(S06E06) After the fantastic wedding episode, there was a pretty good chance that the follow-up would be a letdown. But when Greg Daniels and Paul Lieberstein described this episode to reporters during press tour time, it sounded interesting. Michael mistakenly thinks he's talking to the Mafia. Sounds good, right?Well, it wasn't. It was more than just a post-wedding letdown; it was one of the worst episodes in a couple of years. Why? Mainly because the entire episode was built around a silly misunderstanding that could have been cleared up in a few minutes. And this time, it wasn't even Michael's fault!
Michael, for once, seemed to have his wits about him, dismissing Grotti the insurance guy as just a pushy salesman. It was Andy and Dwight, teaming up in their stupidity, that took the usual Italian-American stereotypes to the hilt and interpreted "insurance" as "mafia protection." What's ironic is, after the silly lunch meeting where Andy pretends to be a mechanic --destroying a stranger's car in the process -- if they had just done what they pretended to do to make Michael more confident, this would have been all over. Have the guy checked out, Dwight! Use your contacts, Andy! Of course, they may not have those contacts, but a quick Google search would have at least brought up Grotti's profile on his insurance company's website.
So we spend twenty minutes seeing Michael be convinced that he's dealing with the Mafia. Fine. But the payoff wasn't even that satisfying. He cancels the insurance and tells off Grotti in the process. Oh, well. Grotti doesn't seem to be that put off by it (he's a salesman, after all). And all Michael gets is the false confidence borne from a made-up confrontation with a non-Mafioso. The big point is probably that Michael the master salesman ("A great salesman having to listen to a bad salesman is like a great basketball player having to listen to a bad basketball player") got manipulated by someone he thought was a hack; the Mafia story sounds a lot better than that.
Oscar's interview, where he says that the "coalition of reason" has weakened with Pam and Jim on their honeymoon and Toby "checked out since June," was the highlight of the episode. Without those folks around,something like this was bound to happen. Loved Pam rushing Oscar off the phone, and I really loved Jim pretending that the connection with Michael was breaking up, then going "Bermuda Triangle... don't call again."
More fun stuff:
- The description of the episode on my cable box's guide said that Erin was going to inadvertently ruin Pam's painting of the office. But that plot never materialized. Will it be online under the deleted scenes?
- Instead we got Kevin squatting in Jim's office, which was fun, mainly because Kevin is such a fun character in those small doses. The best part was that he initially used the office merely "as a place to fart," but eventually managed to move in his nameplate and get Jim's credit card cancelled.
- Speaking of that, I can understand Capital One's dogged pursuit of fraud. I ordered some credits and a phone number from Skype today and got my credit card frozen. Twice. One time, I got a phone call about 20 minutes after my second Skype order. Those folks are on the case; Kevin -- and Jim's account -- never stood a chance.
- Kevin to Oscar: "I wouldn't last in jail. I'm not you. You would love jail." Wow. Kevin goes from a possible teabagging joke a few weeks ago to prison sex. His ideas about gay people must have come from Opie and Anthony or some of the more misinformed henchmen on Howard Stern's show.
- "I'll have the gabbagool."
- Michael's calendar includes "creative space" and "free play." He might have the best job in the country.
- I don't ever want to hear about Meredith's son doing "upper deckers" ever again.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-16-2009 @ 12:17AM
ac said...
Yeah I felt this was the worst episode in a while. It was almost Michael holding a pizza boy hostage bad.
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10-16-2009 @ 12:47AM
Alex said...
I've thought the show has been going downhill since season 4, and then the wedding episode was so impressive that it restored my faith. And then "Mafia" came along and just took that faith out back, shot it, and dumped it in the river.
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10-16-2009 @ 10:01AM
David said...
Could not agree more. I've been saying the same thing about the show since season 4. There were some decent episodes in the beginning of season 5, and then right around "Michael Scott Paper Company," Dwight's character totally changed to this mean-spirited and calculating guy out to get Michael and be a jerk to everyone. And, to that point, the wedding episode that everyone loves so much featured Dwight hooking up with a girl and then being a huge d-bag after. This is not the same Dwight from "Cocktails" or "Product Recall."
But now all of a sudden in this episode, Dwight is the ill-informed sycophant again and wants to protect Michael. Huh? I don't get it.
10-16-2009 @ 3:42AM
Ken said...
I agree with your review of this week's episode of "The Office". Coming off of last week's better writing, and having Oscar be the voice of reason in the workplace as opposed to Pam and Jim was interesting. Dwight and Andy have gotten over their rivalry and are idiots in their own ways. What I do not agree though is that when you refer to Kevin and Oscar's discussion of prison sex as "...His ideas about gay people must have come from Opie and Anthony..."; as a fan of the show I was somewhat offended by that remark. The show is more than just "fart jokes" and bad boy humor - as they discuss topics ranging from racism, gun control, foreign policy, and censorship in a frank manner. The joke from Kevin was funny, but your reference is outdated. Boo...
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10-16-2009 @ 8:14AM
Joel Keller said...
Hey, I also smacked the Stern show, and I listened to him for years. But both shows talk about things like "teabagging"and what happens in jail, along with the more "mature" issues you mention in your comment. But a guy like Kevin -- who would likely listen to one of the two shows -- would probably only key in on the sexual stuff, because he's Kevin.
10-16-2009 @ 8:09AM
Rico said...
They really need to consider wrapping this show up after this season. It has pretty much run it's course. Five episodes so far this year and four have been bad. As I said in another post a few weeks ago, if this were the first season, I would have stopped watching by now.
I will say though, the wedding episode ranks as one of the best of the entire series, but it has been a less than lackluster season overall.
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10-16-2009 @ 9:19AM
Joe Fulton said...
I don't know what show you people are watching, but I enjoyed this episode.
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10-16-2009 @ 9:36AM
Jimmy said...
I liked it too. Seriously, every episode can't be as good as last week's.
Besides, if you don't like it, just "send it back!"
10-16-2009 @ 9:40AM
RC said...
I don't know why people are so quick to criticize. it wasn't the best episode ever but it wasn't that bad either. Even the worst episode of The Office is better than any episode of Hank or Accidentally on Purpose. We should be happy there's even a show like The Office on the air.
http://bitsmack.com
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10-16-2009 @ 11:13AM
Sarah said...
i thought it wasn't a great episode, but i wouldn't call it the worst. besides the main characters, the whole Kevin and Oscar storylines reminded me of The Accountants during the off season. its nice to see it on air. i think the whole Mafia plot could have been executed better, however.
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10-16-2009 @ 11:44AM
the Silent Hero said...
Wasn't the worst episode ever, but man did it come close. The basic premise was just dumb, I only chuckled when Grotti ordered his food.
I'm with the guy above, this show needs to go. I won't mind. I have Season 2 and 3 on DVD, plenty of great office episodes there unlike this season.
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10-16-2009 @ 1:50PM
MosquitoControl said...
Unwatchable. It was actually painful. The whole episode kind of gave me a headache. It was just stupidity for no reason, and not particularly entertaining stupidity.
This show has episodes like this every so often, but usually they're the hour-long episodes. The writers seem low on ideas so they just go with overwhelming stupidity without any fair balance.
The last episode that I can remember making my brain hurt was the post-Superbowl episode. That one seemed to go on forever with no real direction.
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10-16-2009 @ 4:22PM
Dan_Screenplays said...
I also really enjoyed the episode. Great to see Mike Starr as "Gratti" of Goodfellas and Summer of Sam fame. I've got the Erin deleted scene in my review: http://wp.me/pCufw-6J
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10-16-2009 @ 10:10PM
The1337 said...
I loved the mafia story and how the bumbling trio dealt with it, but the rest of the episode was really boring. Full review of the episode.
http://th3tvobsessed.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-office-season-6-episode-5-mafia.html
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10-17-2009 @ 8:49PM
Red said...
"Of course, they may not have those contacts, but a quick Google search would have at least brought up Grotti's profile on his insurance company's website."
This argument is pointless because Michael didn't think he wasn't an insurance salesman. He thought he was an insurance salesman with ties to the mob. Did you not hear all the stuff about the businesses that were a front for the mob like waste management?
This episode was pretty funny. I don't know what all of you were expecting.
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10-19-2009 @ 5:19PM
EKC said...
Oscar Nuñez will be a guest on "That Morning Show" (http://www.thatmorningshow.com) this THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, to discuss his experiences working with the cast of "The Office" as well as his upcoming projects.
Catch Nuñez's interview on "That Morning Show" from 6AM - 9AM on E! Entertainment network! Check local listings.
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10-20-2009 @ 12:21PM
sendog994 said...
I thought the wedding episode was one of the worst things I've ever seen on television. The show was ruined as soon as Pam and Jim became involved in a relationship. The edginess that made the show watchable for me is gone. There are already enough sappy sitcoms about happy relationships. I laugh more in the first minute of an "It's always Sunny in Philadlphia" episode than I do watching a whole episode of "The Office". Opie and Anthony know a little bit more about comedy than Joel Keller.
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