“The Office” — Branch Wars
“I think I cut my penis on the lid!”
That was funny. I felt like I was in good hands while reading the opening titles. The script was by Mindy Kaling and it was directed by wonderboy Joss Whedon. Not too shabby of a starting point. What really made this week’s episode soar (compared to last week) was that the situation really drove the comedy. We know Jim doesn’t want to see Karen so why not put him in a room with Karen and see what happens? We know Michael and Dwight can get carried up in the moment, but what happens when that veil of fun is pulled away? The result was an episode I found to be easily the funniest of the season and generally most fun going back even further. More after the jump…
I absolutely love seeing people’s reaction when they are snapped back to reality. Dwight throwing Jim’s phone out the window as they drove to Utica was played pitch perfectly by both Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson. The way you can see the joy sucked out of their faces once Jim says that his phone had pictures of his brother’s new kid on it was priceless, and to see them on the side of the road moments later was a perfect punchline. It isn’t something that will elicit belly-laughs, but the escalation of the madness leading to this moment of course-correction really did it for me.
Obviously the resulting moustaches, can-peeing, silly string, possible explosives and copier troubles weren’t too shabby either. Best of all it gave Jim something to do that was neither cutesy nor heroic. In fact, it was the complete opposite. It was an unplanned ex-girlfriend meetup while attempting to be the voice of reason in an otherwise utterly chaotic situation. He was at a complete disadvantage on all fronts but made it out mostly unharmed (mostly). It’s the Jim we knew and loved and hope returns once again.
I didn’t necessarily buy into Pam, Toby and Oscar’s sophication club (at least not at work), but the reaction of those around them to said club was completely believable. My favorite moment being Phyllis’s reason for not using the microwave in the kitch for her popcorn: “It smells like popcorn.”
Great episode. Now both 30 Rock and The Office have some rock-solid material in the bag so we at least know they’re still capable of delivering the funny.
Sidebar: am I the only person who finds Stanley underwhelming as a character?
Tags: NBC, The Office
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Agreed. The funniest and therefore, the best, episode of the season.