TV Review: The Office 9.18, "Promos"

rating: 3

At this point it's difficult to really get worked up about The Office's shortcomings. Unfortunately the series has languished among its own mediocrity for so long that missed opportunities feel par for the course while small victories, gags and bits that really pay off, are the only things which really stand out. While one may think this could work to the show's advantage, in truth it yields a total which is less than the sum of its parts. The primary plot, the staff's examination of their documentary's promos -- and subsequently themselves -- felt noticeably unbalanced. Although the entire staff eventually expresses shock and resentment at having had their more private moments exposed (even though they all presumably signed up for this), it's really only Pam that appears to embody the stark, existential horror of seeing one's self at his or her best and comparing those moments to the less idealistic present. Even when Pam does clearly demonstrate these sharp pangs of nausea, it only leads her to question her marriage with the one man she shouldn't -- the ex-camera operator Brian, a character I hoped to have been rid of by this point. While Pam carried the pathos of this plot, it only led me to think of how unfulfilled this arc will likely feel by the end of the season. Throughout this season there's been a lot of chipping away at Jim and Pam's relationship. While this realistically messy nature of this arc has been refreshing, it also seems to have resulted in more of a series of false starts and neglected potential than anything resembling a coherent arc. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but only time will tell how effective it ends up being. Meanwhile, Andy becomes predictably (though admittedly amusingly) enraged at the online comments about his stuffy appearance and banjo skills, ultimately revealed to have been at least in part supplied by Nellie, a nice touch on a rather fluffy piece of story. Similarly there was the non-plot of Jim and Daryl dealing with an endorsement obsessed Ryan Howard which, while almost completely superfluous to the episode, definitely made me laugh, but only because John Krasinski and Craig Robinson are so good at trying to stifle their laughter at ridiculousness. Angela and Oscar's struggle to know how to break the news of their dirty laundry being unearthed to The State Senator finally worked for me when the two left their wonderfully awkward voicemail, but mostly just reminded me how much I hated that arc. While all these side plots contained decent laughs, they were mostly few and far between and were essentially insufficient to carry the weight of what the premise set up. As a bittersweet result, the B-plot of Dwight and Clark's handling of Dwight's neighbor's -- let's say, reverse dowry pitch? -- actually felt like a much stronger story because it was unencumbered by the expectations and weight of nine seasons worth of history squandered. While I seriously love how much Clark Duke shines as the new Jim in this episode, its indicative of how tired The Office has become over the last few seasons that the plot featuring its newest addition was actually the episode's most rewarding story.