The Office - Season 3 on NBC - Page 10

Tonight was too much of "awkward Michael Scott." Took away from the episode instead of adding to it.

I don't think I've ever cringed for an entire half hour until last night. Seriously, all the cringing made me cramp up at about the 17 minute mark.
Just painful, painful stuff to watch.

At least we had Creed, Dwight and Karen actually cutting loose to lighten things up. And, I didn't know whether to cheer for Roy or feel awful for Jim (then I remembered that Jim gets to take Karen home, so that's alright).

This was season 1 Michael Scott last night. Just enjoyably uncomfortable to watch him all episode.

Creed was gold as was all things Pam last night. I especially liked Kelly making her feel like crap, and Roy getting finally getting the onions to ask her out again.

That was one of the most uncomfortable 1/2 hours of TV. I almost couldn't even enjoy it.

Oh, almost forgot about Tobey's moment of triumph. Damned if it didn't warm my heart to see something good happen to that guy for once.

I'm sick of the Pam & Jim storyline.

I'm sick of you.

Spoilerific information of how the love triangle will end, if you can read between the lines:

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-we...tory?track=rss

Start about halfway down the article.

I loved when Phyllis threw the bouquet, it's headed right toward Kelly and Ryan reaches over her head and smacks it away.

I loved the Pavlovian Response at the beginning with Dwight and the Altoids. Great Pam episode. I cringed everytime Michael did anything, especially when he jumped the gun between Bob and Phyllis' vows.

Great moments for Creed, Toby, and a great performance by Kevin. I would hire those guys in a second. The best thing about Jim/Pam is that both Karen and Roy are not bad people. It really tugs at the heart strings to see this unfold.

Toby!

Mint, Dwight?

Roxanne!

Veer left. Left!

That's really pungent.

I hate you!

A lot of great moments in that episode, but Michael was way too over-the-top.

I think Michael's actions in this episode made a ton of sense, especially considering the romantic problems he's been having. He sees Phyllis of all people getting married, yet he's all alone, so he's glomming onto her happiness because he doesn't have any of his own.

Ya know, I don't think Kevin was all that off base in suggesting that Toby had an "escort."

Stanley has jungle fever. Good for him!

Yeah, I guess if anything is going to bring out that kind of behavior in a guy like Michael Scott, it's the situation you described. I just though it was a bit too much. But the words "a bit too much" seem to sum up that character anyway.

It was almost like Michael Scott doing a Michael Scott impression. Just overboard. Who wrote last night's episode?

This is why I love this show is because the characters are not always shown in the best of light. Michael was total prick here, but it made sense. He's always cracking wise about his high school years with Phylis. Trying to make it out that he was the more popular one, which we know is bullshit.

All these years later, she shows him up again by getting married before him and then him acting like a spoiled three-year-old when he feels he was "upstaged" by her crippled father. The stand off with the wheelchair and him stomping up to the wedding party was classic. Tons of balls.

That's a great point. No one is a bad person. You can see why Pam would like Roy and Jim and vice versa. Most of the time, the ROY role is usually a dick. I like it too that Karen and Pam are real friends and not catty towards each other, that would definitely be the easy road to go.

I've actually been a big fan of Roy this season. It seems like he realized his mistakes and is making a sincere effort to become a better guy.

Hey, Buffy nerds who aren't named RathBandu, Joss Whedon directs this week's episode, "Buisness School." J.J. Abrams directs the week after.

I got to say I am absolutely terrified about Whedon directing an Office episode.

edit, nevermind, already covered.

Very true, but mostly Michael actions build up to one completely outrageous "cringe-worthy" act. This episode was a series of outrageous behavior. I was cringing from the beginning (well after the Altoids bit).

Watched it on iTunes, and there were multiple times when I had to pause it because I was cringing so bad. Michael did seem even more over the top than usual, but the video of the last wedding he went to was sooooo perfect that I can almost forgive it. Tons of other great moments:

Michael sitting by himself singing along to the Jewel song.

Toby's triumph, even if it was an escort, was great.

Stanley, Creed, and Ryan all took 5 seconds or less of screentime and absolutely killed.

Jenna Fisher did great work throughout, but...

Karen singing onstage finally sold me on her for good. Adorable is not a strong enough word. Kudos to the Office for making what could so, so easily be a standard sitcom love-triangle work better than most dramatic ones.

Mostly true. Creed might be a goddamn serial killer. There would be no way of knowing.

I think he meant that between Karen, Pam, Jim, and Roy, you have four likeable characters, and you want a happy ending for all of them even though that doesn't look possible. That's a stark contrast to the Baxter/Baxette love triangle scenario we're accustomed to.

That would be a great season-long in the background joke. Creed has been killing former hippies in his spare time and casually scans the news sites the next day at the office for news of his deeds.

Creed does have a home in Canada, so who knows what the hell he does up there.

This show is great, but damn if it doesn't bring back some bad memories of former co-workers. Creed, Michael and Dwight espeically.

I'll bet JJ Abrams starts his Office episode with Dunder Mifflin on fire while Pam cries over Jim's lifeless body in the parking lot, followed by the words, "8 Hours Earlier."

I know Whedon's not writing the episode, but if anybody refers to anything as "[blank]-y", I'm going to be upset.

Roy started out as a bit of a jerk, but they really humanized him this season with how hard he took the calling off of the wedding. You can tell it really woke him up, and that the way he's acting towards Pam now seems genuine and not some kind of ploy to win her back.

Roy's problem isn't that he's a complete dick - if I recall, that was more the case with his British counterpart. It's that he's sort of clueless, uninteresting, and, key in the world of the Office (and in life, to some degree, I'd argue), not operating on the same humor level as those around him. Specifically, he's not like those characters with whom we're meant to relate most fully - Jim and Pam, and, maybe to a lesser degree, Ryan.

As with the British series, you're rooting for Jim/Tim and Pam/Dawn to extract themselves from this boring, oppressive existence, and hope that they can do it together. Nice or not, Roy basically represents the appeal of settling for the mundane.

Karen, on the other hand, is an animal we didn't see in the British series. She's clearly ambitious, at least in the context of the corporate world, and has more to offer Jim than Roy does Pam in terms of empathy and shared interests, but she obviously still doesn't quite "get" Jim.

"And everyone thinks he's a tease!" Fantastic.

and now Roy has gone back to his old ways.

Was great. Loved the scene at the end between Michael and Pam.

Didn't happen, but it was pretty fucking close. I expected better of them.

It was another good episode. Creed does it again with his little bit of screen time, him and Dwight teaming up was great.

I did like Creed's "What size," that was pretty great.

I think you're reaching, Brendan. Other then the vampire stuff (which I thought was pretty in character for Jim) it could have been done by any other director.

I was just kind of disappointed that the bat/Jim as vampire plot took up too much of the episode. The idea of it -- doing a vampire plot in an episode by the guy who made his career on vampires -- was too in-jokey and distracting for me. I appreciate that Whedon didn't add any of his little touches to the episode, but I don't know (and maybe this is because I'm trying to do a shotgun marathon of Buffy 3-7 for a THUD on the Tenth Anniversary), I found it really distracting.

The stuff with Michael was great, though. I loved the button of him banishing Ryan to Kelly's corner -- proof that he really does "know people."

Yeah, his punishment of Ryan as beyond perfect.

Creed was great, as was Kevin's "I'm...a hero." But I do wish they'd reign Dwight in a little every once in a while.

Rath, you've been weird about the episode from the get. It never had a chance with you. One of the better episodes of the season, I'd say. Though, this season really hasn't had a lot of misfires.

I give every episode the same shot I give every other episode of tv I watch. And I guess my point is that I thought the Dwight/Jim stuff was weak tonight, whereas the rest of the episode was as strong as they've done in the past. Michael at buisness school was great, so was Pam at the art show -- and Jenna Fisher once again proves why she's a champion. That look on her face when Oscar's partner was talking about her art was heartbreaking. I loved the scene at the end with Michael. But the 'vampire bat' stuff fell flat for me, and I thought the Dwight attacking Meredith thing was waaayyyy too over the top for this show.

Holy shit! Michael Scott stole a frisby from someone at MY college!

Was pretty good. Kinda bummed that Roy is already turning back into a dick.

Toby had the best line. "It's important to support local art, what they do isn't art."

After the Phylis wedding last week it was nice to see Michael have a moment where he wasn't a completely excrutiatingly annoying freak at the end of the episode with Pam.

I thought the Jim/Dwight stuff was really strong. Its clear from early eps like the Alliance to recent eps like the Initiation that given the opportunity, Dwight will go way over the top . I saw it as pretty standard for Dwight/Jim relationship.

It was great to see Michael as a naive, a jerk and a guy with a heart all in the same ep, as opposed to last week, where it seemed to be the "let's see what Michael screws up next" show.

The only thing I didn't like is that they "turned" Roy so quickly. I figured it would have been more drawn out.

I didn't see Roy last night as a "turning". I think he was trying very hard to be earnest. He showed up to the art show when no one else really did. He even brought his brother. All he showed was that even with him trying as hard as he is, he still doesn't "get it". He's a simple guy and he can't keep up the effort forever.

I actually didn't expect Michael to show up at the end. It was a perfect moment, and one of the continuing reasons why you make it through the cringe moments and still care about Michael.

Exactly. His problem isn't that he's an asshole; it's that he's an emotionally clueless man-child. He may have been trying to be nicer, but it wasn't because of any profound change in terms of his insight on how people work (especially a woman, and especially a woman who aspires to be artistic). I've gotta give credit to the actor, though. Of all of the characters, Roy may be the one that rings most true, sadly enough. I've never met a Michael Scott (perhaps more subtle versions of him), but I've met tons of Roys.

I agree that Rath is reaching. I think he's bringing too much behind-the-scenes baggage into his interpretation and appraisal of the show. It was happening in that Studio 60 thread, too. Sometimes, it serves us better to ignore the nuts and bolts and focus on the finished product, Rath.

Especially since the scripts are totally written before they're ever given to a director. So it's not like Whedon got an otherwise ordinary script and said, "Hey, there's no vampires in this--someone get me a pen."

The vamp stuff was my favorite part of the episode, and maybe my favorite Jim prank ever. Krakinski sold the hell out of that gag. Especially like how he never looked Dwight in the eyes; he only stared at his neck.

Apologizing in Advance for the Uncharacteristic Gushing

A couple of observations:

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Steve Carell deserves much love for his portrayal of Michael Scott. His ability to play a clueless individual without basic social filtering (i.e. a jerk by default), while similtaneously making you care for the guy, borders on brilliance. Last night was a perfect example: his speech to Ryan's class (candybars and all) and his appearance at Pam's art show... the many facets of Michael Scott. People focus on the Jim/Pam relationship, but Steve Carell is, oddly, the real heart of the show. I almost choked up during the scene with Jenna Fischer. Given Pam's fragility (well done, Jenna, well done), the easy answer would be to have Jim show up, but to have Michael show up and be touched by her picture of the Office was just excellent. Awkward as he may be, he knows his people. I'm reminded of Jim's line from earlier in the season: "Say what you will about Michael Scott, but he would never do that."

The vampire bat stuff was hilarious, as well. It's a tribute to the writers that they can take these very real characters (well, except for Dwight, maybe) and still play such broad humor. At one point (it may have been the scene where Kelly forbids Dwight and Creed from killing the bat only to scream "Kill it! Kill it!" when it escapes), I laughed so hard that black spots started swirling around in my field of vision. And, again, how adorable was Karen playing along with Jim's prank?

Just great, great stuff.