Has it really been a whole year since the last season finale, when Michael, Jim and Karen all competed for the corporate job in New York City? So much has changed, and yet so much remains the same: Michael and Jan might be getting back together (again), Jim and Pam are still a couple and are unengaged, and Toby's love for our favorite secretary will go forever unrequited.On the other hand, Ryan's gone from the big time to doin' time, which is clearly a huge change. I thought this episode was hysterical, but if I do have one criticism it's that a lot is still left up in the air by the end. It's tough to blame the writers for this: the shortened season caused by the writer's strike no doubt forced them to alter some of their plans and end this year on a more ambiguous note than they had originally planned. Given the choice, I'd definitely rather let The Office play out its storylines in full next year than rush everything to fit inside a single one-hour finale.For example, we got intr...
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Maybe I’m just nitpicking here, but do high schools really have job fairs? The event apparently contains both job offers and possible internships, but either way it seems much more like something you would see at a college campus. For example, how do you sign up for an internship that might give you college credit if you haven’t even enrolled in a college yet? Not that this is exactly a huge deal for me; I’m just surprised because The Office is usually pretty convincing when it comes to the smaller details of how a workplace functions in the real world (although they’re a bit looser when it comes to the characters within said workplace).We get a welcome break from coked-up Ryan in this episode, although his presence is still felt when Jim hits the golf course in order to land a new client. Thanks to Ryan’s warning that he’s been goofing around too much lately and his own desire to make a little extra money in order to provide for Pam in a long-term rela...
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I just bought a car last week, and I’m already wishing I had used some of Dwight’s psychological tactics to negotiate a better price. After several weeks of watching Dwight act beaten down by life as a result of Andy and Angela’s relationship - even to the point of groveling to Michael to get invited to his exclusive dinner party – we finally see the return of a Dwight hungry for power. First there’s his flow chart which neatly summarizes the office politics of Dunder-Mifflin, complete with a plastic overlay that provides an emergency back-up plan in which Dwight is put in charge of everything and everyone (and apparently several people are now trapped in cages). Then he humiliates Andy by buying his car for cheap and cleaning it up in order to sell it for a profit. If he can’t win Angela back, he’ll at least try to take his romantic rival down a peg or two.But the real character development this episode involved Stanley’s confrontation with M...
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The Office is a terrific show because most of its comedy is rooted in real human behavior (no matter how exaggerated), and this episode demonstrates another essential truth about humanity: when you’re drunk, people you normally can’t stand are suddenly your best friends. As soon as you’re buzzed on a few nine dollar martinis and dancing at a (semi-)exclusive club on a Friday night, even your annoying former boss is worthy of a hug. So I wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Ryan was thrilled to see Michael and Dwight when they decided to crash his night out in New York City.Of course, it’s not just alcohol that’s impairing Ryan’s judgment; it turns out this wunderkind has a drug problem, and by the end of the episode he’s become so desperate that he’s actually asking Michael and Dwight for help on what to do. Michael doesn’t see through the flimsiest of cover stories and starts babbling about The Wire and explaining what you need to...
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Although it’s not exactly a remake or anything, this episode borrows a crucial plotline from the Christmas special of the original British version of The Office, in which David Brent (their equivalent of Michael Scott) starts to feel the desperation of loneliness and signs himself up for an internet dating service. Although the American version of The Office is usually described as being wackier and less dour than its predecessor, it’s interesting that Michael Scott is still holding onto his delusions of meeting and marrying a supermodel, while David Brent managed to find some measure of love and acceptance with a woman that his friends made fun of (one of the best moments of character development in the British version was Brent finally telling off his bullying “friend” Chris Finch when he insulted his date).Could it be that the American remake isn’t as light-hearted as we’d always believed it to be? Certainly Michael comes off as almost a monster in ...
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I always knew Michael and Jan’s relationship would end badly, but I could have never imagined that it would flatline with the cops showing up to a domestic disturbance and telling Michael to stand up for himself and press charges against his abusive girlfriend. Of course, I am assuming that these two are broken up for good this time, and that fixing his beloved Dundie and replacing the world’s smallest flatscreen TV isn’t enough to convince Michael to come crawling back to Jan. But maybe I’m giving him too much credit. Low self-esteem and inertia might reunite them yet again.It’s hard to believe it’s been almost five months since the last episode of The Office, but thankfully they’ve made up for the long absence with an episode that absolutely nails both the comedic and dramatic aspects of the show. On the one hand it’s a hilarious, brutally awkward look at the relationship (and apartment) from hell, a train wreck that you just can’t keep...
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Josh Holloway as Lost's Sawyer
Our favorite castaways thus far have been on the island a few months, but for Lost fans, it's been more than 260 days since Jack's super-freaky flash-forward. As the Jan. 31 season premiere (finally) draws closer, TVGuide.com is offering daily profiles — "refreshers," if you will — of the key players in ABC's island-based odyssey.
Sawyer, by the "Numbers": Although Sawyer (played by Josh Holloway) tries to act like a ruthless bad boy, the truth is that his lone-wolf attitude hides deep emotional scars. Born James Ford, his life was shattered at a young age when his mother was seduced by a con man who cheated her out of the family's savings, and his father then killed her and himself in a fit of rage. All James knows about the con man is the alias he used — Mr
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Daniel Dae Kim as Lost's Jin-Soo Kwon
Our favorite castaways thus far have been on the island a few months, but for Lost fans, it's been more than 260 days since Jack's super-freaky flash-forward. As the Jan. 31 season premiere (finally) draws closer, TVGuide.com is offering daily profiles — "refreshers," if you will — of the key players in ABC's island-based odyssey.
Jin, by the "Numbers": Stubborn and quick to anger yet fiercely loyal to those he cares about, Jin-Soo Kwon (played by Daniel Dae Kim) has managed to find a freedom on the island that was sadly missing from his previous life. He was born in South Korea to a prostitute who abandoned him upon birth to a fisherman whom she claimed was Jin's father. As he grew into adulthood, Jin desired to break out of his lower social class, but the best work he
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Emilie de Ravin as Lost's Claire
Our favorite castaways thus far have been on the island a few months, but for Lost fans, it's been more than 260 days since Jack's super-freaky flash-forward. As the Jan. 31 season premiere draws closer, TVGuide.com is offering daily profiles of the key players in ABC's island-based odyssey.
Claire, By the "Numbers": The only child of a harried single mother in Sydney, Australia, Claire (played by Emile de Ravin) grows up as rebellious and unruly girl working dead end jobs at a tattoo parlor and, later, at a fried fish restaurant. She and her mother get into a major car accident while in the middle of a heated argument; while Claire survives with only superficial injuries, her mom sustains heavy brain damage and is left in a vegetative state. Claire continues to drift through life with little family and
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