That’s right, guys. Finally, after a year of watching clips of The Office on YouTube, I have finally acquired seasons one through six on DVD, which means that since Christmas, I have been binge watching the show with my brother. My evil plan to drive my parents crazy with soap opera-esque romantic intrigue and the overboard, whacky shenanigans of Michael Scott and his employees is coming to fruition. Bwahaha!
#1: Jim and Pam
These guys are my OTP. They’re perfect for each other and from the first episode have the best chemistry together. Though I’m not a massive fan of them sort-of flirting when Pam is engaged to Roy at the time and had been for three years (a fact that’s established very early on), in the context of the show, that doesn’t stop them from being absolutely adorable. You sympathize with both characters and from seeing how depressed Pam is with Roy and how happy she is with Jim, you really hope they get together at some point.
#2: Michael
I think we’ve all run into someone who is like Michael before. He’s that one dude who tries too hard to be funny to the point where the joke either falls flat or becomes offensive, has no filter, and is incompetent most of the time, but is still fun to watch and you can respect his loyalty to the company and his employees. Though he’s definitely not my favorite character, he is redeemed by the character growth he undergoes in later seasons.
#3: Dwight
Dwight’s one of my favorite characters, mostly because he’s so weird, making him good cannon fodder for Jim’s pranks. Additionally, he helps to balance out Michael somewhat in his eccentricity in that he’ll say the things that Michael won’t with no filter, which can make for some ridiculous scenes. He takes his job seriously and when he says that he’s loyal to Dunder Mifflin, you believe him.
#4: The Writing
The writing of the show is really good because it makes each person human. With the exception of a few characters, no one is totally evil or totally good. Everyone falls into this moral grey zone, adding depth to their characters even when they’re more of a stereotype.
The only problem I have with the writing is the pacing. The first season is really slow and only lasts for six episodes, so at the end of it, I was sitting on the couch like this:
Sure, it was setting up the premise of The Office and they probably had a limited budget since it was the pilot season, but I still wish that it had maybe been a bit faster paced and longer.
#5: The Jokes
For the audience of 2005, many of the jokes probably landed better, but since I was not alive in 2005, some of the jokes had to be explained to me by my dad. However, that’s not to say that not all of the jokes sucked. Some of them (mainly the slapstick scenes) still worked and I enjoyed them.
Until next time,
M.J.
The Tanuki Corner 