Juggling multiple story arcs can be tricky for any sitcom.  But The Office has never been a comedy show about trying to cram in as many jokes possible in a half-hour format.  Its humor stems from the characters' quirky yet realistic circumstances that lead them to do the most outrageously uncomfortable things imaginable.  The sitcom is never predictable either. In its five-season run, it's always trying to shake things up so that things always feel fresh, particularly as the characters grow older and as relationships get more complicated.

The fifth season of The Office took several months to air but the premiere was well worth the wait. In the opener, we learned what we missed at Dunder Mifflin over the summer as the staff engaged in a weight loss program in attempt to win three extra vacation days.  Michael started to pursue a friendship with his new HR rep Holly and Andy planned his wedding to Angela, who continued her affair with Dwight.  Jim finally proposed to Pam, who was still attending art school in New York at the time, and a disgraced Ryan returned to the office as a temp receptionist.  If the opener is any indication of this season, we are in store for an extremely entertaining year.

Character development gets somewhat lost when programs get into their later seasons but The Office still manages to tell great stories with its Scranton employees.  However, I noticed that nobody is the same anymore.  The most drastic change, I think, are between the characters Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), who have become more outspoken than ever before. Change is good but only when it's subtle.  I don't want The Office to go through a dramatic change since it might cause the downfall of the entire series. I think viewers can't take too many changes at one time because then they can't relate to the characters they fell in love with in the first place.  Moving forward, I hope Kevin gets more storylines that highlights his deadpan personality and juvenile sense of humor, while Pam remains reserved and apathetic towards her job as a receptionist.

Speaking of Pam, the fifth season, thus far, has also given us several “Pam and Jim” moments. The rest of the season may not toy with the idea of a breakup between these two characters but somehow, I don't think the New York story is final just yet.  In the episode “Business Trip,” Pam told Jim that she's coming back and just didn't want to do graphic design, despite the fact that art is her passion. I'm not sure where it will go from here, but I can't wait to see.  (Hoping and praying Pam and Jim don't become another Pam and Roy) In the mean time, I'd like to see these two characters playing with more office pranks.

Last but not the least, I wish for more scenes with Kelly and Ryan.  Kelly is my favorite character next to Rainn Wilson's Dwight Schrute.  And though she initially didn't have any outstanding personality traits in the beginning of the series, she has eventually emerged as the office chatterbox, who tends to engage in long-winded, one-sided conversations on relatively trivial subjects, much to the chagrin of cubicle mate Toby.  For the most part, what's keeping her interesting is her on-again, off-again relationship with Ryan, who desires a very casual relationship, whereas the overbearing Kelly wants to get married and have children as soon as possible.  But it seems that a “Kelly and Ryan” scene won't be happening anytime soon.  In “Frame Toby,” Ryan broke up with her again and left the office altogether but not before convincing her to have sex with him one last time and give him some traveling money.  There's also a rumor that Ryan's portrayer, B.J. Novak, may never return to The Office, at least in an on-screen role.  Still, Kelly should get the airtime she deserves.

All in all, I have great faith in the show's writers, which may be The Office's greatest strength.  This show has been firing on all cylinders all season long, and has, thankfully, taken us places that I didn't expect it to go.

New episodes of The Office resume on January 15 at 9pm on NBC.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of NBC)