Episode 3 - Lotto
23 February 2012
Synopsis: The entire warehouse crew win the lottery and quit their jobs. Darryl, no longer part of their lottery pool, is thrown into a deep funk. He refuses to hire new people and asks Andy to fire him. Andy keeps pushing him to get back to work and snap out of it. Jim, Dwight, Erin and Kevin take on the warehouse duties and make a horrible mess of them.
The Good: The good news is that the writers have really embraced Andy as the Leslie Knope of Dunder Mifflin. It's not a perfect comparison but the Michael Scott tendency to belittle people has gone and Andy's genuine affection for people is making for pleasant viewing.
The writers really came up with a conflict that fitted what we know of both Andy and Darryl. For a start there is the friendship which has grown between them since Darryl moved up from the warehouse. That situation meant Andy was naturally inclined not to fire Darryl even when he was refusing to work. It also meant that Andy had the ammunition with which to prove to Darryl that it was his own fault that his career has stalled.
The details which Andy used in his speech to shake Darryl out of his defeatism was excellent. I've commented for some time that it's been sad to see Darryl sink to the same level of mediocrity and incompetence as the other office workers. Andy's speech captured that feeling well and if this leads to him picking up the slack and returning to more of the cool competent guy he was that would be great.
The lottery plot was a solid one to shine the light on Darryl's situation. Some of the discussion about what different people would have done with the money was fun.
The Bad: The bad news is that this was almost an entirely humourless episode. Darryl's funk was serious and didn't have a laugh moment in it. Andy floundering with the new warehouse workers was predictable and dull. The awkward guy interrupting to talk about his hearing felt forced. We shall see if the writers can find a way to make Andy funny the way they did with Michael. I don't mind giving them time as so far they have done a nice job with him in the new role.
The malarkey going on down in the warehouse was ridiculous. Jim really shouldn't be sidetracked by idiots like this. Even though it fits with the slacker\coward aspect of his personality it just makes him look horribly unprofessional. Andy and Phyllis should have been furious that an order was missed. I'm beginning to shrug when it comes to Dwight. I can imagine him getting mixed up in this silliness but I can also see him washing his hands of it.
In their search for humour it felt like Oscar's character was being sold out. His talking heads have tended to be fairly brief and to the point. I was waiting for the moment of self realisation as he gabbed on and on about who the fittest guy in town was. Then to see him perving all over that guy through the glass just felt weird. Oscar has always been professional and a little shy. This felt like a cheap gay stereotype.
Comic Highlight: Kevin falling over on the grease was what it was. Dwight and Jim unthinkingly dismissing the warehouse workers as less intelligent than them was a well constructed moment but I wouldn't say that it was funny.
That's what I said: Three episodes in and it's time to draw some conclusions about the new season of The Office. The writers have been smart about using Andy as the new Michael. This was a great example of that. However the comedy hasn't really changed. The smaller characters don't have fixed personalities and as a result most of their jokes fall flat. Jim and Dwight haven't found new roles in the readjustment yet and we haven't seen enough of Robert California to know what he will do for the show.
I think for now the show is in neutral. What they lost in comedy from Michael they have gained in warmth from Andy. Everything else has stayed the same.
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