TV Reviews: The Office 8.20, "Welcome Party"
Another death throe from the once great series.
rating: 2
Maybe I should be up front with you guys Im pretty much done with The Office. Dont get me wrong, Ill keep watching of course, out of a combination of morbid curiosity and mournful masochism, but the days of actually being invested in the series are over for me personally. And with the news of the core cast refusing to renew their contracts, Dwights spin-off, supporting cast members and writers actively pursuing new projects, and Paul Lieberstein stepping down as showrunner, it looks like Im not alone. But anyway, on to Welcome Party. Basically it was a pretty simple episode. The primary plot took a closer look at Nelly and her transition to Scranton. The secondary plot followed Andy and Erin taking their sweet time getting back to Scranton from Florida, making a detour so Andy can commit one of the worst break-ups of all time. I suppose I could appreciate the attempt to humanize Nelly and make her a more substantial, three-dimensional character, but instead I mostly just resent it. How is the audience supposed to sympathize with Andys replacement before he even realizes hes been replaced? As I mentioned in my review of the last episode, after all the time thats been devoted to legitimizing Andy as the new manager, the audacity of bringing in yet another new character contending for the position is beyond offensive and annoying, it just doesnt make any sense not logically, practically, narratively, or and perhaps most importantly not humorously either. There were so few decent jokes in this episode it wasnt just boring, it was embarrassing. Although I liked Nellys name for her memory box, Benjamin (not to be confused with her ex-boyfriends name, Henry, who dominates the memories contained within). Other than that you just had Robert California being a lousy, ineffective phony, Nelly being racist, Dwight kicking out the magician (Scram, wizard!) and hating on Pam (both of those actions were pretty funny as Dwight displayed none of the awareness Jim possessed as to why those actions were actually warranted), and a talking head from Creed in which he displayed a surprising awareness of the irony surrounding Nellys party, yet still excited that he was asked to play his original songs (at least one of which is about a half-hour long) on the guitar to torture her. In the end Nelly is moved by Jims kindness, but theres nothing to show that the rest of the office understands this exchange. I dont understand why the staff is so displeased with Nelly didnt she successfully bribe them all with raises when she initially arrived? The Andy and Erin plot had a slightly better resolution but even less laughs. Because of how nice her familys vacation home is, Andy decides itd be a good idea to break up with Jessica in person with Erin at Jessicas sisters bridal shower. I know Andy supposedly didnt know about the party, but this is still a really dumb move, too dumb to be taken seriously. Andy then goes on to hang out with the gang for a while before eventually dumping Jessica in front of everyone by telling her hes gay. If this in any way sounds ripe for comedy on paper, as the episodes writers apparently thought, its execution was anything but. Andy and Erin then leave only to return to clear the air. This was supposed to be a romantic moment for Andy and Erin, Andy manning up and being honest to Jessica about his feelings for Erin, but really it just demonstrated what douchebag Andy is. Hopefully he can apply that same douchebaggery to Nelly and Robert when he eventually gets back to Scranton, if he ever does. Welcome Party opened with a scene in which the staff cant remember whether Stanley has a mustache. Similarly, I can hardly remember why I once loved The Office so much. Everything it once had going for it is now almost totally absent. The episode closed with Hank being a dick to Jim and Pam it pleased me because I can imagine Hank the security guard being a kind of audience stand-in for all the die-hard fans who feel somewhat betrayed by the series steady decline in quality since the sixth season which has made an absolute nose dive since the eighth season premiered. Look, its been a long run; the show should be proud of all its accomplished, but its time to pack it in. I can only hope these last few episodes of the season can be the series last because its way too difficult to imagine another 20 something episodes next season being anything other than the prolonging of a well-deserved death. The series shouldve ended when Michael left and itll never get a better ending than the season seven finale. Therefore, I beg the gods of TV to just be merciful and let the last episodes of this season restore some of the dignity The Office deserves before putting us all out of its misery.