Can you believe we’re already to the fifth season? The Office drops its season premiere in a special hour-long edition two days from now, in its permanent Thursdays at 9pm time slot. The NBC comedy was shut out of all the major Emmy categories on Sunday, but don’t take that as a knock on The Office. The show is still as good as ever (people really like Tina Fey, that’s all). We last left our Dunder-Mifflin employees as they said goodbye to HR man Toby, the bane of Michael Scott’s existence. Pam is off to school in New York for a few months, Andy and Angela are engaged, and Michael has discovered that Jan is pregnant. As we approach the new season, I thought it might be worthwhile to hurl some predictions at y’all.
1. The Writers Will Resist the Urge to Break Up Jim and Pam
Jim and Pam’s relationship has been the anchor of the series in its first four years. The “will they, won’t they” routine was played as far as it could be played without monumentally pissing off the audience. Now that they are together, the common sitcom routine would be to once again pull them apart. Pam going away to New York for an extended period of time is a clear story-telling device to put the relationship in question. However, they’ve been through too much, and The Office writers are too smart to pull a Ross and Rachel. Jim and Pam will stay together, and likely get engaged by the end of the season.
2. Angela Will End Up with No One
You’re crazy if you think Angela is going to marry Andy. There’s just no way, especially after the very final scene of season 4. She has to make some sort of rational decision at some point – I wouldn’t be surprised if she took it all the way to a wedding and then left from there. If it does go to a wedding, that is a great setting for an entire episode. What do you want to bet that Dwight wouldn’t be able to hold his peace during the ceremony? As for Dwight – I just don’t ever see it working out with him and Angela.
3. Holly Will Break Michael’s Heart
Holly and Michael hit it off in the fourth season finale, and Amy Ryan will be back for a handful of episodes to play Holly once again. But, she won’t be a regular character, and will likely disappear at some point early in the season. Her departure, which is inevitable, won’t be a happy moment for Michael. Holly will initially help Michael get over Jan. He will be happy, then Holly will up and leave, crushing Michael’s spirit, at which point he will run back into the arms of Jan.
4. There Will Be Less Office Scenes Than Ever Before
Just like Seinfeld, The Office will expand its canvas out of necessity as the show gets older. They’ve already begun doing this, more and more so last year, but this season will feature less office time than ever before. We will see characters outside the office that we’re not used to seeing – I’m thinking Kevin and Stanley.
5. The Office Will be Darker than Ever Before
The Office has never been completely light-hearted. The character of Michael Scott, if The Office were a drama, would be about the most disturbing character ever concocted. The story-lines coming into season 5 seem ripe for darker, possibly more disturbing humor – Jim and Pam’s geographic separation, Michael dealing with Jan’s pregnancy, the Andy-Dwight-Angela triangle, etc.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
