Episode 7 - Pam's Replacement
12 November 2011
Synopsis: Pam is worried about her own attractiveness now that she is pregnant. Her replacement, Cathy, is young and attractive but Jim says he doesn't think so. Pam becomes irritated by this and asks Dwight to help her prove Jim is lying. Meanwhile Andy, Darryl and Kevin have a jam in the warehouse and are joined by Robert California.
The Good: The idea of an insecure Pam teaming up with Dwight had potential. I enjoyed seeing the ideas they came up with to catch Jim out. I also enjoyed logical, assured Jim not letting any of it rile him. The conclusion with the blood pressure was a nice sensible way to get out of the story and move things back to reality.
The underlying message of the Kevin and the Zits story was just fine. Music is a collaborative process and the guys had more fun when they were all sharing equally in the spotlight.
The Bad: However that story was a bit flat for a sit com plot. There was no real amusing escalation of Robert California taking over. His cronies all arrived at around the same time and just took over. So we were left watching a joke that had already been made run and run. I still don't think it does Darryl any favours to portray him as giddy as Andy at the thought of playing music with the CEO. It makes sense that he would be pleased but his reactions don't always seem unique to him.
There was something missing from the Jim-Pam-Dwight story. It never quite became as funny or interesting as you would like. I suppose on some level Pam was always being illogical and a bit mean to Jim. Certainly there was no answer to her question that would make her feel better. Dwight was more believable here than he sometimes is but once he can't see the flaw in his own blood pressure test you have to roll your eyes. The scene where he repeatedly grabbed Jim's crotch was a bit uncomfortable too. For once I would have been right behind Jim if he had thrown a fit at that as it was deeply inappropriate.
Most of the humour felt a little too exaggerated. The shot of four different people feeling Pam's belly at once was a needless exaggeration. And although I liked the idea behind the cold open I didn't think the joke landed. If Erin had delivered her too-clever idea for an important phone call and walked away then maybe it would have worked better. As she stood there and kept adding details to her lie it felt like the joke was now getting silly and no longer played on a plausible misunderstanding.
Comic Highlight: I thought there was something funny in the idea of Kelly being very concerned by Jim's unattractive friend and wanting him to do something about his appearance. Its little moments like that that I think the writers should make more of.
That's what I said: This was passable, the stories were pleasant enough without being funny.
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