The Moth Chase

September 18, 2009

Oh, I am so glad The Office is back!  The opening sequence on Parkour, the internet sensation of 2004, had tears streaming.  I guess they were technically doing Parkour if “point A is delusion and point B is the hospital” – genius!  The thing that I love about it, though, is that we all wanted to do that when first saw Parkour, right?  But none of us did.  And that’s what I love about Michael, Dwight and Andy – for all the ways in which they are moronic, they give in to those desires that the rest of us resist because giving in to them would alienate us from our communities.  There’s something in that that I find interesting, hopeful and fun.

But on to what is likely to be the real arc of this season: Pam’s pregnancy.  With each stage of Jim and Pam’s relationship, I worry that it’s going to get all Ross and Rachel obsessive annoying.  The British Office did it perfectly – everything ends when Tim and Dawn get together, so we don’t have to witness the annoying back and forth of regular relationships.  And so with The American Office, we’ve had to see what happens after the couple gets together, and I have to say – it’s not nearly as annoying as I thought it would be!  So here’s the next stage in that development towards normative family status – a baby.

The first episode bodes well, though: while offering the seed of a plotline, the pregnancy was not the central story.  It remained one of many stories, fit into an overarching, larger communal narrative.  Here’s hoping The Office manages to keep on this track and doesn’t bow to making normative, nuclear families the organizing principle of a season!

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October 1st, 2009: The Office Supports Feminist Leadership Styles!

Last night’s episode of The Office got me thinking about the difference between patriarchal and feminist inspired modes of leadership style – I know, I know, but seriously.

I’m still not sure how I feel about this incredibly awkward plot turn of Jim and Michael co-managing the branch.  It’s so painful to watch, but it’s also really interesting.  The presumed better path to branch management is a single leader.  And yet, the casting of a lone leader gets seriously masculinized throughout the episode.  As Oscar sarcastically comments, “Where would we be without the popes?”  And while jockeying for power in their shared position, Michael makes obvious jokes about Jim’s manhood: “You unzip your pants and find there’s a calculator in there”.

And yet a long standing assertion of many feminist approaches to leadership, teaching styles, management and other forms of power, is that power should be diffused; that we achieve better results and set more interesting goals when we share responsibility rather than hoard it.  And that is where last night’s episode eventually comes down.

Granted, the shared responsibility winds up with Michael and Jim drinking gin together and avoiding the rest of the office – but there’s a glimmer of something lovely in that moment.  As Michael realizes the joys of sharing the burden with someone else and Jim realizes that Michael has gifts to bring to the table also, we get a sense of why co-leadership works and, to be totally transparent about my own sense of things, why feminists might be right!

Even if that means I can’t watch must-see-tv without seeing it through a totally dorky, let’s make the world a better place of love, sharing and community type of lens!

Posted by Natalie

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October 8th, 2009
Suck It Up, Jim and Pam!

Retaliatory Puking
I love that the romantic, smoochy, wedding one-hour special of The Office began with a total gross-out cold open.  Not only does Pam offer a retaliatory puke when Dwight insists on peeling and eating a hard boiled egg in front of her poor pregnant nose, but she sets off a chain reaction of an entire, over-the-top office barfing extravaganza.  It was like those awful hose-up-the-sleeve SNL skits, and it was kind of amazing! Best of all, though, was the shot of Creed who, while we for one second thought was throwing up, was actually eating noodles while watching the disgusting festivities.  Creed, without a doubt, is one of my favourite, brilliantly underestimated characters on the show!

An E-bay possibility?
Lots of amazing moments in this episode – Dwight’s seductive track one for Michael’s mood music CD; Michael interrupting Jim’s terrible toast to insist, in an effort to explain how Pam got knocked up, that “It’s a different sensation”; Erin asking Andy if the wood might be too hard on his damaged penis; and last but not least, Michael’s awesome portrait of Jim and Pam – please NBC, auction that thing off on e-bay, because I will bid more than I can afford for it!

Suck it up, Jim and Pam!
So of course we’re supposed to think it’s super romantic that Jim and Pam run off to have a secret wedding – but really, I’m just sort of tired of their whining.  Wah, Pam, your veil ripped.  Boo hoo, guys, your guests are annoying.  Guess what, it’s a wedding – that’s how they go.  Get over it! This really is one of those key differences between the American Office and the British one.  With Ricky Gervais, a move like that would have been simultaneously sweet and revelatory of how pathetic those characters really are.  With the American Office – which, granted, I also love – its desire to hang on to some schmaltzy sweetness only makes us, the weepy audience, into the pathetic ones.

Primetime Youtube
That being said – damn I was feeling it for those original youtube folks whose wedding video became the center of the show. How does that work?! Some folks do a funny thing at their wedding, film it and think, ‘hey, let’s just throw this up on youtube’.  It goes viral and now one of the most popular shows on tv uses it in its season anchor episode.  This is a new stage in the whole: sitcoms are popular + reality tv is more popular = mockumentaries become a ridiculously popular way to tell a story…now we’re layering in the most reality of reality tv: youtube home videos.  Friends, if you didn’t see the original version of this, “Jill and Kevin’s Big Day,” check it out here.  I think you’ll find, this is a case (as with The Office in general) where, while NBC’s is great, the original is better!

Posted by Natalie.

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October 23rd, 2009: The Lover

Crack an Egg on Your Head, Let the Yolk Run Down

Ok, I’m going to try not to start every week with some rant about how annoying Jim and Pam have become – but the cold open this week only affirmed their new status.  Their inside jokes were once cute.  Then they became a little annoying, but at least we were all still in on them.  Now that they’re officially wed, though, it seems the twosome will have their jokes that only they get: “Frank and Beans” said in an annoying voice is only funny when you know what it means, and only annoying when you don’t know what it means (beyond the There’s Something About Mary reference, of course).  Michael’s character, Blind-guy-McSqueezy did, however, make up for it!  “The women in my improv class absolutely hate him. Honk honk.”  Thanks for saving the cold open, Michael!

But of course, Jim and Pam aren’t the only relationship in the show, and we had some stellar plays on old twosomes who offer better laughs.  Ryan is the one to watch this season as his background moves and passing comments are always hilarious.  He just can’t resist the lovely (and crazy) Kelly Kapoor and their exchange over the fedora was priceless, ending in her gushy-eyed admiration at his mallard-negotiation only for him to pocket the cash and ask for $3 more.  A new rivalry developing between Pam and Erin played out over candy was also lovely, and I look forward to seeing the ever-sweet Erin make Pam’s life a little less smooth.  And Jim and Dwight’s rivalry continued with Dwight coming out on top – how brilliant that he used an actual decoy as his decoy.

The best relationship of all, without a doubt, though was Michael and Pam’s mum!  Even as I could empathize with Pam’s position, her childish tantrum in the meeting room made me cringe – as every good episode of The Office should make you do at some point.  You had to feel her pain as recognition dawned on her face as to who Michael’s new lover was and her poor voice just whimpered, “who, Michael…who?”  And Michael’s threat to “start dating her even harder” was creepy and perfectly on target.  We all saw it coming in the wedding episode, but it fell to the back of our minds: way to bring it back with full force, Office.  Can’t wait to see where you take it!

Other great moments: Creed – still my favourite most under-rated character – crying like a baby to the opera.  That guy has depths we don’t even know!  Meredith suggesting a mural of Chicano leaders as a gift to the community.  Michael insisting he has lots of female friends, including his mum and that whatsherface from Quiznos who he sees four times a week.  And my favourite: Dwight giving Michael a back-rub using that song, “Crack and egg on your head, let the yolk run down…Stick a knife in your back, let the blood gush down.”  I think I had forgotten that little insanely creepy childhood ditty until last night! It was a great reminder that The Office is, as ever, full of weird, childish and slightly surreal games.

Posted by Natalie

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Subtle Sexuality Rocks!

Kelly and Erin have made their own music video (with the help of Andy in exchange for a small, but awesome, part) pop-singing about a-hole ex-boyfriends: “You’re a Male Prima Donna”.  They call themselves Subtle Sexuality and wear gold leggings as they stomp around the office singing lyrics like “if you ever leave me again, I’ll down a bottle of baby aspirin” and “I’m an independent diva but I still kinda need ya” and other price gems.  This singing dancing trio of Kelly, Erin and Andy that’s developed since the Office dance party only improves with age, and Ryan’s cameo as Mr. Understood is so great, you just have to see it!

NBC is being a little tricky with the link right now, but you can watch it at Salon here

Posted by Natalie.

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Koi Pond

Going Too Far and Knowing It!

Being able to poke fun at ourselves is an important skill to learn in life. But poor Michael just took it too far.  Even Creed’s face looked desperately pained as Mike mocked his own inability to think up five friends and family to store in his phone.  But at least he could see what he was doing. He realized he had gone too far.

And poor, pathetic Nard-dog realized the same thing.  In that moment, he knew he had kissed Pam’s belly just a little too much…you know, for being in a business meeting and not being the father and hardly even being friends.  And it’s when he realizes it too, and perfectly delivers the line that he’s just so tired of being single, that we empathize for a moment…that we feel Andy and we just want him to feel better.

Because the thing is, these guys aren’t total losers.  They’re attractive guys. They’ve got good jobs. And more importantly, they’re sweet, sensitive and capable of care.  So why is it so hard for them? And perhaps more importantly, why is their loneliness and pathetic failure at love what makes us care about them when that is precisely what makes us laugh when it’s Kelly and Meredith suffering?

I mean, really, who didn’t gasp with laughter that Meredith dare not speak the name of her love: her sex with a terrorist? And how many of us went online yesterday to watch Kelly sing, “I’m an independent diva, but I still kind of need ya”?

Is it because we expect women to love? We expect them to want a relationship, a spouse, and a family, and so it’s funny to see them fail because it’s not seen as truly vulnerable with them. But when a man admits he wants such things, it’s a break in what we see as normal.  It is vulnerable and so such vulnerability is sweet because it’s unexpected.

It’s true that I giggle at the ongoing Kelly+Ryan saga and that I really want Andy to get Erin.  So I was excited that she thought he was the coolest person she’d ever met.  Perhaps my real concern comes down to: can I really handle another story arc where a sales-guy attempts to woo the receptionist?  Tim and Dawn were sweet.  Jim and Pam were sweet but annoying.  Erin’s a quirky little one though – perhaps we’ll get something totally new here and get to see the receptionist refuse to wait for wooing and instead really go on the prowl.  And perhaps, unlike with Meredith, Kelly and even Angela, such female assertiveness will not be punished with mockery and loneliness.

Posted by Natalie

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Do You Row or Play a Game?

Let me be clear. I *love* murder mystery games!  My high-school acting debut was as the singing telegram girl in our own adaptation of the movie/board-game, Clue. It’s totally dorky, I know, but the idea of a mystery dinner theatre – whether at a local dinner theatre venue or with friends around a dinner table – excites me no end.  It was, therefore, absolutely no surprise to me that the staff very quickly got in on Michael’s game last night…who wouldn’t want to avoid work to do some role playing and mystery solving?

Of course, we’re seeing through Jim’s eyes some of the genius of Michael’s management style.  One parent might want to keep rowing a sinking boat, but it’s the parent who leads the game who really helps the kids deal.  But more so than Jim’s affirmation of Michael’s skills, it was the staff’s affirmation that got me.  And not only in their willingness to go along with the game – their willingness, desire and enthusiasm – but, more so, it was that Michael knows them so well.  As Stanley and Angela get up to huff out of the room, Michael’s instinctively knows (and has ready) sandwich platters and baby carrots.  There’s no argument. They sit straight back down. And the solution is as simple as a $2 bag of baby carrots! That’s good management! Knowing your staff so well you not only anticipate their orneriness, but you also anticipate the solution to it and the way to get them involved in the team play.  There’s a reason Michael has survived so long in this business – survived and thrived.

I’ve started to track this weekly now, I know, but I’m sticking with it – I continue to love Creed and the quirky, strange insights into his messed up, potentially criminal world.  His peeling out of the parking lot after a nonchalant exit in response to Michael’s declaration of a murder having taken place was just perfect.  As was the creepy tableau photo arrangement with the witness to Meredith’s spilled brains.  As was Kevin’s attempt to get into Southern character with a slow and concentrated, “Y’all”…topped only by Oscar’s own brilliant garbled attempt to do the same.

So when catastrophe threatens, do you row or play a game? Well, if the game involves role-playing, southern accents, fake entrails, garter belts and lace gloves and a dramatic three-way show down in the conference room…I think it’s obvious: you play the game.

Posted by Natalie

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Shareholder’s Meeting

So The Office decided to weigh in on the economic crisis and the problems with corporate greed this week.  We got a glimpse of top level management with their extravagant perks of lavish lounge spaces and expensive limo rides, not to mention the insane costs of large-scale meetings that accomplish next to nothing.  But while I’m with the rest of the country in thinking recent scandals regarding bonuses at AIG and the like indicate a capitalism run amok, I also hold some hope that the fat cats in the back rooms are at least trying to fix some aspect of their economic problems – if not to be responsible to their shareholders, at least to secure their own livelihood.

But The Office decided to depict a decidedly different situation.  Here, the upper level bosses had given up, even our own David Wallace who, in the bleakest of moments, usually still reveals himself to be a good guy.  It takes a middle-level guy like Michael to even desire seeking a solution.  He’s got some of the tools to do so at his fingertips – like Oscar’s own insights into how to save the company, which Michael recognizes as helpful, but Oscar is too weak or pathetic to unfurl.  But sadly enough, the disconnects in the paths of communication necessary to complete the task overpower the fix.  And so we close with a vision of everyone scrambling to grab what they can from the wreckage – be it one more glass of whiskey in the hands of a congressman during a break from a meeting, a bottle of booze and a surreptitious limo ride scrambled by Michael and the boys or, in perhaps the most frustrating turn of events, a lackadaisical work attitude from underlings like Ryan.

Which leads us to Jim and his own scramble to assert himself to a drunk Phyllis, a wretched Ryan and a mocking Pam.  Jim is walking such a fine line right now and I find it fascinating – is he going to manage to grow up and be a boss, or is he going to descend into some childish form of stubborn self-assertion?  Ryan deserved the dressing down, so it was hard to tell this week.  I felt for Jim as he attempted to be the boss, to live into his position.  I’m curious to see if he’ll be able to step into that role with any grace or if, like Michael, he’ll fumble his way into moments of success that happen more in spite of his efforts than as a direct result of them.

Round up – Creed again was wonderful.  Ryan’s “do you love her or do you love the idea of her?” added a new dimension to this creepy old guy.  Apparently he has a love life?!?  Oh please, Office, show her to us!!  And we can’t close this post without mentioning the genius of Recyclops, who truly does reveal that we can all become anything we want to.  Between the switching out of the receptionists over the years, the evolution of the costume, Dwight’s insane deeper and deeper inhabitation of the character, the fact that others in the office have a sense of a long-term narrative for this creature and, sadly, that he finally turned to destroy the planet he once loved – all a gorgeous depiction of how far we can get from our original goals as everything we do to accomplish them takes on a life of its own that in the end obscures them.

Posted by Natalie

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Scott’s Tots

What is it I love about Michael seeking love so much?  Even though he totally screwed those kids over and couldn’t take responsibility for his actions, I still found him sweet and I wanted good for him.  And it’s not because there’s a silver lining to his foolishness.  It’s not because his promise did good despite his failure.  And while I really like the hope that Michael inspires with these forms of promise and inspiration – to the kids, to Kevin and now to Erin – I don’t think it’s that.

Here’s what it is: what I love when Michael does these things is his own blind optimism; the state of his own sweet little heart.  When Michael seeks love with these silly empty promises, he’s doing something we all do.  And sure, I try to follow through on my promises, but Michael reminds me that even my best acts of altruism aren’t really done for others.  If I’m really honest, I probably do my best acts of altruism because of how they make me feel.  And what they make me feel is loved, important and like my life in this world matters.  If I’m truly honest with myself, that’s probably why I do good things more than any other reason…because I’m optimistic (and sometimes foolish) enough to think that I can make a difference.

Ok, so I generally follow through – but at root, Michael and I share that same motivation, that same desire and that same hope when we promise good to another.  Michael – for whatever misguided reason – really thought he was going to come through on his promise.  He really thought he was going to be able to pay for those kids to go to school.  He thought he was going to be millionaire, if not by 30 years old, by 40.  His failing them was really just an extension of him failing himself.  And I guess if I thought I could give someone something and then it turned out I couldn’t…well, I guess I’d want someone to cut me a little slack too.  I guess I’d want whoever was watching me to think, oh well at least she tried.

So, still awful, still cringe-worthy, still absolutely painful to watch.  But it’s awful, cringe-worthy and painful to watch because we all know we’re just a couple of steps away from being Michael.  Certainly Jim has proven that!

Now, on to Jim.  First of all, how did the office folks not see what was going on?  Obviously Jim wouldn’t do that.  Sometimes when they start their village-round-up witch hunt party tactics in that office, I immediately want to take the side of whoever they’re rounding up against.  And tonight it was Jim – poor Jim, so pathetic that even his wife grimaced when he declared that everyone was an employee of the month in his heart.  Some point soon, Pam’s going to realize that she’s married Michael, and I’m pretty excited to see the look on her face on that day.

Great moments: Dwight’s, “in an ideal world all ten fingers would be on my left hand so my right hand is just for punching” – really, who thinks like that?!?  Dwight just gets better and better!  The kids singing “watcha gonna do when our dreams come true” to the tune of “watcha gonna do when we come for you,” which is precisely what they are doing – lovely spin!  Michael’s, “some people have evil dreams; some people have selfish dreams…or wet dreams”.  No comment necessary on that one.  And of course, Dwight impersonating Kevin, Stanley and Toby with the little head scratch to perfect the Toby image – genius detail!

Now to watch Ryan and Dwight join forces on their diabolical plan…this should be good!

Posted by Natalie.

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Wow, it feels like a really long time since I’ve seen a primetime sitcom do the old montage of flashbacks. I swear I was having my own mini flashbacks to various filler episodes ofGrowing Pains and Who’s The Boss.  And at first I felt a little ripped off.  But then somewhere in the middle of the liability moments flashback, I found myself laughing hysterically.  Somewhere between Andy’s parking lot Parkour into the giant box, Dwight and the fire, and Angela flinging her cat up into the ceiling, I realized we were in for a treat of reminiscence.

We had classic moments that harkened back not only to American Offices past, but even to the British series with the classic ‘waste of resources’ moment with Jim’s (Tim’s) jello mold prank and Dwight’s (Gareth’s) stapler.  And – and remember, dear readers, how much I love Creed – we had a reminder of how this American Office has branched out into its own genius characters who smell like mung beans and are downright crazy.

The Office relationship section was a reminder of how amazing Kelly Kapur is, and how underused both her and Darryl have been these season – “You need to access your uncrazy side” is one of my all time favourite Office lines ever!  And we got to remember a time when Jim and Pam were way less annoying.  Seriously, that moment when he finally asks her out while she’s describing how it’s ok that he left gets me every time…I just can’t help myself.

Now of course, rehearsing all of Jim and Pam’s relational ups and downs while music soared at the climax of the episode played into trend with The Office that I and others have much criticized…please, please, please listen to us and put the Pam/Jim thing in the background.  It isn’t anyone’s favourite storyline and it shouldn’t be the go-to every time to inspire an emotional response in viewers.  The Office is in fact full of touching moments that have nothing to do with Jim and Pam, and they would do well to remember that whenever they want to tug at our heartstrings.

That being said, the flashback montages were an homage to the brilliance of this ensemble cast in a way that reminded us of how many story arcs, liability moments, hilarious potential sexual harassment suits, visual jokes, physical jokes, and perfectly timed ‘that’s what she said’ jokes this show has given us!  It was a reminder of how great this show can be when it’s firing on all pistons and using all its talent!

Best lines in the episode – in my opinion – were new ones:  Michael’s description of the principles he was applying to sprucing up the office being much like the ones that made Lady Gaga a star…or any number of drag queens; and Dwight’s, “He has more character in a single flake of dandruff than you have in that entire snowbank on your shoulder.”

Best flashback moment – the one that made me laugh so hard my throat hurt: Kevin dropping the chili.  Seriously, I remember the first time we saw that my husband and I rewound it three of four times to watch it again and again it was so funny.

And finally – did anyone else notice Michael’s funny new hair-style…what’s with what appears to be the beginnings of a comb-over on a man with a full head of hair?!

Ah, The Office – it’s been too long since Secret Santa – please don’t ever make us wait a month and 11 days mid-season for a new episode again!

Posted by Natalie.

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I was bummed to miss blogging last week’s episode – while I understand a lot of folks complained about it, I really liked it, not least of all because we got to hear someone finally tell Jim and Pam that they’re not as charming as they might think!  You know who is charming, though?  Andy and Erin!  And, perhaps with the new managerial situation, Jim and Pam might be so once again.  Let’s take each in turn.

Kelly’s brief infatuation with the one she had never ‘seen’ before (was that an underhanded dig at Avatar?) was hilarious, but even funnier to me is Erin’s infatuation with Kelly!  Granted, Kelly buys all her clothes at the mall – I mean, can you get much cooler than that?  But Erin’s sweet way of being so intimidated by the office drama-queen screw-up is actually kind of sweet itself, especially as it manifests in her own insecurities around Andy.

Of course, we’ve seen the salesman/receptionist love-story plotline before (Tim and Dawn; Jim and Pam), but this one’s different – more of a comedy of errors.  We don’t have to wonder how each feels – we know they like each other.  There’s not even an old ball-and-chain fiancé lingering in the background.  Instead, what defeats their getting together is their own foolishness, and that makes for more humour and a greater sense of will-they-won’t –they-oh-my-gosh-I-hope-they-do on the part of the viewer.  And with each being so delightfully endearing in and of their own individual self, my sense is that they won’t become superbly and mainstream domestically annoying once they do hook up, but instead will go on funny adventures together that involve dancing, singing and maybe some funny costumes…even if those adventures involve 20 people dead in a pile up and blood everywhere.

Having continually admitted frustration with Jim and Pam, though, I wondered tonight if Jim’s return to the sales pit would create a resurgence of their own, old delightful ways.  The flashback episode a few weeks ago (another episode lots hated but I quite enjoyed) reminded us all of how sweet and fun Jim and Pam once were.  As Jim tucked Dwight’s tie into his coffee last night, I was reminded of his stupid cutting of his own wedding tie and recalled that Jim and Pam are at their best when they’re goofing on Dwight rather than focusing on themselves.  Perhaps this is the turning point we all needed.

And it’s worth noting how good The Office has become at these strange side-plotlines.  Making Jim seems like a permanent decision, but really it’s just a fun diversion from the norm, just as Michael’s own paper company seemed to be a permanent decision, but really just shook things up at Dunder Mifflin.  The Office isn’t afraid to take on such large stories and changes, and isn’t afraid to let them go when they cease to work.  That’s a great way to keep things fresh!

Of course, the best couple of the night was Dwight and Ryan – while they clearly broke up in the cold-closer, their ongoing diabolical plan to forge Jim’s downfall this season has hovered in the background in some brilliant ways…heightened of course by Ryan’s strangely and awkwardly hip fashion choices each week of old-man cardigans, oversized thick-rimmed glasses and tonight, a jaunty turquoise scarf.

I realize that the real life Kelly and Ryan have to spend a lot of time writing the show and therefore can’t figure too greatly in each storyline – but, oh my goodness, they are brilliant when they do make it in!

I would be remiss if I neglected to mention Kathy Bates’ lovely turn as the southern CEO.  Bates is an actress I could watch act anything.  She’s beautiful and she’s brilliant and she’s a pleasure to watch onscreen.  The idea of her sleeping with three of the same guys as Truman Capote is genius.  I await her (and Christian Slater’s) reappearances soon!

Two competitors for best line in the episode – Michael’s, “I can’t even go near a cigarette now without thinking of a penis…and vice versa” and Dwight’s, “It’s not really 1992 anymore” to the giggles of his sales colleagues.  I love seeing Dwight accepted among his peers!

The only question I’m left with for the episode, then, is: um, is it a problem for me that I own that shirt Angela was wearing, just in pink?  That’s a little embarrassing!

Posted by Natalie.

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Wow, tonight’s episode was painful to watch!  There came a moment (right after Pam accidentally fed that other woman’s baby) where I was cringing so painfully that I started to realize I’d felt that feeling before…it was the same feeling I had in season 2 of the British Office when David Brent was working the night-clubs and that horrible girl threw the drink on him.  Nowhere near funny, it just hurt to watch.  But in the end, this couldn’t come close to the payoff you get with the British Office!  In the end, I just hated Pam more and more.

This utter, angry frustration with female characters is something Kathryn and I have discussed before, particularly with regards to Dexter’s Rita and Glee’s Terri.  I get frustrated with myself for hating the women so much – I’m a feminist; I love women; I’m supposed to take their side.  But it feels like so many of our shows have these female characters who are just deplorable.  Ok, so Pam was scared to give birth and be a mother.  Who isn’t?!  But that whole refusal to go to the hospital (to swing an extra night!) and hang around the office all day long was pissing me off more and more with each second that passed.  Who does that?!  Her water breaks and she still hangs out for a feast with Kevin…and she hides the state of her contractions from the father of the baby!  And then she wants to swing by the house to pick up her i-pod!!!  I’m getting angry just thinking about it again.

And Jim’s not that much better.  There’s no partnership going on here – Pam bosses him around and he just does what she says.  I don’t want him to be the kind of man who tells his woman how it is – I’m not calling for some return to caveman chauvinism.  But please, get a spine!  Respecting your wife doesn’t mean letting her winge her way into getting whatever she wants all the time no matter how ludicrous.  That’s not how you treat a woman – that’s how you treat a child.  And I’m dead tired of watching that kind of crap.  And please, the whole getting jealous over the lactation nurse was just stupid – do you want your kid to feed or not?  What kind of stupid teenage boy is he that he can’t handle his wife getting much needed help from a trained, medical professional?

Ok, so why do I keep watching The Office if I’m so pissed at it?  Urgh, because the other characters are absolutely brilliant!  Michael is hilariously inappropriate, and I loved watching him get busted on it tonight – he went somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be, and he paid for it with a sight that requires a good eye-washing and a erasing the memory of one hairy baby.  Plus he coined the term, insurmountainable, which I swear I’m going to work into a sentence (besides this one) before the week is out.  Dwight and Angela’s baby scheming was a great throwback to a story that has remained dormant for too long.  Creed’s sweet face as the Halperts rolled out of the Office was priceless.  Meredith’s “like Clooney” made me roar out load.  And we can’t forget all their attempts to distract Pam: Andy’s evolution of the dance, Ryan’s poetry about his detritus home (complete with artsy shirt, glasses and scarf), and Erin’s recitation of the Kentucky Derby winners year by year by year.

At this point Andy is working his tail off to hold the show together – from “speaking as a former baby” to his baby gift switch out to the headline “Scranton Strangler Strikes Again,” he had me in stitches.  But I think Kevin took my favourite line of the night by listing all the Hollywood-themed foods for their feast – rataouille from Ratatouille, tandoori chicken from Born into Brothels (subtle and brilliant!), and an attempt at that pie with the arm from District 9.  Ok, it’s actually a toss up between that line and Oscar’s deadpan suggestion to Michael to leave the dictionary at home because the hospital will have one…but perhaps take a thesaurus.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – this show is infinitely better when they take the focus off of Jim and Pam.  It’s great having these random funny one-off lines and moments from other characters, but the show was so much greater when we also had real storylines for those other characters.  Angela is pretty much window dressing now, and whatever happened to that cute boy from the warehouse that Oscar was getting set up with…and where the flip is Darryl?!

I’m hoping for a long parental leave for the Halperts so we can get back to what is funny!

Posted by Natalie

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Erin continues to intrigue!  Tonight we got a sense of just how damaged this rube might be.  I think her panicked hair tossing – In the foster home hair was my room – was supposed to be played for laughs, but it was also quite disturbing.  Overly-cheery, simple Erin has a dark and complex past that, it seems, has resulted in some less than normal psychological behaviour.  Which actually could be quite interesting if the show decides to do something real with it rather than continually playing it for laughs.  And I think they did try to take it seriously by having Pam reach out to Erin in an effort to help her negotiate a difficult situation. That was a sweet moment.  Because despite the over-reaction, Erin’s trajectory of emotion is pretty dead on.  Who wouldn’t be pissed to find out that their boyfriend was once engaged to their co-worker?  But of course, what prior fiancé of Angela would want his current girlfriend to know?!  It’s a tough call and I hope those two crazy kids get through it.

It was fun to have a plotline that revolved around one of the more ensemble case characters.  While Oscar’s mocking of Kevin did get a little out of hand, it was the entire team’s tear down of Gabe that really took the prize.  We move from jerky boss to jerky boss in this show – and it’s good to see some of the heat taken off of Michael, because his character is so much more fun to watch when he doesn’t have to create all the office tension.  Jan, Ryan, Charles, Jim, Dwight whenever he’s got a modicum of power…these have all filled the position temporarily.  And now with Gabe we’ve got a young up-starter who over-estimates his power as he attempts to lay the hammer.  The group knows this move well and, with humourous finesse, knows how to handle it.  Perhaps that’s part of the genius of the show: office drone-workers really do stock up more capital or power from the underside as they trudge through their days than it might appear at first glance, and they know how to deploy that capital against their superiors in unexpected ways.  And The Office does, on occasion, capture that perfectly!

This week in Ryan’s funny fashions: an open bow tie.  I love it!  And as far as great lines go, I thought Erin’s desire to be a teenager in the 1490s because of America’s discovery was the smartest, but Daryl’s, “that’s some stone cold narcissism right there” was the one that had me laughing out loudest.  Oh, and of course Kevin’s “C is for Suspension” slam had me in stitches too, which I why he got to title this week’s post.

What were your favourite moments Moth Chase friends?  Did you enjoy this episode?  Were you surprised by Erin’s breakdown?  Are you, with me and everyone else, just wishing for more and more Ed Helms screen time?

xoxo,
Natalie

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C is for Suspension

Erin continues to intrigue!  Tonight we got a sense of just how damaged this rube might be.  I think her panicked hair tossing – In the foster home hair was my room – was supposed to be played for laughs, but it was also quite disturbing.  Overly-cheery, simple Erin has a dark and complex past that, it seems, has resulted in some less than normal psychological behaviour.  Which actually could be quite interesting if the show decides to do something real with it rather than continually playing it for laughs.  And I think they did try to take it seriously by having Pam reach out to Erin in an effort to help her negotiate a difficult situation. That was a sweet moment.  Because despite the over-reaction, Erin’s trajectory of emotion is pretty dead on.  Who wouldn’t be pissed to find out that their boyfriend was once engaged to their co-worker?  But of course, what prior fiancé of Angela would want his current girlfriend to know?!  It’s a tough call and I hope those two crazy kids get through it.

It was fun to have a plotline that revolved around one of the more ensemble case characters.  While Oscar’s mocking of Kevin did get a little out of hand, it was the entire team’s tear down of Gabe that really took the prize.  We move from jerky boss to jerky boss in this show – and it’s good to see some of the heat taken off of Michael, because his character is so much more fun to watch when he doesn’t have to create all the office tension.  Jan, Ryan, Charles, Jim, Dwight whenever he’s got a modicum of power…these have all filled the position temporarily.  And now with Gabe we’ve got a young up-starter who over-estimates his power as he attempts to lay the hammer.  The group knows this move well and, with humourous finesse, knows how to handle it.  Perhaps that’s part of the genius of the show: office drone-workers really do stock up more capital or power from the underside as they trudge through their days than it might appear at first glance, and they know how to deploy that capital against their superiors in unexpected ways.  And The Office does, on occasion, capture that perfectly!

This week in Ryan’s funny fashions: an open bow tie.  I love it!  And as far as great lines go, I thought Erin’s desire to be a teenager in the 1490s because of America’s discovery was the smartest, but Daryl’s, “that’s some stone cold narcissism right there” was the one that had me laughing out loudest.  Oh, and of course Kevin’s “C is for Suspension” slam had me in stitches too, which I why he got to title this week’s post.

What were your favourite moments Moth Chase friends?  Did you enjoy this episode?  Were you surprised by Erin’s breakdown?  Are you, with me and everyone else, just wishing for more and more Ed Helms screen time?

xoxo,
Natalie

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Caucasians, Am I Right?

This felt like a classic episode – Michael centered with plenty of support from the ensemble.  It almost felt like Jan all over again…in more ways than one (two, to be precise, if you get my drift – Miss Boobs-shirt!).  Michael – for reasons existing beyond all our comprehension – has managed to get the attention of a very attractive and successful woman who, it seems, is struggling with her own comprehension of the whole situation.  We all remember him chasing Jan to the elevator – where she kissed him.  At least Donna managed to hold out till the car.  But Michael still got his girl!  And got her in a pretty sweet way in the end. As he leaned in for a second kiss, convincing her that all was ok, I actually felt for the two of them.  It was a sweet moment – Michael able to trust his intuition and go for it instead of re-performing the countless awkward misses that had happened throughout the episode (the leaning in for the breath mint on her hand was my favourite – oh my goodness he managed to painfully hover for the perfect amount of time before going for it, so much so that I managed to say out loud, “no he isn’t, oh yes he is, no he isn’t, ack” while half covering my eyes to avoid it).

Interspersed was Dwight’s brilliant attempt to raise up Kelly to power and then take her down.  Despite being a wearer of glasses, a survivor of cholera and a self-acclaimed genius, Dwight could not apply for the “print in all colours” (genius name!) program himself.  This really gave Kelly a chance to shine as she deployed every stereotype in the book to trick the new, and quickly growing on me, Gabe.  Her deadpan ability to manipulate the potentially offensive makes me realize that I don’t play up my minority identity markers nearly enough!  But it was the seed of Oscar’s apparent desire to put himself forward for such a program, but simultaneous sense that he couldn’t go up against Kelly, that intrigued me the most.  Does this mean that we’ll have a good Oscar centered plot some time soon?  We can only hope.

Favourite lines: Creed’s, “did you ever notice you can only ooze two things: sexuality and puss” was amazing!  Disgusting to pair those two but truly, truly amazing!  Gabe’s realization that saying “it’s almost too black” about the Sabre minority executive program was just not right was perfect.  And as I enjoy competing with my good friend Thunder (who is an often-time commenter on this blog) to get out a ‘that’s what she said’ whenever one of our friends says anything remotely applicable, I am thrilled to be able to add ‘that’s what he said’ to our game, even if it’s only a mistranslation!

And my favourite Andy moment was, of course, his speech about his when he “tore his scrote” – the sexy doc might have just been trying to over-bill his HMO but, perhaps he’s right, sometimes it’s hard to tell with all that fooling around down there.

xoxo,
Natalie