Episode 6 - Branch Wars
4 January 2009
Review
Synopsis: Stanley announces that he is leaving for the Utica branch of Dunder Mifflin where Karen Filippelli is boss. Michael and Dwight deceive Jim into going to Utica to play a prank on them. Pam, Toby and Oscar try to enjoy their “Fine Things Club” but people keep wondering into the common area and disturbing them.
The Good: Sometimes The Office presents plots that are very silly. For a show which is lauded for moving beyond traditional sitcom stories, this is about as silly as any sitcom story you will see. Dwight and Michael behave in ways which grown men should not and yet the episode is funny enough that it doesn’t matter. Fortunately Dwight and Michael do enough ridiculous things that most viewers will probably enjoy this for what it is.
Michael’s affection for Stanley is amusing, because it is so misplaced and unreciprocated. Despite the inherent racial prejudice in his description of the sassy black man with the big butt, he seems so genuinely upset to lose Stanley that one can forgive him for his stereotyping. Stanley has a couple of nice moments; repeatedly saying “money” when Michael asks him what he can do to keep him and then pondering if Michael is some kind of genius for calling his bluff.
On the journey to Utica Dwight and Michael’s excitement at deceiving Jim is funny because it is so childishly euphoric. Dwight peeing in the car is a cheap joke but will probably make you smile. Once at Utica Dwight and Michael’s overdramatic attitude to everything does fit their characters. It is a well directed scene as the camera remains on Jim, which is not only logical (the camera would give away their presence) but also adds to the humour by allowing our imagination to do the work. So over the Walkie-talkie we hear Dwight’s obsession with hurting the security guys eyes (“The eyes are the groin of the head”) and then Michael’s overly dramatic instructions to Jim (see Comic Highlight). Fortunately Michael and Dwight are well established as taking things too seriously and so it is possible to buy into these scenes and enjoy them for their silly comedy.
The “Finer Things Club” is a nice side plot. It allows Toby and Oscar to get some characterisation and the final scene with Jim plays into their conflicting personalities. Michael’s irrational hatred of Toby leads to a great moment when he turns around to see Toby holding crockery and wearing a bow tie and he says “Oh my God. That’s why people are leaving. I…I have no words.”
The Bad: Why are there cameras at the Utica branch when Stanley calls? That makes no sense.
Dwight is obsessed with law and order. He seemed to take his own moral obligations pretty seriously when he resigned as a volunteer sheriff (220). To see him offering to make real bombs because it would be “bad ass” and then threatening to “burn Utica to the ground” seems like a step too far.. It feels like the joke was written without consideration for his character’s constitution.
Jim seems a bit cowardly and I’m not sure the writers mean him to. He should stand up to Dwight and Michael more firmly than he does. By letting them enter Utica they could all lose their jobs and you would think he would be able to talk them out of it. Then he stands with his hands in his pockets like a naughty school boy as Karen vents her understandable anger at him. I think he would be a more appealing “good guy” character if he manned up and apologised for hurting Karen.
Comic Highlight: As Jim attempts to hide from Karen in the car Michael gets trapped under Utica’s industrial copier. He begins shouting instructions to Jim down the Walkie-talkie. The highlights are “We need help Jim…Take her to a motel, make love to her…come on Jim just climb on top of her and think about Stanley…Jim, if this is it for me, promise me one thing, host the Dundies.”
That’s what I said: Despite my reservations about certain characters behaviour, this is a fun episode. Michael and Dwight are suitably ridiculous and funny throughout.
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