The Office – As directed by John Krasinski

That’s right folks; this episode of The Office was directed by the actor better known as Jim. But if your inclination is suddenly to blame him for how off-track things are … well, I guess you could blame Jim for his part in doing the unimaginable and making Pam and Jim unlovable, or for making office Jim a bore, but John Krasinski probably has little to do with that.

And this episode sunk with some major guns ablazing. Kathy Bates was the big name advertised, but I could have easily done without her. Instead, the great guest for me was Christian Slater, as our guide on the journey that is Sabre, Dunder Mifflin’s new corporate parent. If that whole TV show thing doesn’t pan out for him (it could go either way right now), there are always corporate gigs to fall back on!

Something weird has been happening for me with The Office lately. There’ve consistently been things that make me laugh each week, yet by the end of the episode I feel very disappointed. The only thing I can point to is a lack of cohesiveness through the thirty minutes, a strength from beginning to end that used to be consistent, and no longer is. It’s like the difference between filling up on snacks, or eating a balanced meal. It just isn’t the same, and one might make you throw up.

I really liked the two-and-a-half minute cold open. It was funny, well done, and had enough memorable moments to go down as a potential classic. And then things got all fuzzy for me. The new corporate culture, the stumbles and animosity — not so much funny as true to the situation. Was this really the best the writers could come up with for how to save Dunder Mifflin’s corporate life?

The video was strong, but then the visit to the daycare center was dumb. I liked seeing Joey Slotnick again — I remember his one episode on Entourage as Drama’s actor friend turned waiter — but the whole “not locking the bathroom door and Jim walking in” was just really stupid. As was the tanked interview … it’s not even worth rehashing. It just missed for me.

As, unfortunately, did Jo Bennett (Bates), and Michael’s trip to see David Wallace. The former did nothing more than act as the necessary plot point when Gabriel needed to call the home office. The latter … while it was great to see David again, and funny to see what he’d become, I think I felt like Michael did by the end just as soon as we entered his home — creeped out. “Suck It” can suck it. Get back in the game David.

Quotes as always though:

“Have you tried making everything smaller?” – Creed’s suggestion on fitting everything back into the box

“Due to circumstances beyond my control–” – Michael
“Impulsivity and inattention to detail.” – Dwight

“Why do I have to explain everything?” – Michael
“Because we’re usually not on the same page.” – Pam

I hope that merely filling up another quotes calendars isn’t the show’s only objective at this point.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 05, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT