The Office thread: Shove it up your butt!

GreasyKidsStuff

We haven't really explored the depth of Kathy at all either, really. She's been on the periphery for the entire season.

Also, where does anyone think they're going with Dwight? Or anyone for that matter? Andy/Erin seem to be the focus of the season, sort of, but that might be coming to an end right away.

The Dude With Herpes

One of the bigger things that bugs me about Kathys existence in the show is that it doesn't make sense and isn't even internally consistent. Pam didn't need a replacement for her maternity leave because her being a salesperson was a compromise to begin with after the whole Michael Scott Company fiasco. Her clients would have been handled temporarily by other salespeople, primarily Jim being the spouse. It's not like they would give her clients to Kathy and they don't have enough business to handle a new salesperson getting new clients (which is implied since Pam is back and she's still there.

Which implies, to me anyway, that at some point when they were discussing Pam leaving for having a kid, someone, somewhere, had the "brilliant" ideal that "hey, lets put this new girl in there so that we can have some drama down the road with pam and jim" and that she existsed ever for virtually no other reason.

So dumb.

But yes, more of Robert please. He's a brilliant insane that I enjoy. They appear to be making Kathy a psycho insane that really doesn't need to be on the show at all. Every character has some level of insanity, but they all at least also have some level of personality. Given the current setup between her and Jim, they can't even be setting her to be a show regular; it is clearly something that is shoehorned in there for faux drama.

Kirbith

Pam isn't a salesperson anymore. She is the Office Administrator. She just decided to tell Gabe that she had been moved to that position and got all the other department heads to sign off on it.

Joolander

so then why is Kathy still there? (aside from DRAMA!)

TexiKen

What the hell, I thought the rumors wouldn't be true.

Spoiler:

Catherine Tate is going to be in this episode it seems

edit: time to declare war on the UK. Dwight did his best to carry the episode, but was just fighting against a wave of blah. I thought the B-plot was rather dumb

Spoiler:

Pam was the receptionist before, she can fill in now, she's just the office administrator, a job she made up just to get out of sales. It's too ridiculous for even this show to make it seem like she's too proud to go back to it.

If only we could save Erin and have her be blonde and whisk her away to Community.

The Dude With Herpes

Kirbith wrote:

Pam isn't a salesperson anymore. She is the Office Administrator. She just decided to tell Gabe that she had been moved to that position and got all the other department heads to sign off on it.

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that. Well that gives Kathy even less of a reason to be there. She was hired to do a fake job and now that Pam can resume her fake duties, Kathy has nothing to do.

Joolander

why does Erin need to be blonde?

JonBob

If you touch Ellie Kemper's hair I will smack you.

AManFromEarth

TexiKen wrote:

What the hell, I thought the rumors wouldn't be true.

Spoiler:

Catherine Tate is going to be in this episode it seems

edit: time to declare war on the UK. Dwight did his best to carry the episode, but was just fighting against a wave of blah. I thought the B-plot was rather dumb

Spoiler:

Pam was the receptionist before, she can fill in now, she's just the office administrator, a job she made up just to get out of sales. It's too ridiculous for even this show to make it seem like she's too proud to go back to it.

If only we could save Erin and have her be blonde and whisk her away to Community.

Spoiler:

I'm not so sure it was a pride thing, ever since Pam stopped being receptionist she's been horrified of going back. I think she also actually has work to do now, I'm sure not less than the freaking manager (which, btw, I loved Andy falling in lvoe with being a receptionist) but still.

quovadis13

That was one of the best opens the Office has done in quite a while.

Oakey

Catherine Tate was terrible.

"So Catherine, if you'll just begin acting......... did... did you just give us an impersonation of Ricky Gervais playing David Brent?"

Ego

I hate Catherine Tate so much for being such an awful actress / unfunny person. Catherine Tate has made me fast forward through some episodes of Doctor Who.

That is unforgivable.

Kyougu

So I have the last 6 episodes of The Office sitting on my DVR. Nothing actively made me stop watching, I just was sort of meh about the show but still figured it was amusing enough to watch at my leisure.

Should I even bother with them?

Robos A Go Go

Kyougu wrote:

So I have the last 6 episodes of The Office sitting on my DVR. Nothing actively made me stop watching, I just was sort of meh about the show but still figured it was amusing enough to watch at my leisure.

Should I even bother with them?

They're fine to watch if you're just folding laundry or whatever and need something to take your mind off the chore.

But I wouldn't watch three hours of The Office in a row for the hell of it. You'd just end up wishing that you'd watched a long movie or started a book instead.

AManFromEarth

Kyougu wrote:

So I have the last 6 episodes of The Office sitting on my DVR. Nothing actively made me stop watching, I just was sort of meh about the show but still figured it was amusing enough to watch at my leisure.

Should I even bother with them?

I would say yes, especially Pool Party and the last few.

But then I think this season has been pretty great so far, so take it with a grain of salt.

Penguin_Otaku

AManFromEarth wrote:

Kyougu wrote:

So I have the last 6 episodes of The Office sitting on my DVR. Nothing actively made me stop watching, I just was sort of meh about the show but still figured it was amusing enough to watch at my leisure.

Should I even bother with them?

I would say yes, especially Pool Party and the last few.

But then I think this season has been pretty great so far, so take it with a grain of salt.

Totally agree, I've enjoyed this season. It's been different from the episodes with Michael and kind of everyone reestablishing their characters, at least Andy and Darrel. Hell, Stanley has kind of come alive a few episodes.

I agree that Pam was probably just terrified of going back, she worked so hard to get where she is and going back takes her back to pre-Jim where she was with Roy and really unhappy.

My buddy and me thought about this...

Spoiler:

Erin becomes the VP of the special projects.

1. She mentioned to Andy she wouldn't see him for a very long time.
2. She was digging everything Catherine Tate says
3. It'll get Andy to finally pull the trigger and get back with her so she can stay in Scranton
4. Joke will be made about getting married to the office secretary

But yea, Catherine Tate wasn't funny in last season's finale and was bummed to see she was back for this arc, because I was pretty stoked about this arc.

AManFromEarth

Penguin_Otaku wrote:

AManFromEarth wrote:

Kyougu wrote:

So I have the last 6 episodes of The Office sitting on my DVR. Nothing actively made me stop watching, I just was sort of meh about the show but still figured it was amusing enough to watch at my leisure.

Should I even bother with them?

I would say yes, especially Pool Party and the last few.

But then I think this season has been pretty great so far, so take it with a grain of salt.

Totally agree, I've enjoyed this season. It's been different from the episodes with Michael and kind of everyone reestablishing their characters, at least Andy and Darrel. Hell, Stanley has kind of come alive a few episodes.

I agree that Pam was probably just terrified of going back, she worked so hard to get where she is and going back takes her back to pre-Jim where she was with Roy and really unhappy.

My buddy and me thought about this...

Spoiler:

Erin becomes the VP of the special projects.

1. She mentioned to Andy she wouldn't see him for a very long time.
2. She was digging everything Catherine Tate says
3. It'll get Andy to finally pull the trigger and get back with her so she can stay in Scranton
4. Joke will be made about getting married to the office secretary

But yea, Catherine Tate wasn't funny in last season's finale and was bummed to see she was back for this arc, because I was pretty stoked about this arc.

Spoiler:

That would be pretty awful. She has zero ability for that. At least when they promoted Ryan he had a MBA and actual perceived talent. I would lose faith in the writers if they make Erin a VP.

GreasyKidsStuff

I thought Andy's expression when he finally agreed to get off reception totally evoked Michael Scott, it was uncanny.

AManFromEarth

GreasyKidsStuff wrote:

I thought Andy's expression when he finally agreed to get off reception totally evoked Michael Scott, it was uncanny.

I've been picking up wafts of Michael from Andy all season, especially when he sends Jim off to help his kids.

Penguin_Otaku

AManFromEarth wrote:

Penguin_Otaku wrote:

AManFromEarth wrote:

Kyougu wrote:

So I have the last 6 episodes of The Office sitting on my DVR. Nothing actively made me stop watching, I just was sort of meh about the show but still figured it was amusing enough to watch at my leisure.

Should I even bother with them?

I would say yes, especially Pool Party and the last few.

But then I think this season has been pretty great so far, so take it with a grain of salt.

Totally agree, I've enjoyed this season. It's been different from the episodes with Michael and kind of everyone reestablishing their characters, at least Andy and Darrel. Hell, Stanley has kind of come alive a few episodes.

I agree that Pam was probably just terrified of going back, she worked so hard to get where she is and going back takes her back to pre-Jim where she was with Roy and really unhappy.

My buddy and me thought about this...

Spoiler:

Erin becomes the VP of the special projects.

1. She mentioned to Andy she wouldn't see him for a very long time.
2. She was digging everything Catherine Tate says
3. It'll get Andy to finally pull the trigger and get back with her so she can stay in Scranton
4. Joke will be made about getting married to the office secretary

But yea, Catherine Tate wasn't funny in last season's finale and was bummed to see she was back for this arc, because I was pretty stoked about this arc.

Spoiler:

That would be pretty awful. She has zero ability for that. At least when they promoted Ryan he had a MBA and actual perceived talent. I would lose faith in the writers if they make Erin a VP.

Spoiler:

But you're ok with Tate being in the position she's in? Even if she were Jo's friend, Jo's not that big of an idiot is she?

AManFromEarth

Penguin_Otaku wrote:

AManFromEarth wrote:

Penguin_Otaku wrote:

AManFromEarth wrote:

Kyougu wrote:

So I have the last 6 episodes of The Office sitting on my DVR. Nothing actively made me stop watching, I just was sort of meh about the show but still figured it was amusing enough to watch at my leisure.

Should I even bother with them?

I would say yes, especially Pool Party and the last few.

But then I think this season has been pretty great so far, so take it with a grain of salt.

Totally agree, I've enjoyed this season. It's been different from the episodes with Michael and kind of everyone reestablishing their characters, at least Andy and Darrel. Hell, Stanley has kind of come alive a few episodes.

I agree that Pam was probably just terrified of going back, she worked so hard to get where she is and going back takes her back to pre-Jim where she was with Roy and really unhappy.

My buddy and me thought about this...

Spoiler:

Erin becomes the VP of the special projects.

1. She mentioned to Andy she wouldn't see him for a very long time.
2. She was digging everything Catherine Tate says
3. It'll get Andy to finally pull the trigger and get back with her so she can stay in Scranton
4. Joke will be made about getting married to the office secretary

But yea, Catherine Tate wasn't funny in last season's finale and was bummed to see she was back for this arc, because I was pretty stoked about this arc.

Spoiler:

That would be pretty awful. She has zero ability for that. At least when they promoted Ryan he had a MBA and actual perceived talent. I would lose faith in the writers if they make Erin a VP.

Spoiler:

But you're ok with Tate being in the position she's in? Even if she were Jo's friend, Jo's not that big of an idiot is she?

Spoiler:

I don't have two and a half years of evidence to show Tate's character being just above Kevin. She comes off as eccentric, but we don't have any evidence that she believes disposable cameras should be thrown away and you don't get the pictures. Tate's character just seems like generic corporate doof.

Invisible

Ryan, California, Michael, Andy, pretty much the entire Scranton branch, Gabe, and so on proves that neither Dunder-Mifflin nor Sabre have a great track record of hiring sane and/or competent people. The only reason they're successful is because TV show. Erin could become CEO of the entire company and it wouldn't shock me.

Oakey

Besides which, hasn't Erin shown signs of actually knowing some shit? Did she not get some tough questions right at the quiz and she appeared to know about the presentation Dwight was giving

AManFromEarth

Oakey wrote:

Besides which, hasn't Erin shown signs of actually knowing some shit? Did she not get some tough questions right at the quiz and she appeared to know about the presentation Dwight was giving

Invisible wrote:

Ryan, California, Michael, Andy, pretty much the entire Scranton branch, Gabe, and so on proves that neither Dunder-Mifflin nor Sabre have a great track record of hiring sane and/or competent people. The only reason they're successful is because TV show. Erin could become CEO of the entire company and it wouldn't shock me.

Spoiler:

Yeah, but not in the level of becoming VP. That's not a pill I'm willing to swallow. You don't go from receptionist to VP. Every other character who has gotten a promotion has had some cause for it.

Michael was an excellent salesman but a poor manager.
Pam left to join MSP and came back as a salesperson, then conned Gabe, using the other department heads not paying attention and Gabe's inability to be "the heavy" into become "office administrator" which is basically just Secretary++. (And I thought this one was a tough pill, tbh)
Ryan had a MBA and his competition was Michael (who wasn't getting the job), Jim (who turned it down), and Glorified Extra (who invited herself along).
Gabe seems like the corporate stooge he is.
Dwight and Jim are excellent salesmen.
Andy has a degree from Cornell and is a pretty good worker, just a terrible salesman.

Erin's just a secretary who no one has a high opinion of intellectwise, unless the next few episodes have some serious and believable shifts I'm not prepared to accept her getting promoted which is why the theory rings hollow for me.

Oakey

Is it a genuine 'VP' role in the typical sense though or are they the roles Tate's character has just come up with for their little group?

AManFromEarth

Oakey wrote:

Is it a genuine 'VP' role in the typical sense though or are they the roles Tate's character has just come up with for their little group?

Hmm, that is a good question. I could see her putting it on there to make the team jump through hoops.

Penguin_Otaku

AManFromEarth wrote:

Oakey wrote:

Is it a genuine 'VP' role in the typical sense though or are they the roles Tate's character has just come up with for their little group?

Hmm, that is a good question. I could see her putting it on there to make the team jump through hoops.

Yeah, I don't think it's a real "VP" job...

Also re:Ryan, you don't think there weren't other fictional people going for the job?

AManFromEarth

Penguin_Otaku wrote:

AManFromEarth wrote:

Oakey wrote:

Is it a genuine 'VP' role in the typical sense though or are they the roles Tate's character has just come up with for their little group?

Hmm, that is a good question. I could see her putting it on there to make the team jump through hoops.

Yeah, I don't think it's a real "VP" job...

Also re:Ryan, you don't think there weren't other fictional people going for the job?

It's a well known fact that NBC was actively hiring to fill this role inside their fictional company.

gjaustin

quovadis13 wrote:

That was one of the best opens the Office has done in quite a while.

Yes. I'd even dare to say the best open.

For a brief moment I laughed like the last couple seasons hadn't happened.

HadjiQuest

I missed it last week for the first time all season, and I feel like I'm free from a curse now.

Especially knowing that Catherine Tate is back.

I'm not even watching right now. It's exciting.

But at the same time, the episode where Dwight was trying to pick his team was one of the first episodes I really liked all season. So I'm tempted to see what I'm missing, because that plot looks pretty interesting.

DO I DO IT!?

Would someone be kind enough to briefly summarize the last two episodes?

TexiKen

Watching the episode right now, don't do it. Or watch the last episode. The Dwight moments are good but not worth putting up with the other things.

This episode is stringing out the Jim/Kathy thing to an unbelievable degree, and Tate is always around, being terrible british Michelle Scott. And the Scranton branch plot feels lost and directionless, this Darrell/other girl subplot just needs to end. The team round up episode was good, and made me think the show had a chance to rebound, this will be the last episode unless people say otherwise in the thread.

SarcasmoBlaster

The only thing good about this episode was Ryan.

HadjiQuest

Wow.

I guess I'm glad to be free, then.

Maybe I will pop back in when Parks moves to 9:30, but so long The Office. Maybe I will go back and revisit your awesome seasons that I have never seen (dropped the show partway into season 2, didn't start watching again until season 6).

Bedigunz

The episode was lackluster (it was directed by Kevin, actually), but the Jim plot was the best, especially since it didn't get into her kissing him.

AManFromEarth

It had a lot of little things that I liked, and a very good resolution to Kathy.

My favorite line was from Ryan, though:

Spoiler:

Six months?! Forget it, I'm in love with Kelly.

GreasyKidsStuff

I thought the Jim plot was excellent. Especially the end with him and Dwight.

However, I agree with what someone else said that this Val/Darryl shit needs to wrap up quickly. It's not fun anymore.

dlinfiniti

i'm so disappointed
i was hoping a trip down to florida would allow us to see more robert california
not less

skeldare

Sorry Robert California fans, looks like James Spader won't be back next season. Although apparently this was the plan from the getgo.

JonBob

That's not surprising. What will be surprising is if the show comes back at all, with Dwight and Kelly both apparently headed elsewhere.

AManFromEarth

So, I'm doing a rewatch on netflix cause why the fuck not, and there's something that's always bugged me.

Why did David Wallace ask Michael to interview for Jan's job if they were never going to give it to him? I can't think of a reason other than it let the show have the beach day episode and then the three way interview.