You may (or may not) have noticed that I didn’t blog “The Office” the last couple of weeks. This is due in part to a relative lack of things to write about. With Jim and Pam getting along swimmingly, there really wasn’t a “will they or won’t they?” vibe going on anymore and I found myself simply scribbling down my favorite lines and transcribing them for you. It is much easier to blog a serialized drama where there are obvious things to talk about – season-long storylines, cliffhangers, mysteries to solve, etc. – but comedies can be tough. (I know, cry me a river, right?)
But tonight’s episode definitely warrants a post. It was the season finale, and the writers didn’t let us down. Once Pam and Jim got together, I was worried that the show would lose that heartwarming feel that offsets some of the mean-spiritedness of some (or most?) of its characters. But this season has been just as funny, and one of the season-long story arcs was Jim’s decision to propose. This almost came to a head tonight, but Andy beat him to the punch. I wish I could say that I was surprised, but they sort of hid Andy for most of the episode, and as soon as I saw him sitting there at the party with that big, goofy grin, I knew he was going to ruin Jim’s moment.
I didn’t like the fact that Pam was a little upset (or was it disappointed?) with the fact that Jim didn’t propose. Does it not run through her mind that, once Andy makes an ass of himself, Jim may have wanted to propose but couldn’t because Andy just stole the show?
A while ago, I pondered (on this blog) about the reason why Michael hates Toby so much and I hoped that they’d eventually reveal the back-story. A reader wrote that he thought it was simply because Toby is the HR guy and his role is to tell Michael when he’s crossed the line, essentially sucking the fun out of working at Dunder-Mifflin (as far as Michael was concerned). I honestly thought that there was more there, but tonight’s episode revealed no new information on that front, so I guess I was wrong. I will say that Michael’s song parody of Supertramp’s “Goodbye, Stranger” was pretty cool. (And I’m aching to hear “Beers in Heaven” as well, even if it is a bit sexy.)
But back to the romance angle, it was a disappointing episode for Michael, who finally found a girl that seemed to like him for him. By the way, Holly, the new HR rep, was played by Amy Ryan, who recently finished up her role as Beadie on “The Wire.” She also has a burgeoning film career, with recent roles in “Gone Baby Gone” and “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” as well as “Dan In Real Life,” in which she co-starred with Steve Carell. Was that how she came to be on “The Office”? Hmmm.
Anyway, there I am, rooting for Michael not to mess it up with Holly, and Jan rears her ugly head. Don’t get me wrong, I think Jan is hilarious, but how she manages to rope Michael back into her life after refusing to use his sperm to get pregnant is beyond me.
As we look forward to next season, I wonder if Holly will be a recurring character and if that romantic triangle will be a season-long storyline. If so, I think it has potential.
In other news, it was great to see Jim messing with Dwight at the beginning of the episode. I think there should be a rule that every other week, the show has to open with Jim playing some sort of prank on Dwight. That’s great stuff. I also enjoyed Kevin the Mentally Challenged Accountant. Holly’s interaction with him was hilarious.
Lastly… Moes!
Now, for a few great lines:
Michael: “I should make you a mix.”
Ryan: “Congratulations. Congratulations on doing your job. Now enter the order on the website.”
(By the way, it was hilarious to see the cocky Ryan being escorted out of the DM HQ in handcuffs.)
Michael: “I think I love her.”
Jim: “You can think that, but you don’t say it out loud and you definitely don’t tell her.”
Pam: “Don’t tell him this, but I always thought that Toby was kind of cute.”
And then, of course, the tag…
Dwight and Angela hooking up in the office!
