The Office - Season One

Mind-blowing. If you've never seen it, every good thing you've heard is true. If this was a three-hour movie, it'd be number one on my top ten list.

What strikes me most about the show is David Brent, the character played by creator/writer/director Ricky Gervais. He's been described as a "boss from hell", but I see him as a guy who is conflicted about the power he wields, but delusional about how that power is percieved ("I'm a friend first, a boss second...entertainer third"). He wants to be popular and everybody's friend -- he wants to be loved, more precisely -- but doesn't want to sacrifice the power and show the vulnerability that that requires. There ends up being such a split between the lonely, unfunny guy he is and the charismatic leader that he insists to himself he is, all you can do is gaze dumbfoundedly.

Now, that description probably sounds a bit general, a bit intellectual. Yet I think we've all met this guy at one point in our lives, and I can't think of any other movie or TV show that's ever portrayed this kind of character, at least not with this kind of detail. It's like he sprung into existence fully formed, yet was always lurking out in the ether, an archetype waiting for expression. In other words, I hope Ricky Gervais gets around to doing other stuff, otherwise he's going to be seen as David Brent forever.

I don't necessarily think that every episode is equivalent in quality, though; Episode One is a bit dry, and Episode Five is probably the least successful. (I'm assuming it's Episode Five that features the new secretary sub-plot; it's one of the few times they push their super-realism to the breaking point, I think.) Episodes Two and Four, the porn and the teamwork seminar, are the funniest. Episode Two is actually the first one I saw, and I think my love of the show was solidified by "Gareth Keenan Investigates".

Then there's Episodes Three and Six. Understand that the humor of "The Office" is raw, in the sense that, like "Curb Your Enthusiasm", it deals with uncomfortable situations and awkward silences, and mining the laughs from these encounters. In Three and Six, they plunge so deep into the heart of this office environment that they end up stripping away all the humor to reveal, without a buffer, the darkness at the center of it. The ending of Episode Three, in particular, featuring David Brent's best friend, the monstrous Chris Finch (a brilliant performance by Ralph Ineson in a series full of brilliant performances) is one of the most depressing things I've ever seen.

Can't wait to see Season Two!

Where we saw it: tv | We deign to rate it: outta 100
Posted by kza at 12:21 PM | Comments (2)