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The Office: Final Season |OT| It's better to burn out than it is to rust

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Jonogunn

Member
Erin is GREAT when she's just a side character. I always lol big time during her little moments but never when she's the main plot.
 

MC Safety

Member
Two things The Office has done well this season:

1) Diminish Andy's role. He's terrible as a Michael Scott clone.

2) Soften Nellie so she's not godawful.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Isn't it time we remove the spinoff in the title?
It's a shame the topic creator doesn't have permission to change the title of a thread they made like some forum software allows. Would be much easier than waiting for a Mod to eventually come along and notice a post about the thread title needing to be changed.
 

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
I really liked this episode. it isn't classic office, but sometimes, it's funny on it's own accord.
 

big ander

Member
Was pretty bored by all of this. Only a few terrible, head-shaking moments (all involving Meredith), which is rare for this show at this point. Rest was just sleepy.
 

Quick

Banned
I liked it in parts, but it clearly doesn't have the same appeal as past Christmas episodes.

The Erin/Pete subplot isn't incredibly interesting, but it's much better than the Oscar/Senator one.
 
Blackface Nate and Dwight's "I have to go to my car to take a dump" were the only two parts I lol'ed.


I don't understand this. How can the Manager just leave like that and the company not replace him? They have been running things without a manager and it's okay?

Yep you summed up the episode for me, thnks.
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
Please somebody please make a GIF of Craig Robinson spinning then falling into the table of food.

PLEASE! I could probably do it but I'm unsure where to grab the video feed.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
It's a shame the topic creator doesn't have permission to change the title of a thread they made like some forum software allows. Would be much easier than waiting for a Mod to eventually come along and notice a post about the thread title needing to be changed.
Agreed. Also, it would be better if people could delete their posts (putting a "reason for deletion" in for mods to check) instead of having to write "oops, double post" after they mistakenly press the submit button twice when the browser or site itself doesn't load properly.

Man, every time I think about it, I'm glad that the spinoff isn't happening. It'd be one thing if The Office itself was a stronger show at this point, but I'd have no faith in the quality of the farm show.
 
Damn I've been rewatching Season 7 and just got to 'Goodbye Michael'.
Not gonna lie, I teared up.


I really hope Michael makes a cameo in a couple of episodes for the final season
 

J10

Banned
I don't understand this. How can the Manager just leave like that and the company not replace him? They have been running things without a manager and it's okay?

Same way Dwight could set the office on fire and not be in jail. This show stopped taking place in any kind of reality a long time ago.
 

Jonogunn

Member
Same way Dwight could set the office on fire and not be in jail. This show stopped taking place in any kind of reality a long time ago.

Funny how Andy can just get up and leave and everything is okay but Jim had trouble with the CEO just to take a few days off to go to Philly. -_-"
 

Link

The Autumn Wind
Funny how Andy can just get up and leave and everything is okay but Jim had trouble with the CEO just to take a few days off to go to Philly. -_-"
Not that the show sticks to the realms of reality, but Jim was asking to go to part-time, not just trying to get a few days off.
 

DrEvil

not a medical professional
New episode information:


JANUARY 10th:
9x10 "Lice" said:
The office is infested with lice — Pam accidentally brings lice into the office and lets Meredith take the fall, while Dwight vows to destroy the parasites. Meanwhile, Jim has a fantastic day in Philly wooing a potential business associate.

JANUARY 17th:
9x11 "Suit Warehouse" said:
Dwight and Clark pose as father and son to make a sale — Clark returns from his sex jaunt with Jan and gifts the office with a new espresso maker, which everyone abuses. Dwight takes him to sell a father – son suit warehouse. Meanwhile, Darryl interviews at Jim’s company and Pam comes for a surprise visit.

JANUARY 24th:
9x12 "Customer Loyalty" said:
Relationships are tested — Dwight tries to prevent Darryl’s move to Athlead. Jim is forced to miss Cece’s first recital when a big investor exits his new company, to Pam’s intense disappointment. Nellie exposes Pete and Erin. And we start to see behind the scenes of the documentary.

JANUARY 31st:
9x13 "Junior Salesman" said:

FEBRUARY 7th:
9x14 "Vandalism" said:

FEBRUARY 14th:
9x15 "The Farm" said:
Failed backdoor pilot, with new material to make it fit in the current season.




They're gonna start revealing the documentary stuff in the "Customer Loyalty" episode, apparently:

Part of the ending is going to be not only resolving the characters and what’s happening in their lives, but the showing of the airing of the documentary on “The Office,” and showing what effect that has on the characters. That’s going to happen over the course of the last six or eight episodes. “The Office” characters get to watch themselves in the documentary. I think they’re probably being documented as they’re watching themselves in the documentary.


They've also shot some new material for "The Farm" episode, which is why it's been delayed air for so long (it was originally supposed to be Episode 5), so that it fits within the storyline of the season. Apparently it originally had Dwight severing all ties with Angela so that he could continue on the other show without needing to deal with 'where did Angela go?' type questions. Now they've changed that:


“We’re not going to air exactly what it was, because it has certain aspects that were appropriate for a pilot of a new show,” [Daniels] says. “We’re going to shoot a little additional material to make it fit into the season more.”

Daniels says the show had two scenarios for the oddball assistant to the regional manager: One involved him continuing on the new show (presumably without a certain petite blonde cat enthusiast in tow [Angela Martin, played by Angela Kinsey]), the other didn’t. “We’re into the [latter] scenario,” he says.
 

vatstep

This poster pulses with an appeal so broad the typical restraints of our societies fall by the wayside.
I thought this was the best episode in a long, long time.
 
Solid episode. Even if Hangover 3 sucks I'm happy it exists just because these Andy-less episodes have been a nice change.

Jenna Fischer looks great this season.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
I thought this was the best episode in a long, long time.

On a per-episode basis, definitely one of the best in a long time. Keeping things 99% inside the office and... somewhat grounded in an occurrence that can happen in an actual office helps a lot.

But the show, the characters, and anything beyond the episode-to-episode stuff is totally unsaveable.

Consider the Darryl plotline. Darrell making pretences to drop his relationship and play the field without being a jerk. Cool. Well, first, The Office already had that plotline--with Ryan and Kelly. Second, why invest all the energy into the Darryl-Val plotline to begin with if you're just going to throw it away?

Which begs the obvious question, why invest all the energy into the Erin-Andy plotline to begin with if you're just going to throw it away? The realization she's having about Andy is the exact same as the realization she had about Gabe, so it's not to the benefit of Erin's character. The closure for Andy will be the same thing as the closure he had with Angela ("I loved the idea of her more than I loved her, we were really never a good fit.") so it's not to the benefit of Andy's character. No one cares about New Jim, so it's not to the benefit of his character. The choice is so simple--this is not Pam being asked to give up the sure thing she has with Roy and stray outside her comfort zone to maybe try to find something new. This is someone in a crummy relationship with someone who has literally not been there for a large part of it. There are no stakes.

The Jim-Pam story remains contrived. Yeah, it sucks when one partner has it easy and the other partner has it rough. But if you're older than 15, this is not emotionally gripping. Oh no he didn't answer her phone call once. Also why was his phone ringer turned on at all? He's in a meeting.

(Also, lice happens. Lots of kids get it. Lots of parents of kids get it. It doesn't typically transmit to every adult they've ever been in contact with. If it does, it's really not a big deal. Much ado about nothing.)

Jim is forced to miss Cece’s first recital when a big investor exits his new company, to Pam’s intense disappointment.

I hope they play "Cats in the Cradle" over this no doubt gripping, emotional montage.
 

BFIB

Member
Having Andy off the show has been a refreshing change.

Hell, I even care more about Dwight Jr. and Jim Jr. then I do Andy at this point.

With Carrell apparently not lining up a return, does anyone think the show will pull a swerve and not have him return at the end, but be in new scenes for the "documentary"?
 

big ander

Member
everyone who was remotely involved in that dwight gag should feel a little bit bad about how unfunny this show can be at times.
 

VanWinkle

Member
Pretty terrible as usual. Think I got one or two small chuckles. Hate to see this happen to my favorite show, which has really been happening for three or four years but getting worse and worse.
 
I thought this one was weird, and not in a good way.

What was the point of the Jim plot?

And Dwight was uncharacteristically not funny.
 

DrEvil

not a medical professional
Having Andy off the show has been a refreshing change.

Hell, I even care more about Dwight Jr. and Jim Jr. then I do Andy at this point.

With Carrell apparently not lining up a return, does anyone think the show will pull a swerve and not have him return at the end, but be in new scenes for the "documentary"?

Hell, they kept Gervais' first cameo quiet until like what, two weeks before it aired? I'm still holding hope Carrell will make an appearance some how.
 

vidcons

Banned
what is the point of piling on pam's shitty homelife

are they just going to have these two split

can they just focus on new jim since they don't have to deal with retconing three horrible seasons for his story
 

Quick

Banned
I thought it was a bearable episode. Not terrible, not great. Just...bearable.

I absolutely don't care about the characters at this point, outside of Jim and Pam, but barely.
 

Mr. Fix

Member
Still not sure what to think about Erin and plop. It doesn't feel natural, and plop's trying too hard to be like Jim, though that's probably the point. The execution just isn't there without it feeling forced. They're either trying to reenact the Jim/Pam thing and failing or trying to do it a bit differently but still failing. Aside from the whole Daryl and Val thing (they were dating? :lol) I kind of enjoyed this episode.
 

Jarnet87

Member
I thought it was a pretty good episode. The mayo in their hair was disgusting lol. It did bring me back to when Michael had gum in his hair and Dwight gave him a peanut butter massage lol.
 

fisheyes

Member
Still not sure what to think about Erin and plop. It doesn't feel natural, and plop's trying too hard to be like Jim, though that's probably the point. The execution just isn't there without it feeling forced. They're either trying to reenact the Jim/Pam thing and failing or trying to do it a bit differently but still failing. Aside from the whole Daryl and Val thing (they were dating? :lol) I kind of enjoyed this episode.

I quite like Erin and Plop, and feel it is actually moving along quite naturally. Yes, its a Jim and Pam (Jam?) rehash, but Jim and Pam was the most natural relationship in the show, so its natural to want to go to that well again. The Andy/Erin relationship, particularly in the last season, was full of RomCom-esque big moments and other typical love story nonsense, while Erin/Plop has just had those little, toned down moments that actually make you care for the relationship.

Probably the only issue is that, being two largely background characters in an ensemble in a show with only a dozen episodes left, these scenes are the only thing these characters are doing, so its probably shoving it down the throat. Not every episode had a 'Jim/Pam are falling for each other' moment, and even when they did, it was spread into the rest of the episode, whereas Erin/Plop aren't main characters and can't get that time spent on them.
 

Quick

Banned
I'm also for Erin and Pete (Plop? lolwat?). Better than Andy and Erin from last season. The writers had something, then they really screwed it up.
 

Mr. Fix

Member
I quite like Erin and Plop, and feel it is actually moving along quite naturally. Yes, its a Jim and Pam (Jam?) rehash, but Jim and Pam was the most natural relationship in the show, so its natural to want to go to that well again. The Andy/Erin relationship, particularly in the last season, was full of RomCom-esque big moments and other typical love story nonsense, while Erin/Plop has just had those little, toned down moments that actually make you care for the relationship.

Probably the only issue is that, being two largely background characters in an ensemble in a show with only a dozen episodes left, these scenes are the only thing these characters are doing, so its probably shoving it down the throat. Not every episode had a 'Jim/Pam are falling for each other' moment, and even when they did, it was spread into the rest of the episode, whereas Erin/Plop aren't main characters and can't get that time spent on them.

Awesome post. I'll have to watch this unfold through a different perspective.

I'm also for Erin and Pete (Plop? lolwat?). Better than Andy and Erin from last season. The writers had something, then they really screwed it up.

I honestly forgot the guy's name. I just remember Plop.

This show still has jokes?

Oh fuck. :lol
 

DrEvil

not a medical professional
Remember when we used to have entire threads for just one episode? Now we get one post.

Amazing.
 
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