TV Review: The Office 8.14, 'Special Project'

“Special Project” was a great episode that had a lot of laugh out loud moments and it felt like something out of an older season when the series didn’t feel so self-conscious.

By Joseph Kratzer / February 11, 2012

rating: 3.5

I think The Office works best when it tries to match the pace of its older episodes. Special Project was a great episode that had a lot of laugh out loud moments and it felt like something out of an older season when the series didnt feel so self-conscious. The opener for example took its time and reveled in the awkwardness of Angelas arrival being the antithesis to Pams. Her desperate offering of cash to compensate for Angelas delicious walnut brownies which Kevin was willing to fight through despite his allergy was a wonderful welcome back moment punctuated perfectly by Jims hurried refusal. Speaking of Jim and Pam, weve seen it coming for a while now but I have a lot of respect for the show for coming right out and stating its intentions regarding Kathys plan to seduce Jim during their three week stint in Florida as part of Sabres special project helmed by Dwight to establish a foundation for the chain of retail stores it plans to open. We have no reason to believe Jim would ever be unfaithful to Pam and his family, especially after everything theyve gone through to be together, but the writers tried to make it look like Jim and Pam have both been unhappy lately, consistently emphasizing how being at home isnt a vacation. I cant really see this going anywhere as I dont believe for a second they would ever break up the married couple though so basically this looks like itll be a Lets-hate-on-Kathy-fest" until this plot thread is wrapped up. The Jim and Pam story was definitely the low point of the episode, but I did enjoy their extreme difficulty at crafting a proper response to Robert Californias text because Ive been in that situation many times before. The thing is it felt like a pretty weak reason for Pam to say Jim should go to Florida right when she finally returns to work. Maybe they really are on the rocks. In addition to the established married couple being temporarily separated by this trip, the once and potentially future couple of Erin and Andy are also separating with Erin saying that she isnt coming back from Florida. Considering the extremely silly nature of Erin, its difficult to take her seriously but Ellie Kemper does a fantastic job of selling it. From their exchange regarding their matching Valentines Day heart pins (pin twins) before the project was announced, it seems clear that although Andy and his girlfriend Jessica are still very close, his feelings for Erin are clearly rekindled. Again, despite liking both of these characters alone and as a couple, the fact that theyve been together and didnt work out is keeping me from caring whether they end up together. Its not something Ive felt was worth dragging out and theyve done it for almost two years now. The last secondary thread was the least annoying romantic story of Daryl and Val and was cute but only really enjoyable because of Amanate who I believe was Dwights old assistant and is now possibly the funniest cast member of The Office. His ramblings remind me of a less pathetic and more hilarious Toby. I loved how touched he was by Daryls gift which was so clearly not intended for him and the fact that he continued to wear the gloves throughout the day. I was confused though by the ending; why was Daryl happy Val appeared to lie about her boyfriend? I also thought it was a great nod to the romantic triangle drama going on that Ryan tried his absolute damnedest to make sure he and Kelly could get as far away from each other as possible without actually breaking up or quitting. In fact, some of the best moments form the episode such as Dwights description of Kathy as a not totally useless enigma, came from his meta-awareness of the show (Pams back, why are you even still here?) which came through in his initial comments about those he didnt want on his team as contrasted by the comments on those who eventually made it. I suppose because this was the episode to air before Valentines Day there had to be multiple romance stories, but despite the many sappy plots the episode didnt feel weighed down by saccharine vaudeville crap due entirely to the aforementioned Amanate and the incredible pleasure that comes from watching Dwight try his hardest to manipulate his coworkers and watching them react. I cant stop laughing at Stanleys outburst including his confessed love of Burn Notice and his pink and white themed Florida attire. I feel like this may be the best The Office has to offer now uninspired stories wrapped in hilarious one liner from characters weve been in love with for years. And judging from Special Project maybe thats not the worst thing in the world. Creating this special project so full of drama concerning Andy and Erin and Kathy, Jim and Pam as well as Dwights potential departure may seem like a gimmicky ploy and thats probably because it is, but at least its something to focus on. The vast majority of the first half of the eighth season has been absolutely murdered by the lack of focus and struggling to find itself The Office has gone through. Now at least theres some driving force behind these characters and something besides loose concepts and half-hearted paper thin stories to act as the backdrop to the real entertainment of the characters just being themselves. Apparently I cant enjoy The Office unless I let go of what it used to be and just embrace what it is.