toddhunter
Member
I bet they do not mention the fight at all in the next episode.
The Office: Final Season |OT| It's better to burn out than it is to rust
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I bet they do not mention the fight at all in the next episode.
brianmcdoogle
Member
Link
The Autumn Wind
I hope you're not implying that The Departed is garbage, because I will fight you.
Yeah, about 1600 Penn...
it'll most likely be cancelled.
performing
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Yeah, one problem is that with 8 and a half seasons of doing the mockumentary one way--the documentary crew do not intervene to comfort or help anyone in the cast (Michael is sad about Ed Truck, Casino Night, Jim gets drunk and rides his bicycle into bushes, Roy trashes the bar, Dwight abandons Ryan in the middle of a farm, ... someone abandons Phyllis in the middle of nowhere, Beach Games, Michael drives into the water, Pam and Art School Dude omg tension, Michael and Jan's terrible relationship, Pam's parents divorce, Michael Scott Paper Company, Scott's Tots, Goodbye Michael, that one weird party at Robert California's, Jim gets tempted by random Florida floozie, Angela literally tries to order someone to kill or maim Oscar)--having a boom mic operator who we have never seen or heard referenced before try to comfort Pam over what is ultimately a very minor fight just feels out of place.
The show has literally never created legitimate tension in Jim and Pam's relationship, and it never will be able to, for obvious reasons. Jim pined after Pam for years. They were best friends before they were lovers. He put himself on the line to get her. He was very obviously emotionally scarred when he failed. She was very obviously emotionally scarred and called off her wedding and relationship. They started dating and Jim instantly knew he wanted to marry her. They already did the long distance relationship thing. He bought her a house. He had no problem with her randomly switching her job without consulting him in any way. We've seen multiple cases of how they've clearly adapted to the stresses of parenthood, and that they still have a good relationship and still go on dates. This is a rock solid foundation. Any attempt to shake it is going to read as terrible melodrama (like Jim being hit on in Florida). And if they do actually "successfully" shake it, like by having one of them cheat, it will be very artificial and unearned.
RangersFan
Member
Chittagong
Gold Member
The Lice episode was terrible, but the two last episodes have been great, small scale and believable. I was laughing in tears when Darryl threw the ball to the fish tank and when Dwight got shake bombed. The Jim/Pam tension is well done and the meta stuff is ertainly intriguing.
What a letdown, it's actually funny
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
I was with you up until this.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
ITT: we find out who has actually been in a serious long term relationship.
That phonecall gave me fucking chills, hit incredibly close to home. Anyone who's been through a conversation like that knows how believable it felt. Bad acting? You guys must be out of your minds. Pam blew me away, the closing on the phonecall must be one of her best performances in the entirety of the show. The cameraman part was maybe where I'd pin the lackluster acting. It did feel odd that out of all of the shit that has happened on the show, this pushed them over the edge to interfere. Anyway, wow, I'm ready for the ride to the finale.
That phonecall gave me fucking chills, hit incredibly close to home. Anyone who's been through a conversation like that knows how believable it felt. Bad acting? You guys must be out of your minds. Pam blew me away, the closing on the phonecall must be one of her best performances in the entirety of the show. The cameraman part was maybe where I'd pin the lackluster acting. It did feel odd that out of all of the shit that has happened on the show, this pushed them over the edge to interfere. Anyway, wow, I'm ready for the ride to the finale.
Chittagong
Gold Member
Haha, yes it was totally bang on, in fact my wife who doesn't even like The Office said "remember when we had that exact same call? Glad we are past that now"
vatstep
This poster pulses with an appeal so broad the typical restraints of our societies fall by the wayside.
It's true — some of the worst arguments can start over the dumbest shit, just due to timing, stress, etc. I thought Jenna Fischer really did a great job in that scene, as well.
It's funny; after Jim and Pam finally got together in S4, I've spent most of the time since then disliking them. As a couple, they just often come across as too perfect, snobby, and seem to act like the rest of the characters are below them. Interestingly enough, now that the rest of the cast has turned into caricatures of their former selves, Jim and Pam seem to be the most grounded in reality, and easily the most likable characters, for me at least.
Davey Cakes
Member
People don't really know what "good acting" or "bad acting" is anymore. Personally, I just go by effectiveness, and Jenna was effective. Her reaction to the argument left me uneasy.
I was in a relationship for three years. I don't think we had any moments quite like that, but it's easy to imagine how shocking or discomforting the experience is when two people who are best friends and lovers suddenly have an agitated interaction.
I was in a relationship for three years. I don't think we had any moments quite like that, but it's easy to imagine how shocking or discomforting the experience is when two people who are best friends and lovers suddenly have an agitated interaction.
ThanksVision
Member
Finally caught up with the latest episode. I found it interesting to say the least. I mean, there's been 3 new pages in this thread from last week's episode alone. At least it's a bit stimulating. I'm glad to see them trying something new, and hopefully we get to see the relationships between the crew and the cast fleshed out in future episodes.
This show has been to so many places and has such a varying degree of quality. It's weird to think I've been watching this show since I was like 13. I don't really care to make predictions; I'm just going to ride the series out to the end and see if they throw anymore surprises at me. Although I'll be extremely upset if Michael doesn't show up for the last episode though, even if it's only for a quick minute to see how he and Holly are doing.
This show has been to so many places and has such a varying degree of quality. It's weird to think I've been watching this show since I was like 13. I don't really care to make predictions; I'm just going to ride the series out to the end and see if they throw anymore surprises at me. Although I'll be extremely upset if Michael doesn't show up for the last episode though, even if it's only for a quick minute to see how he and Holly are doing.
Pretty much this. I had a very similar argument with my gf just recently. Little jokes or misunderstandings can often lead to bigger conversations just like that. The acting was fucking great in that scene. I fell completely silent.
The Brian thing was kind of weird though. The fact that they don't acknowledge the crew has always stood out as odd to me but now suddenly calling him by first name as if they're best friends felt a bit random. And they chose such a "modely" looking actor too. It should've been Dwight.
And fucking this. I'm not sure people even know what they mean when they say "bad acting". That's such a weighted statement that's thrown around so casually.
Shadow2222
Member
Obviously Pam likes this Brian as a friend. I swear to goodness if they have Pam cheat with him...
Ninja Scooter
Member
Do guys assume that any time a female has any sort of contact with a male, it means she must be fucking him? He was just consoling her.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
Seriously.
This accurately reflects how I felt. I said "bullshit" out loud when that guy started comforting Pam and asked the crew to cut the cameras, cuz Pam is SAD this is SERIOUS. Between the two of them, Michael and Dwight have had at least a dozen far worse moments where the crew felt no need to intervene. They kept rolling when Stanley almost died of a heart attack, for fuck's sake!
That whole thing was forced. It was done much better back in Season 3.
Shadow2222
Member
In real life, yeah, just consoling.
...but this is the Office, where its okay to put a hit out on someone and one of the office workers is constantly flying between Scranton and Florida.
Sure, it's a comedy, but I also know that this show can pull anything out of its ass.
This season the writers said we would get to know more about the documentary. So I'm guessing that is part of that
This accurately reflects how I felt. I said "bulls***" out loud when that guy started comforting Pam and asked the crew to cut the cameras, cuz Pam is SAD this is SERIOUS. Between the two of them, Michael and Dwight have had at least a dozen far worse moments where the crew felt no need to intervene. They kept rolling when Stanley almost died of a heart attack, for f***'s sake!
That whole thing was forced. It was done much better back in Season 3.
EXACTLY.
aparisi2274
Member
This came over on the Office fan page on FB today... thought it was pretty funny.
I love Creed's coffee order....
I love Creed's coffee order....
brianjones
Member
that he specified nothing to drink
Link
The Autumn Wind
After writing "Coke."
aparisi2274
Member
After writing in "Coke"
Coke is a short form of cocaine, a highly addictive drug.
i saw the episode and...
i don't totally disagree with how people disliked sudden interaction man, but it was pam who looked over and asked for help, and it was after every other person in the office had gone home. she was reaching out to the only person in the immediate area. it's not like he decided to randomly come in and console her.
the part that really struck me as odd was jim and pam forgetting they were part of a documentary that's been going on for eight years and that they probably had recorded their damn kid.
i don't totally disagree with how people disliked sudden interaction man, but it was pam who looked over and asked for help, and it was after every other person in the office had gone home. she was reaching out to the only person in the immediate area. it's not like he decided to randomly come in and console her.
the part that really struck me as odd was jim and pam forgetting they were part of a documentary that's been going on for eight years and that they probably had recorded their damn kid.
+1.
I can't believe how much people are reading into that. The camera crew guy was just being supportive. They aren't screwing.
Oh, yeah. That makes that interaction even worse.
toddhunter
Member
The part that really struck me as odd was Jim and Pam having a fight about Pam not recording the show properly.
There was a whole production crew sitting in the show with her. Surely they could have done a pretty decent job of it?
I'm learning more and more than GAF knows little about human interaction. There are some bizarre things being said these days.
They're both stressed and they were taking it out on each other. The "logic" of it all didn't matter in that moment. Did you really expect them to say "oh wait the camera crew got it. We're all good nvm"? Of course not. They were both caught up in the moment and lashed out. It was great and felt very real.
After seeing it again, the camera crew stepping in didn't strike me as odd either. Not in the sense that most of you are saying. She literally addressed them directly. It wasn't a random occurrence. She looked right at Brian and shrugged her shoulders confused. The cast has never really addressed the crew like that. It was more specific than it has ever been in the past.
their lives are pretty different from yours or mine. maybe they'll address it later like it was dumb to get caught up in the moment since someone got it anyway. i know the scene isn't really about her not getting the video, but it's just about one of the flimsiest things they could have chosen for people in this universe to get upset about.
yeah, that's why i was okay with it. she was even set up to be alone (aside from the camera crew) at the time. the part where she breaks down during season 3, she leaves the area to be alone when dwight comes to comfort her- here she's already by herself.
toddhunter
Member
Except they are not real people so there is not much point lecturing about human interaction. They are characters in a story that ideally would make some sort of sense.
You really think the camera crew just sat there filming Pam for the whole thing? Why wouldn't they have got some good footage of the girl?
My point is the inconsistency is really distracting for me, which is why I was laughing at a potentially serious scene. I wasn't laughing during Casino night.
On another note, I'm not really sure how good of an actor Jenna is, because I have not seen her in much else. But she plays Pam perfectly. The only time I think she got it wrong was the big happy yell at the end of her wedding which really bugged me. The rest has been amazing.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
Did people even witness the same argument I did? The recording spat was only the seed of the bigger problem which arguement immediately escalated to. "You think I'm doing this just for me" "You should be the last one telling me whats fair".
To spell it out, the stress and sacrifice of Jim's new job, and Pam's burden of working and mothering on top of the building worry and reluctance to a possible relocation of her life finally came to surface. This is NOT the same as when the two were apart before. They have two kids and a home now. Read into the subtext. For once there's some decent believable writing and people think the arguement was literally just about a recording?
PeakPointMatrix
Member
This is also an excellent point I didn't think about- Pam, now alone called out for comfort first. While I still think this is inconsistent to other dire situations where no one called for help/assistance, we also don't know if the filming was cut off or edited before they got a chance to interact with the crew.
toddhunter
Member
I think you are missing the argument. The recording was the trigger for a bigger fight. There is no confusion about that. I have no trouble with the writing there. It was well acted, believable, well done.
Ok?
The problem is suddenly the crew is involved and concerned which came out of nowhere and that contradicts pretty much everything that has gone on in the show. This includes in the same episode them not recording the concert to save everybody the trouble. Pam could have just asked Brian to help her out with a proper camera whilst she enjoyed it herself.
This is the problem with the writing. Stopping the shot for Pam makes sense, but not when they should have done so in a hundred much worse scenarios earlier. If the show had just faded to black or the outro? No problem. As it is, a potentially great scene is lost on me.
Sure we know the show is ending, but lets not throw 8.5 seasons out the window just to build some drama.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
I didn't even think of that. Surely they had one crew member recording the whole thing just for footage. Or he could have at least had the foresight to know he should record it in case she screws up. But maybe they're not supposed to get involved in their personal lives, which explains why they never stop anyone from doing stupid and potentially dangerous things. Like Michael wanting to jump off a roof onto a bouncy house.
Pretty sure documentary crews are supposed to remain impartial and uninvolved and unattached to their subjects personal lives. Which is why the rest of the crew didn't want him putting his mic down to console her. They wanted him to do his job, she wanted someone to console her, he decided to be a friend for once instead of sitting on the sidelines like usual.
Grinchy
Banned
This accurately reflects how I felt. I said "bullshit" out loud when that guy started comforting Pam and asked the crew to cut the cameras, cuz Pam is SAD this is SERIOUS. Between the two of them, Michael and Dwight have had at least a dozen far worse moments where the crew felt no need to intervene. They kept rolling when Stanley almost died of a heart attack, for fuck's sake!
That whole thing was forced. It was done much better back in Season 3.
You're not the first person to explain it well, but that was a good and succinct way of explaining why the scene was so stupid and comical.
lol that's a good point. I mean, a writer on the show could easily argue something like, "the crew is only supposed to record Pam, not the kid's thing." But, Jim could have at least been curious about whether or not the documentary crew that has followed them for a decade had gotten any footage.
Well, no. That would be reading too much into it.
But the fact that it was an attractive, age-appropriate male with whom Pam is on a first name basis and who is played by an actor one expects to stick around for a bit certainly suggests a romantic implication, if only in the future tense. At the very least we're intended to read Brian as a roadblock for Jim and Pam's relationshipif we weren't, they would have made the boom mic operator a woman. Period.
Link
The Autumn Wind
Yep, clearly married women can't have any male friends. All cheating whores, they are.
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