tvthatdoesntsuck

FIRST OF ALL
It boggles my mind how fans of this show can give this show a zero-star rating on reviews in their TV.com and Amazon accounts and try to defend their rating by citing lack of quality. Is it true that this season wasn’t as consistently strong as the stellar Season Two and the classic Season Three, but there is no way that this deserves such a low rating by anyone’s standards. While the beginning was a bit of a letdown, it is still overall a strong and hilarious season.

POSITIVES
+ Despite what the other reviewers said, it still feels like “The Office.” Whatever faults the early episodes have–and they do have faults–are gone by the second half of the season. The second half is filled with episodes as funny and touching as anything that has come prior.
+ The character arcs were handled nicely. I loved Pam/Jim, of course, and I loved the emotional roller coaster than was Michael/Jan. A lot of great stuff goes on between all the characters actually–even Andy.
+ Risks are taken a-plenty. Two main characters have left the branch. One of them has left the cast altogether, and the other has moved up to a position of power. By the end of the season, a worker will outwardly defy Michael, a cast member will go to jail, and another worker will leave the office for good.
+ This collection also comes with a script (”Dinner Party”), which was a wonderful surprise. I’m a screen writer, so checking out this script was an essential and revealing look into the mechanics of the show.

NEGATIVES
- The first few episodes feel quite off, and I think these are probably the main reasons people rate the season low. Both Michael and Dwight act even more outrageously than usual in this episode, and the plotline with Dwight and Angela’s cat was really pushing the limits of believability. Also, the first four episodes were hour long ones, so the dynamic of the show–short, punchy episodes–felt a bit off for a while.
- The comedy seemed more slapstick than before, what with the car going into the lake, the mushroom incident, and the Meredith being hit by a car thing.
- I’m as big a Pam/Jim fan as there is. They are the couple I am very much rooting for; but I felt that Karen was sort of tossed aside without enough plot focusing around it. It made Jim, as a character, seem sort of cold. I loved their interaction when they finally crossed paths, but it did seem a bit too little, too late.

BEST OF THE BEST
1. The Deposition: Michael’s best “that’s what she said” jokes yet, along with some really heartbreaking stuff
2. Goodbye, Toby: “The Office” has never been able to match Season Two’s “Casino Night” when it comes to season finales, but this comes close.
3. Branch Wars: Jim gets sucked into Michael and Dwight’s antics, which leads to an awkward moment with an ex.
4. Dinner Party: Michael’s home life explodes
5. Did I Stutter?: Ironically enough, I came to respect Michael as a boss in this episode.

OVERALL
Good season. Not the best of the series by any means, but still a very entertaining comedy. Fans of “The Office” will like it a lot, and new fans will be hooked in.

8/10

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