous, and yet can’t help but feel could have been better. I like this kind of episode, because it isn’t bad (Which at least one of the one hour segments were) and it signals a return to formula for a series that deviated from it too often early in the season.
Strongly directed by returning guest director Joss Whedon (Who is returning to television with Fox next year), the episode had some great subtle visual comedy and a great awkward moment between Jim and Karen (Returning guest star Rashida Jones). However, the build to that moment was The Office at a sensationalist level that did not elicit enough laughs to justify its stupidity.
And, I’m sorry, but urine is always stupid.
Dwight peeing in the back of Michael’s new PT Cruiser convertible (How many cars has he had recently, anyways?) was a moment where I cringed as opposed to laughing. It was too ridiculous for Dwight’s character, and the use of bodily fluid humour just doesn’t feel natural for a series capable of so much more. There was some great physical acting from Dwight, but even the can lid joke fell flat when I considered how broad the comedy became in that moment.
The rest of the episode was delightfully subtle: Pam, Toby and Oscar have their Finer Things club, which was actually more of a character moment for Andy than anyone else. Ed Helms has integrated into the cast well, although he’s still technically just a more socially aware version of Dwight.
And although Stanley was the epicenter of the night’s episode, as he threatened to go to Utica to work for Karen (Who has risen to the position of Regional Manager quite quickly), the rest of the supporting cast largely sat this one out. This gave the office feeling a little isolated, even though Kevin and Phyllis were occasionally present.
I liked Michael in this episode, but only really within the office: the Ferris Bueller gag was well-executed, he got some great lines off on Stanley (His Job Ad was hysterical), but his stuff out of the office was just too dumb. It didn’t ruin the segments or anything, but it felt like way too much trouble for writer Mindy Kaling to go through in order to contrive Jim and Karen into their awkward conversation.
And awkward it was: I don’t know if it was having Whedon in town, but their showdown was squirm-worthy – it showed Jim a little out of his element, and while I think it portrayed Karen as a bit too blindly vindictive it still was one of the show’s best scenes as of late because it was simple. The Office should strive for that more often: simple moments are what make the show what it is.
Cultural Observations
- I love how Stanley always says what I’m thinking. Take for example “How is sleeping better than not being in your office?” and “Sometimes I say crazy things”
- The lack of Angela was particularly annoying considering how central she has been to this year’s storylines.
- Is Jim really so stupid as to not know the basic plot of Angela’s Ashes? Even when he clearly knew something about the book, being that it is set in Ireland? Still, a fun little sequence, especially Pam’s “Sorry” whisper.
- As opposed to the peeing, Dwight’s entire bomb scheme felt like his usual overpreparation scenario. He can overreact, but he can’t act like an uncivilized buffoon. Deal?
Cultural Learnings 