Episode 14 - Goodbye, Toby
4 January 2009
Review
Synopsis: A double length episode. Toby is leaving the office and he has to train his replacement, Holly Flax. Though initially hostile, Michael quickly falls for her and Jim steps in to prevent him from going after her too quickly. Phyllis takes over from Angela in organising a huge party for Toby. Dwight attempts to haze Holly but only succeeds when convincing her that Kevin is mentally slow. Ryan is arrested for fraud after attempting to record sales twice in order to make his website look successful. At the party Jim plans to propose to Pam but Andy proposes to Angela first. She says yes but later is found by Phyllis fooling around with Dwight. Finally Michael discovers that Jan is pregnant from a sperm donor but agrees to go to lamas class with her.
The Good: Unlike many of the early season double length episodes, this paces itself very well. By setting up the story to run one day only, the plot flows well and has a pleasing beginning, middle and end.
Holly Flax plays her role really well. The writers don’t define her too clearly as a character and at this stage that works fine. She manages to be convincingly nice and because it’s her first day it is entirely plausible that she wouldn’t see Michael’s behaviour as too strange. Their flirtation is really nice to see and because Michael modifies his behaviour we begin to feel genuine sympathy for him. Especially when he comes over to Jim’s desk as excited as a school boy or when he pulls out of saying “that’s what she said.” It gives the viewers a chance to root for Michael and I believe supporting the main characters is the natural desire of most TV viewers.
Jim finally stands up to Michael (which I have asked for for a long time) and even though it is on a personal matter and not work, it is still good to see. After all if Jim is such a nice guy then he should at least try to help Michael not make a fool of himself instead of sitting back and shaking his head. Jim’s advice is good and of course leads him to want to propose to Pam. It’s pretty sad that he doesn’t and the feeling that the office is spoiling their relationship is drawn out well.
The final aspect to making Michael more sympathetic is his decision to go to lamas class with Jan. Her cruelty is pretty savage and one can’t help but feel sorry for him. Especially when she says to the camera that this baby has to count and that is why she didn’t get impregnated by Michael. Even through all his stupid behaviour it is such a harsh statement that when he agrees to be “kind of a daddy” anyway you are reminded of how kind he can be.
Dwight’s explanation of hazing is really funny (showing a new employee that they are not welcome or liked). But even better is his explanation to Holly that Kevin is slow. It’s one of those great jokes which fits a character’s established traits without seeming contrived. Kevin has been less than convincing sometimes with his childish behaviour but here it reaps great dividends. Having a button in his pile of change and jumping on the bouncy castle are really fun ways to continue the misunderstanding as is his belief that Holly must like him. The really clever part is having her compliment Michael on hiring him which he naturally doesn’t see as a strange comment at all.
Poor Toby heads off into the sunset and I still feel more could have been done with his character. But here we have a lot of fun as Michael tries to be mean to him but doesn’t want Holly to see it. Michael’s attempts to read his mean questions without sounding mean is nice. Of course the poignant moment for Toby is when he is interviewed in his chair and just asks “What’s the point?” He has made it to the end of his job without seriously complaining about Michael’s behaviour. Why would he start now?
There are several other decent jokes sprinkled throughout which should give everyone something to enjoy. Three that spring to mind are Phyllis’ serious reply to being asked to run the party, Michael specifically asking Jan not to cheat on him and Andy knocking over Darryl’s keyboard.
The Bad: The worst thing is Andy asking Angela to marry him. We have yet to see one scene where their relationship looked the slightest bit believable or enjoyable. Most of that has been because Angela has seemed so disinterested, but the one time she looked happy (playing mad libs in 412), he seemed less than thrilled. So it doesn’t feel like he really loves her, she obviously doesn’t and I think it damages both their characters.
Angela shouldn’t have said yes. Her character is stern and always sure of the correct course of action. So if we assume she said yes because she was feeling lonely or insecure then it doesn’t quite match up. As she jumps back into Dwight’s arms, I see no reason she couldn’t have coldly rejected Andy. Mr Bernad’s problem is a lack of definition. When he was first introduced he seemed like a suck up with a short fuse. But since coming back from anger management he has just played a general goof ball with no strong constitution for his character. We will now have to sit through him being dumped and humiliated I assume. But humiliation doesn’t work if we don’t care about the character.
Ryan’s arrest comes a bit too abruptly for my taste. I think his story could have been given more time to develop. Creed is once more far too over the top in his weird behaviour. His zany antics are funnier in smaller more subtle doses. Toby has a similar problem around Pam where he suddenly drops his “calming influence” and acts like one of the stupid characters. Holly has an odd line where she says that Toby bored her while showing her around the office. I think they were trying to make it sound playful so that Toby wouldn’t be offended. But it doesn’t quite come out like that and just sounds rude.
Comic Highlight: Michael arrives to see Toby off. One more time Toby turns to try and be nice only to see Michael has brought the office security guard with him. “Really Michael?” he asks. “Sorry it’s corporate policy” says Michael. “It’s not” Toby says. One final moment which sums up their relationship nicely and the visual as Toby turns around is funny.
That’s what I said: A very strong season finale which sets up next season very well. We now have three office romances on the boil and Ryan’s arrest, Jan’s pregnancy and Pam’s art course to mix in as well.
This episode is so strong because Michael manages to be mean to Toby and sympathetic in everything else he does. It keeps both humour and a pleasing story rolling. Holly Flax is written and acted well and adds hugely to both plot and humour, particularly the Kevin misunderstanding. A fine effort by all concerned.
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