By Kevin McCarthy

If you haven’t heard of THE OFFICE, I really have no sympathy for you.  Thursday marked the season premiere of season four with an hour-long episode of the show, which airs at 9 on NBC. It’s your own fault for not knowing that.  I understand, however, that we don’t always get around to watching even the good ones, so here’s a quick shot at getting you up to speed on the best comedy on television. 

The show follows the model of a British show of the same name that aired for a couple seasons a few years back. The show follows a documentary format that interjects the plot with interviews with the staff. Michael Scott (Carell) is the regional manager of the Scranton, Penn., branch of Dunder-Mifflin, a paper company. Under his watchful eye are twelve employees, most important of whom are salesman Jim Halpert (Krasinski) and receptionist Pam Beasley (Fischer).  Most of the drama comes from the relationship between these two, who never seem to overcome the obstacles between them and get together.  The series began with Pam engaged, and in season two’s finale – within weeks of Pam’s marriage to warehouse worker Roy – Jim admitted his love for her.  The series picked up in the third season with Pam having broken off her engagement with Roy but not before rejecting Jim as well.  During season three, it was Jim’s turn to be in a relationship, but during the finale we were left with much the same situation: Jim ending his relationship and asking Pam out.

So there’s the backstory, which I’m not entirely convinced is vital information (but I’m sure I’ll be corrected on as I glossed over most every other character).  The episode begins with Michael hitting Meredith (a Dunder-Mifflin employee) with his car as he pulls into the parking lot.  She’s immediately transported to the hospital and Michael tells the troops that Meredith has cracked her pelvis; she’ll have to stay there for a while. Pam’s computer crashes after she tries to download a celebrity sex tape and Angela’s cat dies when she leaves feeding the ailing feline in the hands of her secret boyfriend and office tool Dwight (Wilson).


 Jim and Pam declare that there’s no romance between them, but their coworkers and the audience soon suspect the contrary.  The office visits Meredith in the hospital and she refuses to forgive Michael.  Dwight visits Meredith separately, as he was busy putting Angela’s cat, Sprinkles, out of its misery. She tells him she’s being treated for rabies in relation to an event from last season, and when Michael hears this, he picks up the cause as a means of winning back his subordinates.  He organizes a 5K – which he writes out on a poster as 5,000 miles – to raise money for rabies, a disease which has all but been cured. At the end of the day, the camera crew follows Pam and catches her picking up Jim a block away from work. 

Confronted with the footage the following day, Jim and Pam admit to a relationship and THE OFFICE fans everywhere sigh a collective “finally” and hope that we can maybe move on.  I love the characters on this show, honestly they’re terrific, but this major plot thread was getting stale.  Especially when you consider it’s really the only thing I felt need to mention, it was high time the two either got together or started totally hating each other.  I’m happy it’s the former, but I’m still kind of holding out for the latter down the road.  We’ll see.

The race is a typical OFFICE story.  A little too typical, actually.  The show began with real commentary on actual work life.  I think a lot of the early charm was with how relatable the scenarios were.  But nowadays, each episode has become an event that really has nothing to do with an office – in this case a 5K benefiting “SCIENCE,” as their big check reads (which Michael presents to a stripper in a nurse costume, having been unable to locate a “rabies doctor”). Steve Carell’s Michael Scott is always hilarious.  He has taken Rick Gervais’ persona from the original series and molded the character into something new and terrific.  I definitely prefer the American version – although I find myself to be in a minority among those who have seen both.  His boss might not be as uproariously awkward as Gervais’, but Michael is a much more perversely likeable character than his predecessor.  Unfortunately, with time Michael has become increasingly unhinged from reality – acting more ridiculous each season and finding bigger laughs but losing some of that special sympathy. 


It’s hard to complain while still claiming this to be my favorite show, but I hope Michael’s arc in the latter half of this episode is more typical of the season to come.  To provide himself with extra fuel, he gobbles fettuccini alfredo and sprints past the water table.  He loses steam and crosses the finish line last, puking up alfredo sauce and landing himself in the hospital for dehydration.  He’s being selfish and idiotic, but you can’t help but pity him a bit. It’s a fine line between satire and farce, I know, and I hope the writers find the right balance because the show is hilarious. Meanwhile, Angela learns that Dwight killed her cat and is inconsolable.  Has another OFFICE romance come to a close?