The Office goes for sentimentality in its most recent episode.
The Office isn’t a show to pile on the emotional drama. Occasionally there are episodes that may make you secretly shed a tear or two – when Jim and Pam got married, when Michael left Dunder Mifflin, and when Kelly and Ryan broke up one of the million times (just kidding).
This weeks’ episode was the first of pull at the heartstrings of the audience in some time. It addressed the growing tension between Nellie and Andy and the long-running rivalry between Jim and Dwight in a fresh way. This was the first episode of the season where some scenes went beyond the fun, comedic surface of The Office.
“Work Bus” opens with a celebration of Dunder Mifflin’s softball season. Andy compiles a video of “epic fails” of the team, which could also be titled “Andy’s First Time Editing a Video on His Computer”. It’s essentially a bunch of clips of Jim, Darryl and Kevin with fart noises imposed on them. The real epic fail is Andy’s attempt at hilarity at his employees’ expense and when he tries to lift a cooler full of Gatorade he slips, resulting in a Gatorade-soaked manager.
Andy has had some strange character development since he was introduced in the third season. At first he was a slightly crazy annoying bro, then he was Angela’s pathetic cuckold, then he was the clueless but lovable Nard Dog who was trying to manage Dunder Mifflin the best he could. But now, he’s like a less funny, meaner Michael Scott – he even goes so far as to tell Toby that he’s surprised he doesn’t get murdered every hour. It’s confusing as to where the writers are trying to take him, but with only so many episodes left in the season, we’re sure to find out soon enough.
But time to get to this work bus ordeal. It turns out Dunder Mifflin’s office space is ridden with Electric and Magnetic Field hotspots. Since Dwight is the landlord, it’s his responsibility to fix it, even though he insists, “Wires don’t need coats”.
Jim decides to take advantage of the EMF problem by convincing Dwight to give the office a week off to fix the hotspots. Even though he finally told Pam about the sports marketing job, he still feels guilty for concealing it for so long. He pranks Dwight into believing that the magnetic fields have popped a bag of popcorn on their own. Dwight gives in, but there’s a catch – they have to work on a work bus, which is used mainly by politicians (such as Sarah Palin and George W. Bush) during their campaigns.
The office already has its share of problems – now try shoving everyone into a workspace a fraction of the size of the regular office. Stanley almost beats up Clark for his frequent stretching and Angela drops a stack of papers onto Pam, spilling coffee all over her skirt. Jim’s plan has completely backfired so he tries to save the day once again — by suggesting an office road trip to Lavern’s Pies. Dwight objects, but Andy rules in favor of an office road trip.
The road trip seems to be going swimmingly, with everyone singing and even picking up a hitchhiking Creed who was playing hookey from work. But despite the façade of happiness, there’s some issues brewing under the surface. Nellie, who’s attempting to adopt a baby, was blown off earlier in the day when trying to get an employer’s recommendation from Andy. Erin, who spent her life in foster care, reaches out to Nellie to help her with adoption forms. Their blossoming relationship is heartwarming, and when Andy vehemently refuses to sign Nellie’s recommendation, it’s Erin who becomes upset over Andy’s cruelty.
At a rest stop, Pam also notices that Dwight seems unusually distraught. Jim refuses to believe that Dwight possesses real emotion and rebels against Dwight when he says they don’t have enough gas to make it to the pie stand. But this time, Dwight is fooling around. In a scene that was impeccably well done, Dwight tells Jim off for his constant provoking throughout the day…and then escapes to the roof of the bus. Jim realizes his flaw in judgement and Dwight reveals that he’s in such a terrible mood because he believes he’s barren because of radioactivity. And this time, Jim really saves the day. He comforts Dwight by saying he made that up just to get the week off.
In the end, Dwight and Jim make up, Andy signs Nelly’s adoption forms, and everyone gets their pie. Not such a bad day in the office after all.
Tidbits:
Best Dwight Line: “No knobbies, no probies”
Best Jim Face: This one actually goes to Darryl – at the end of the episode, Andy tries to continue their game of “Role Call” by breaking out a banjo. Darryl’s look of distaste at the camera is hilarious.
Throwback: The work bus brings up memories of when the group bussed to their beach day, which ended up being a competition to get Michael’s job when he was interviewing for a job at corporate.
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