Episode 9 - Double Date
14 February 2010
Review
Synopsis: Michael takes out Helene for her birthday and Pam and Jim are forced to go along. When Michael realises the age difference between them he starts to back out of the relationship. He breaks up with her and tries to stop Pam from being angry with him. She agrees to hit him after work to make them even. Meanwhile Dwight schemes to get everyone in the office to owe him one, so that he can cash in those favours to take Jim’s job.
The Good: Michael’s breakup with Helene plays out in a logical and relatively pleasing fashion. He has all these dreams he wants to live out with his perfect woman and he tends to just slot whichever woman he is dating into that role. When he realises that Helene is too old to fit his dream he begins to immediately distance himself from her. His complete lack of foresight is matched by his inability to be subtle and hide his desire to break up with her. The consequences (see Comic Highlight) are pretty funny and the whole story does fit his character very neatly. I like that he brought up Holly again, she was such a good fit for him that I hope the producers attempt to get her back.
The idea that Pam will hit him to make them even is oddly fitting with Michael’s childish way of dealing with people. The idea that everyone would watch Michael get hit really brought out the humour and suddenly the smaller characters come to life. After years of abuse Toby is happy to give Pam advice on how to punch Michael with maximum force. Meredith makes sure Michael wasn’t hiding in the bathroom and even checked to see if the toilet seat was warm adding to her down and dirty image. Then Kelly stands to watch with popcorn which irritates Michael. Obviously he is annoyed that an employee would so want to see him punched that they would bring a snack. “Are you eating popcorn?” he asks and in classic one-track minded Kelly fashion she retorts “It has almost no calories.”
Ryan asks Michael if he is scared. In one of those genius moments of Michael’s character he unthinkingly responds “Never…about what? A little. What are you talking about?” His honesty, ignorance and transparency really make him such a winning sit com character. Finally once Pam hits him, Jim asks if she feels better. “No you were right” she says. A very nice subtle way to let the audience piece together their entire interaction and emotional state about what Michael had done.
The Bad: I have a few complaints about this. Despite all the good lines the episode didn’t come together in a satisfying way.
The subplot with Andy and Dwight didn’t turn out too well. Dwight’s idea to get everyone to owe him one was typically misguided and running up against Andy’s politeness was a clever idea. As with many a misunderstanding of what each sides motivations are the comedy came out nicely but the writers then rinsed that joke over and over again.
As for the Michael story, it felt a bit like two episodes crammed into one. He very quickly ended things with Helene and then the build up to the punch also felt rushed. By combining the two I don’t think we really felt the emotional impact which the breakup should have had on both Michael and Pam. The story had such potential for impact that in the end I just felt something had been lost.
I think also this episode played into my belief that the show is relying on its main five characters far too much. Once the smaller characters began participating in the story, some really nice moments were created. It would have been nice perhaps if Dwight’s story could have had more time to play out and featured the other characters paying him back.
Final point is about Ryan. He shows Erin nude pictures of Kelly he took in the office. That is sort of a big deal and to make it a throwaway line was a shame. Ryan’s character has been sort of hijacked in order to service his new role as office douche. But he is capable of more and it would be nice to know what his plan is to rise above his current status.
Comic Highlight: Having realised he didn’t want to be with Helene anymore Michael begins to try to distance himself from the love he has been showering her with. At that moment she begins to open his birthday present to her. He backs out of it so hard that the humour is almost lost. But his consistent denials of anything good that anyone tries to attribute to his scrap book ends up being an enjoyable running gag. “It’s stupid. You would hate it.” He says. One of the first items is a penny which she threw into a wishing well and he went and fished out. He puts down the coos of appreciation by saying “It’s not amazing at all. It’s sort of weird that I did that. And now your wish won’t come true, so that blows.” His moment of self awareness there really made me laugh. His denials continue until Pam approvingly calls the present a home run. “That was a bunt” Michael retorts.
That’s what I said: Once more the writers understand Michael and present him in the funniest way they can. But something is missing from the emotional impact of this episode and I have to question if we are getting too much focus on the main characters.
Feedback
Add your comments on this episode below. They may be included in the weekly podcasts.
’)