GOOD LORD COULD THAT EPISODE HAVE BEEN ANY MORE DEPRESSING? I saw some whiny comment on a message board that was like, "BAWWWWW dear Office writers, when you start to care about your show again, I'll care about it again too, BAWWWWWWWWWWWWW why don't you cater to my every need?!?!?!" and I was like, ho, are you tripping? Oh, I'm sorry every episode doesn't revolve around Jim and Pam, princess. I understand people having issues with the episode, but that's like, the opposite issue of that episode; it cared about Michael too much as opposed to not caring at all. It's not my fault that everyone in the Office-verse, or at least on this one forum I read, cries like a baby whenever Jim and Pam and Serious Discussions About Their Relationship don't take up 95% of the episode.
It's definitely in the lower half of the season, but that's really not saying much because the only episode I flat-out didn't like and have no desire to rewatch is "Employee Transfer." I'd give "New Boss" a B or so, maybe a B+, just because I do need some funny and there were, like, two instances of it in that episode... but anyway. Still better than almost anything else on television. Idris Elba is a good actor, but the last Wire hire on The Office, obviously the wonderful Amy Ryan, added joy and humor to every scene she was in. Elba is like... um... the opposite of that. He's a big ol' vacuum at this point. I hope they make his character more interesting or somewhat humorous or something.
I was proud that they wrote Jim's character as stumbling while NOT TURNING HIM INTO MICHAEL, YAY. I think he was incredibly overwhelmed by how much Charles didn't like him, and how he couldn't charm Charles in any way, and I say: good. There are people who just don't like other people for no reason. It's a part of life, and just because some creepy soccer moms on a message board like to fantasize excessively about John Krasinski (who, don't get me wrong, I adore) and write odes to his package doesn't mean Jim is a perfect guy. It's written well and Krasinski's playing it exactly right.
Along that line, many, many people are bitching about the ARM thing but I saw that as Charles not necessarily being informed about it and then just lashing out at Jim. I've seen continuity errors up the wazoo on this show (Pam's art school for "three months" somehow turned into half a year, Meredith's birthday changed from April to November...), but that wasn't one of them.
Pam talking about cupcakes and strippers and Andy in orange made me laugh probably waaaay more than it should have. Oh, and the cold open. Classy. Hee!
Ugh, I can't believe Michael's going to quit. ;_; I love him. My heart always goes out to him, maybe even more than Jim and Pam.
In conclusion, internet, stop BAAWWWWWWWing. I always think the purpose of forums is to bring together people who love a certain thing (or at least, have a certain interest), but lately, there seems to be a real lack of love for The Office and I can't really read anywhere. The ratings for the show haven't dropped like what happened when Heroes turned from amazing to actually shittacular (as opposed to the way people whine about The Office, while the show's still really good), so what does that say about how most people perceive the show? Hmm. Think about it. Yeah, I know ratings aren't the be-all-end-all, look at Two and a Half Men, but The Office is kind of cult and if people didn't like it, they'd stop watching it.
