I'm an Office apologist.  There's nothing the show can or will do that will make me feel differently.  So, as a loyal fan, I'm going to be a forgiving viewer and respect that The Office has earned my fandom time and time again.  If The Office wants to take the pedal off the comedy for an episode and drop some drama on me, I can handle that.  I can accept it.  Five seasons of character work allows The Office to do such things.  Tonight's episode of The Office, given its plot, could have taken place in a prime time drama.  There was a long, epiphanic car ride, a jilted lover taking out his pain on an innocent and the dreaded family meal.  Three stories, only tangentially connected, none of which were particularly funny tonight.  I forgive you, Office – I enjoyed the episode nonetheless. 

The Office is one of the rare comedies that does not bomb jokes.  Because of its faux-documentary style and absence of the antiquated set-up/punch-line formula, dialogue is either funny or an acceptable part of the story.  There are no cringe-worthy moments, as there tend to be in typical sitcom fare.  Part of this comes from the secret darkness of The Office.  Deep down, there is a lot of sadness on display, the rote repetition of daily life in an unexciting office job.  At the beginning of the series, none of the main characters were particularly happy, most trapped in a sort of purgatorial depression.  Jim and Pam, now, are happy, finding respite from their day jobs with each other's company.  Michael Scott has often tricked himself into contentment, but he's got a deep-seeded melancholy about him.  Dwight is so righteous and confident that he has moments of happiness, but now, without Angela, he is devastated (think back to his late-night wailing during last season's Beet Farm episode). 

The point is this: The Office works dramatically.  The characters are so fully-formed at this point that an episode can work without being funny.  The humor doesn't come from random gags – it all happens in and because of character.  The Office writers continue to torture Michael Scott.  The man cannot catch a break.  He finally found a woman who digs him as he is and not despite his Michael-ness, and tonight they had to break up.  They had to, and when Michael realized this, even I could feel his hurt. 

Dwight's ploy to anger Andy was humorous at times, but also sad in its own way.  There was no point to it.  Dwight is resigned to losing Angela, he has to be, and the only way he can react is to piss off her fiance.  There is no end game there, and Dwight knows it.  Whatever joy he squeezes out of that ruse will quickly be washed away.  The Jim and Pam story served little purpose.  Jim's brothers were caricatures, the clichéd aging jocks.  There wasn't much conflict.  Perhaps they're setting up a more long-term “What's next for Pam?” story, but it probably could have been done better.

I didn't laugh very much tonight during The Office, but it still held my interest.  This, I think, is a high compliment for a comedy.  Not every episode can be comic gold.  If the duds can still entertain, then you know it's a show worth watching. 


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of NBC)