"The Office": You burn it, you buy it

If someone watched "The Office" for the first time last night, he or she might not be that clear on why, in fact, the show is titled as such.  After all, other than for the first few minutes, the episode took place in Michael (Steve Carell) and Jan's (Melora Hardin) condo. However, for the rest of us, despite the "out-of-water" concept of the episode, it worked out largely as a satisfying take on the play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" as Michael and Jan's interaction during their dinner party was funny, terrifying, sad and bizarre, just as with the lead couple in the Edward Albee classic, which presented a reality of a kind other than the dull office life we usually see in the show. 

After tricking Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) into admitting they had no plans for the evening, Michael invited them over to his and Jan's place for a dinner party. Andy (Ed Helms) and Angela (Angela Kinsey) also joined them for for a night which would undoubtedly be full of dysfunction. (Dwight [Rainn Wilson] later crashed with his former babysitter as his date.)

The episode seemed to have a few struggles along the lines of what was happening with the show before the strike, that is, many of the jokes typically rooted in reality were replaced with wackier, less believable ones -- but not all.  The detail of the camera on the tripod in Jan and Michael's bedroom was subtle and funny, but not so much where Michael demonstrated that he is forced to sleep on a tiny bench at the end of the bed.  Real: Jan sitting on Michael's lap during their game of charades. Fake: his three vasectomies, and that he ran through a glass window to get to an ice cream truck. 

Fortunately, Jim and Pam were able to deflect the awkwardness of Jan and Michael's drama as they were forced to bear witness to the bizarre night.  Pam was insulted by Jan in the type of evil subtle dig we've all received ("This wine will be good to cook with"), Jim purposefully frustrated Michael during charades, and then the two of them were forced to put their relationship to the test as Jim came up with a way out of the party, but realized that he would have to leave Pam behind (he did the gallant thing). 

This is a minor point, but the show had a more traditional TV ending than episodes of "The Office" tend to have, checking in on each of the couples after the evening was over, obviously taking some camera shots that wouldn't have been acquired by the camera crew that allegedly tracks the characters in this show, like exterior highway car shots.  Fortunately, Jim and Pam's ending was cute and amusing, a scene that any couple who has done a post-mortem on an awkward night out could identify with. 

At the base of the show, beneath the yelling and smashing, were some themes that are in fact real: a couple trying to make work what obviously doesn't; the pressure of presenting a bourgeois happy-couple facade, and the struggle to find couple friends.  Michael will undoubtedly feel better, though, once he gets back into the office.

--Claire Zulkey

(Photo courtesy NBC Universal)

Comments

[Michael]

PARAGRAPH TWO -- EDIT TO: "After tricking Jim and Pam into admitting they have no plans for the evening, Michael invites them over to his and Jan's place for a dinner party...."
Your backwards construction indicates that Michael was the one who was tricked. Don't worry, your grammatical error is a common one. Not so much among those who write for major newspapers, however.

[tko]

"...as Michael's former lover." LOL. I love Pam/Jenna.

[Claire Zulkey]

Michael, thanks so much for the suggestion: I incorporated it into the post, as you can see. I am chagrined, ashamed and horrified. I hope you forgive me.