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The Office season 7 thread (1 Viewer)

WillG

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Loved the Gervais cameo and I just wish it wasn't so short. There was absolute gold to be mined there with an entire episode of Gervais and Carell playing off each other. Too bad they didn't make it happen.
Wonder if David Brent found it coincidental that there were documentary filmmakers there as well as Wernam-Hogg.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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This was my favorite episode in a long, long time. It didn't have the highest laugh count, but there was lots of great character stuff. I loved getting to see Holly's weirdness seperate from Michael's weirdness, and knowing she's driven by the same compulsions as he is even when he's not there to bring them out of her. Loved seeing Creed's photo on the Thief! wall. Loved everybody in the office basically calling Gabe a douche.
 

Mike Frezon

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Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt Great work by the writers.


And, I also agree that the writers found a clever way to represent the inner connectivity of Michael and Holly. I was originally thinking it didn't work having both Dwight and Erin along for the ride...but you needed at least one of them to show how a normal, comedic search might have gone and to contrast Holly's role...and I guess each had their place in the escapade.
 

joshEH

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There's....there was a camera guy right there. Why doesn't he tell Michael where Jim went? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!


But yeah, Gabe is literally the creepiest character I've seen in a television show probably since Grey's Anatomy started. Hugely enjoyed the entire office ganging up on him. Holly's "psychic" connection to Michael was cute, as was Erin's change of opinion about her.


(Also, still wondering what's up with the "come-and-go" nature of Krasinski's screentime since the holiday break?)
 

Albert_M

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Everyone.


Forget about the “camera crew” just forget about it. It long ago ran into either consistency or logic failures. I just don’t worry about that aspect of the show because it’s pointless to try to make sense of it, since obviously the writers don’t care about the logic, only the device for how the show is done.
 

TravisR

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Originally Posted by joshEH

There's....there was a camera guy right there. Why doesn't he tell Michael where Jim went? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!

I just assume that camera crew is a bunch of assholes who choose not to 'interfere' in any way, shape or form with the events happening in front of them even when it's something as simple as saying "He went that way" and pointing.
 

ScottH

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Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

This was my favorite episode in a long, long time. It didn't have the highest laugh count, but there was lots of great character stuff. I loved getting to see Holly's weirdness seperate from Michael's weirdness, and knowing she's driven by the same compulsions as he is even when he's not there to bring them out of her. Loved seeing Creed's photo on the Thief! wall. Loved everybody in the office basically calling Gabe a douche.

Interesting how opinions can differ so much. I've enjoyed this season, but I thought this episode was one of, if not the worst episode I can recall in ALL the seasons. I was begging for it to be over.


About the camera crew, I pretty much take the Albert point of view. Not even sure why they're there. Is it an artistic thing? I never felt it added anything to the show. Some of the one-line comments that are said in the office are good, but they could still do that without having a camera crew following them everywhere they go.


Also curious about Jim's strange disappearances the last 2 episodes. Is he working on a movie or something?
 

Adam Lenhardt

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Me too. It's just a framing device that allows us to gain insight into the characters' opinions via the cutaway interviews in a way that the traditional one-camera comedy doesn't allow. "Parks & Rec" pays more lip service to the conceit than "The Office" does any more, while "Modern Family" apes the format but leaves it ambiguous as to whether there's actually a camera crew following them around or not.
 

Paul D G

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Originally Posted by joshEH

There's....there was a camera guy right there. Why doesn't he tell Michael where Jim went? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!


If one were to assume this was a documentary being filmed (and workplace docus aren't unusual - see the UKs Hotel Adelphi, and Airport), then interference by the crew is strictly not allowed. The purpose of a documentary crew is to film life as it happens. The camera guy pausing to say 'Jim had a personal emergency' is just as much as an offense as him saying 'Michael, Holly just broke up with her boyfriend on the phone because of her feelings for you.'
 

Adam Lenhardt

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I love Amy Ryan as Holly. Her character elevates the Michael character by showing that even this guy is capable of a functional relationship, if the other half is on his, er, unique wave length.


I also loved that pretty much everybody in the office had done it in the office except Jim and Pam. The same thing that makes them tolerable to watch week in and week out -- the lack of excessive PDA -- suddenly makes them self-conscious. I enjoyed the humor that came from them attempting something so far outside their comfort zone; not so much because they were offended by the idea so much as they'd never really thought of it.


I also loved the "new" receptionist and Andy bonding over Gabe's stupid Valentine's Day treasure hunt.
 

joshEH

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Gabe's deconstruction of Michael and Holly's behavior was probably my favorite scene. And I dislike Gabe. Hahahaha.


So Gabe loves horror movies, and is kind of freaky in the bedroom. This is one fucked-up man, and I love the angle they're playing with it. Also, Gervais announced that he really wants Will Arnett to replace Michael Scott. Could be inspired, if not a tad obvious. (Also, Arnett is now apparently free on the employment-front.)


Arnett has already gotten to take his "Bastard Boss" persona to the ultimate limit recently in Todd Margaret. It would almost be a letdown to see a less-profane version of the character here, but I'd be up for it. I'm a big fan of the guy.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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Originally Posted by joshEH

So Gabe loves horror movies, and is kind of freaky in the bedroom. This is one fucked-up man, and I love the angle they're playing with it. Also, Gervais announced that he really wants Will Arnett to replace Michael Scott. Could be inspired, if not a tad obvious. (Also, Arnett is now apparently free on the employment-front.)

I agree 100 percent about Gabe. There's a difference between a poorly-designed character and a well-designed character that you love to hate. Gabe is firmly in the latter category. He makes me grit my teeth every time he pops on screen, but he's supposed to.


Not surprised that Gervais would be wanting Arnett; their screen personas are very similar, like Michael Scott but without the endearing likeability. Personally, I hope whomever they bring in has a completely different vibe from Michael and David Brent.
 

Brent M

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Originally Posted by TravisR

I thought tonight's episode was the best in a long, long time.


Me too. Seems like they let Carell be the crazy Michael Scott he used to be in the early seasons and it made the episode fantastic. By far the best episode of this season IMHO.
 

joshEH

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Good point, Adam, and does anyone else feel that sending Erin off on a bafflingly-convoluted "treasure hunt" for Valentine's Day (that then backfired romantically) would have been far more in character for Andy than for Gabe? Remember the "Twelve Days of Christmas" debacle?


Also, "Boner Bomb, starring Jason Statham" made me laugh harder than anything they've done this season. Carrell's half-sobbing delivery just killed me.
 

joshEH

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Thinking about last week's episode again, I don't really see Andy as a "klutz," per se. He's just never gotten over the fact that his cherished college experience didn't actually prepare him for adult life. Most of his miscalculations rise from his assumption that all other "grownups" share his Ivy League frame of reference.


That bit with Gabe quietly insisting on the superiority of treasure hunts over scavenger hunts was TOTALLY Andy.


Over on the AV Club, someone advanced the theory that Gabe has been getting the "jerk-edit" in recent episodes in order to slant the season-arc towards getting Andy and Erin back together. He's gone from being a decent guy stuck in the hopeless position of enforcing Sabre policy, to being a substitute-Toby.
 

ScottH

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Yeah I always thought Gabe was a jackass the second he was introduced. He's just getting more air time this season.
 

joshEH

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I'm hot-and-cold on last night's episode. I thought that Holly not supporting Michael's film came out of nowhere -- I don't see why Holly couldn't have been replaced by the office, since they spend the entire episode trying not to laugh at him. Seriously, just switch the entire employee-base with Holly, and you could have had virtually the exact same episode without some specious, out-of-character bullshit with her.


On the other hand, Threat Level Midnight was hysterical, and easily some of the funniest stuff the show's done in years, which I suppose is what matters most. Watching that damn movie was the closest the writers can get you to being trapped in Michael Scott's brain.


I got a big kick out of whenever they cut to the White House exterior -- they would post the entire address, including the ZIP code (and the double "D.C.").
 

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