Grid Effect

Greg Daniels and company love coming back with these hour long episodes. One here and there isn’t terrible, especially a season premiere to acknowledge that the series is finally back after what seemed like an eternity. Last night actually seemed to include everyone (sans Meredith) and hit some sort of chord in every scene.

The Jim-Pam saga I guess has reached its climax. We were kind of hoping Rich Sommer (Harry Crane from Mad Men, if he was as unrecognizable to you as he was to me. I guess it was just the Clark Kent effect, but we wouldn’t have known that was him if we didn’t already know in advance) would be given more to work with, but the third party getting in their way caveat was kind of done to death in the first three and a half seasons.

I’m sure virtually all women who tune into this series were ecstatic, and I can probably stop worrying about it ruining the comedy aspect of the show (they seem to be giving Jim plenty to do with Pam’s absence, “I’m going to lose 65 pounds”), but it still just simply doesn’t interest me in episodes where it is a focus. Sorry. We know they have great on screen chemistry and that it is part of the core of the series, but there are about a hundred other series’ on television that we can flip on for relationship drama, there are about six we can flip to for laughs. The Office is one of those few.

Anyhow, we have no idea why Amy Ryan is slumming it over here on a network sitcom, but we are thankful for it anyways. It actually gives Michael a legitimate love interest that isn’t taken seriously in any way. They are probably going to eventually get together and eventually breakup because I can’t see Beadie Russell, I mean, shit, Amy Ryan being a permanent fixture on this show.

Sorry, she'll always be Beadie to us.

But the dynamic with Michael seeking Jim’s advice and Jim doing all he can to deter Michael from idiocy is a great one. I couldn’t ask for a better, more subtle gaffe from Michael Scott than him ripping those Counting Crows tickets to shreds. Even with all the suggestiveness that Holly throws his way, he still isn’t nuanced enough to gather what she is thinking. To her credit, Holly might be the most patient human being on the face of the earth. Or is at least as much so in the office.

The ongoing plot that everything revolved around was the weight loss contest, this managed to include everyone (again, except Meredith, whom we don’t even recall seeing) and provide for some worthwhile moments. Most notably with Creed providing Kelly with what she believed to be a tapeworm. It was as horrifying as it was hilarious.

Even Ryan came back and was appropriately put in his place by Jim, who is now on notice with Ryan. We were surprised that as low as he currently is that he would ever go back to Kelly. But aside from that his return on to the bottom rung of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch is a welcomed one. Even if he is still a cocky little prick. His faux-humbleness is about as transparent as a starlets reform after rehab.

The one storyline that we felt dragged on too long and never really provided anything new was Angela constantly going to and from sleeping with Dwight depending on Andy’s complacency and annoyance level. It was just beat into the ground and its only been one episode. I know Ed Helms is getting a spinoff, but if this is the way they are going to handle the remainder of his time on the series, then it can’t come soon enough.

There was one nice little extension to that storyline, and that is Phyllis blackmailing her way to the reigns of the party planning committee, and Angela’s clear frustration with it. Hey, if you want to cheat on your coworker/fiance with another coworker, it is probably wise to not do it in the office.

Other notes from “Weight Loss”:

-The Michael Klump bit wasn’t terrible, but they always manage to stretch out Michael Scott’s inanity a little too long. At least Holly was horrified from the get go but eventually warmed to it. We loved his commanding of Phyllis, who was taken behind the woodshed this weekend. Speaking of which…

-Dwight’s ruse to get her to walk back was mean-spirited, like everything Dwight did this episode and every episode before it, but it was damn funny.

-Stanley, getting back down to his revolution weight didn’t do anything for us, but we always like to hear about character history. Especially Creed’s.

-It wasn’t even alluded to this episode, but if they can somehow get Vincent Kartheiser on this show through the Rich Sommer connection, then the TV universe might shrivel up and die from the two Office worlds colliding.

A strong return for The Office, we are actually looking forward to seeing how everyone (including the writers) handle the engagement. After one episode it looks to be a prevailing theme so hopefully it isn’t overdone. If it does become too overbearing, NBC might be better off extending the series to an hour on a regular basis, despite my earlier protestations.

Back with It’s Always Sunny recap later today.