Last night, the LONG AWAITED new episode of The Office re-premiered on NBC. We, as Americans, had been living off of reality show “afterbirth” for the past few months, and needless to say, our scripted comedy void holes were growing weary, impatient.
Now, one would imagine that following the strike, show producers and writers were scrambling to get everything back into production. And perhaps that is the reason that last night’s episode took place in Michael and Jan’s condo with only a handful of characters, rather than the usual comedic symphonies that take place in the fluorescent halls of Dunder Mifflin.
How it all began: Following a fake assignment Michael gives his employees as a ruse to lure Jim and Pam (and Andy and an adorably pregnant Angela) to his house for a late night dinner party, the cameras become witness to one of the most oddball eppies of The Office ever.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but Jan, Michael’s former boss and current lover, you know the one… she used to be smart, right? Like, she realized Michael was an idiot but was still attracted to his ways anyway, correct? Because the Jan we saw last night was almost an entirely different woman. One could make the argument that living with Michael and being unemployed — (Whoops! Did I say unemployed? Sorry, she makes candles now.) — has stripped her of whatever business-like professionalism she once possessed. But that argument can only go so far. Season 2 Jan would never have accepted a bottle of wine, saying “It will be great to cook with”. That right there is Michael logic, the kind of logic that one is innately born with, the kind of logic that sadly, you can’t really teach to a normal functioning human being. Like cleaning your bedroom, but leaving the camcorder out so your guests know you videotape yourselves having sex. Logical things like that. (Ed. Note: Fair enough, Jan was insulting Pam’s wine. But I stand by my case that Jan is losing her mind.)
Here’s the good news: Jan’s presence in the Scott household has certainly made the place more livable, especially if your definition of “livable” is “napping in a Bath & Body Works.” Jim’s camera reactions have grown commonplace, but the look on his face in that candle-making factory room was inspired. I swear I saw a tear. Andy was surprisingly mute during the entire episode, saying about 10 words in total (including “Joe” and “Montana”). And did anyone else notice that, at one point, a cop dressed like Hitler entered the scene, no reference to his cap or mustache ever made? That was actually brilliant.
Overall, we were hoping to be reacquainted with all of the office folk (Stanley! What’s happening with Stanley!?), and instead got an overly-cringey slice of Michael Scott’s life. It wasn’t so much a “sit-com”, as it was a “Dogma 95 film.” Thankfully, Carell was genius as usual, and again, in the scheme of tv life, overall an enjoyable episode. Just not for the faint of heart.
After the jump, an organized, bullet-pointed list of the most delicious moments from last night’s episode.
Cue bullet-pointed list… now:
- The slow pan-out to Michael’s $200 plasma TV. Possibly my favorite moment of the night.
- Michael’s bed, a long ottoman at the foot of the real bed.
- Kudos to Jim for trying his best to make things “less awkward”. Anti-kudos to Jim for pulling a Seinfeld and almost leaving Pam behind.
- Jan’s old assistant Hunter‘s CD: “You took me by the hand, made me a man, that one night, you made everything alright. So wrong, so right, all night, all right…” So basically, Jan had sex with Hunter.
- “Rhymes with Parnold Shmarzenegger.”
- The appearance of my college friend Maggie’s aunt, Beth Grant, as Dwight’s babysitter. Side note: Beth Grant has now officially appeared in most of my favorite things, including Speed, No Country For Old Men, Donnie Darko, Little Miss Sunshine… where to go on. Her and her beet salad were awesome.
- “The thought of popping one of your beets into my mouth makes me want to vomit.” This episode needed more Dwight/beets.
- The dipping of the meat into the wine and Michael’s soft teeth. Actually, maybe my favorite thing about the entire episode.
- “THAT IS A $200 PLASMA SCREEN TV!”
OK, tell us what you thought about The Office last night (feel free to sprinkle your 30 Rock opinions to make it more interesting.) Don’t forget, if you missed last night’s episode, you can check it out over at NBC.com.
