Scott on the Office Season 5

[Scott talks about the Office season 5. I would love to get involved in this discussion, but I have not been keeping up with the Office this season -- I figure I will get to it later after there are a good number of them waiting on Hulu. I haven't even seen the newest episode of Pushing Daisies -- that is how busy Sara and I have been. With the wedding the next ten days are likely to be wonk-y for me.]

Some thoughts on tonight's episode of the Office that tie-in to our other Office discussions:

While I can't say that I've been impressed with the overall quality of The Office so far this season (it seems a bit uneven... I can't quite put my finger on it... too much going on... story going in too many directions?), the show continues to impress in its handling of the Jim and Pam relationship. This is mostly because, as Geoff has mentioned, the show continually reminds us of how other shows would have completely messed things up.

In the season premiere, we are given the typical 'hints' that lead to the downfall of a relationship in most (really, every) sit-com: a lack of being able to spend time together, a separation and the introduction of a possible 'other person' who, at the very least, will create jealousy. However, instead of the relationship weakening in this episode, in climaxes with Jim's proposal.

Tonight's episode continued the shows trend of playing against what we're expecting based on our 'training' a la every sit-com romance ever up until this point. Pam and Jim attempt to have phone conversations at a couple of points that fail for one reason or another: Jim can't follow Pam's story because he is unfamiliar with her art school acquaintances, Pam has trouble hearing Jim when he calls her to give her the scoop of Jan's latest visit to the office. At first, we're thinking that the show is trying to tell us that Pam and Jim are drifting apart. Interestingly, the show even plays around with one of its own conventions of Pam, in one of the show's 'confessional' segments, assure us that "this kind of thing is norma and we're just a little out of sync" and that they "would even have off days in Scranton." Now, we have seen on the show many times before that when a character is assuring the audience that they are, in fact, assuring themselves. This leads us to believe that maybe Pam is really troubled by this and that we should also be worried. But just as we're about to groan "Oh, no... not again" to ourselves the show rescues us from our own expectations by showing how 'out-of-sync' Pam and Jim are by having them call each other at the exact same moment only to get the others voicemail. It then shows us that they are, in fact, so 'in synch' that they proceed to have a two-way conversation without ever hearing a word the other is saying.

It was a brilliant moment... and, once again, I was kicking myself for ever doubting the writers could go wrong with this relationship.

Scott on the Office Season Four Finale

[I am only two episodes into season 4, since I have been playing catch up with this series.]




A while back on here, we had a discussion of how The Office was a show about celebrating the 'small, perfect' moments (particularly in regards to Pam and Jim's relationship). Tonight's finale was an excellent example of that. Throughout the episode, I kept waiting for something 'Bad' to happen with Pam and Jim. That's what traditional sit-com romances have trained us for; whenever things are going well... something bad has to happen to mess it up. When Pam gets accepted to design school, for a moment, I expected this to strain the relationship. Instead, they're both happy. Why are they both happy? Because unlike most sit-com couples and like most real, loving couples... they had actually discussed this! It was what they were both hoping for. They had planned for it and were prepared for it.

Also, it is when Jim realizes that so many of the small perfect moments have happenned at the office that he decides to propose to Pam at that evenings office party and, the real tragedy of the episode, is NOT that their relationship is broken but that Jim is robbed of his 'perfect moment' to propose to Pam by Andy's proposal to Angela. The show has me hooked... but I don't feel jerked around the way I do with the typical 'Sam and Diane/Rachel Ross' scenario. Doing that with Pam and Jim would rob the relationship of its sweetness.

It's also worth pointing out that Michael (always looking for his 'big movie moment') ultimately chooses to abandon the pursuit of 'small, perfect' moments with the new Human Resources lady to, instead, get back with his ex-girlfriend who is carrying a child that is not his; which sounds like the plot of a hackneyed romantic comedy... which is probably part of why it appeals to Michael (he's also desperate for children... and sees this as a short cut over Jim's advice of take it slow with the HR lady). Once again, Michael's pursuit of a 'big movie moment' over 'small, perfect moments' has robbed him of happiness.

The writer's for this show are smart, they know they don't have to mine the Pam and Jim relationship anymore for conflict: They're together and happy and, we, as the viewers like them like that. They also know that there's enought material with the other characters in the office. I've noticed that a lot of this season has been spent building up the background characters... we care about what happens with Dwight and Angela (and Andy).... and, now, we have the relationship between Michael and the HR lady (forgot the name... sorry). As long as the writer's continue to find ways to surprise us... the show can be fresh for some time to come.