What can you say? The Office is, if anything, only getting better. Last week’s super-sized episode was absolutely spectacular, but tonight’s might have been even better. The episode, entitled “Safety Training” began with the return of Andy from Anger Management rehab. He came back with a new name (“Drew”) and a new outlook on life. Dwight, still harboring a grudge from Andy’s hole-punching incident, vowed to shun him for the next three years. Obviously, this had hysterical results.
The episode was directed by the great Harold Ramis (“Ghostbusters”, “Groundhog Day”) and you could tell because it just had the extra little comedic touch. The episode centered around dual safety training demonstrations, one in the warehouse and one in the office. Michael Scott is immediately embarrassed by his office’s lack of danger compared to the danger of the warehouse.
After Toby’s lackluster presentation of the dangers of the office, Michael researches the biggest dangers of office life and realizes that depression is the real danger. He and Dwight then concoct a plan to demonstrate depression in a way that will impress the warehouse guys.
So, how do they go about presenting depression as a real office danger? By purchasing an enormous trampoline, of course. And, what for, you ask? Because Michael is going to jump off the top of the office building and onto the trampoline, so as to demonstrate how office depression can lead to suicide. It’s hard to explain the comedy they squeeze out of this episode, but, believe me, it is there in spades. I’m not going to tell you how it ends, because it’s worth watching if you haven’t seen it already.
The “B” story of the episode revolved around the office employees betting on ridiculous office-related things. Things like, “How many jelly beans are in the container?”, “Will Creed notice if you replace his apple with a potato?” and “How long will it take Kelly to explain NetFlix?” Needless to say, this was also hysterically funny.
There is really not much to say about The Office at this point in its life. It is most certainly the funniest show on TV, and maybe the best overall show as well. The consistency it displays, for a comedy especially, is incredible. Enjoy it while you can.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
