THE OFFICE: Blood Drive
March 6, 2009 by Kath Skerry
In the spirit of Bob and Phyllis Vance, this week’s review of THE OFFICE is going to be a quickie.
I was a bit bewildered why NBC would run a bunch of reruns during the month of February and hold back its Valentine’s Day episode until March. I know that March sweeps started last night but with THE OFFICE’s extended episode order you would have thought they could have planned this better. Oh well. As a single gal I love having two Valentine’s Day. No really, it’s awesome.
There was an underlying pathos to last night episode that united most of the Dunder Mifflin’s single employees. If you weren’t feeling bad enough for being without a special someone, leave it to Michael Scott to make you feel worse. Still reeling from his break up with Holly, Michael goes overboard to find a woman that he met while donating blood in the annual Scranton Business Park blood drive. Classic Michael Scott – he takes a nice, pleasant exchange with a woman and builds into something it’s not. He’s a romantic at heart and desperately alone – not a good combination. But I will say this about Michael. I don’t know if it was because of his relationship with Holly or not, but he was more reserved than he has been in the past. Need I remind you of his search for the ‘Chair Model’ (R.I.P.)
While the employees share their sad love stories, Pam, Jim, Bob and Phyllis to on a double lunch date. Things seem to be going well until Phyllis and Bob disappear. When Jim & Pam discover that their friends are making the most of the handicap bathroom things become a little awkward. Ya think?
Meanwhile, in an attempt to lure blood drive lady back into his life, Michael organizes a singles mixer for the business park. Kevin, who is still heartbroken over his ex-fiance Stacy, meets a nice woman with whom he connects – as much as that’s possible with Kevin. I wonder if she too thought maybe he was a little mentally challenged. Holly couldn’t have been the first to make that mistake.
When Dwight meets a pretty blonde he can’t help but…talk business. Yup, always the salesman, Dwight turns on the swagger in a attempt to sell her paper. Smooth, Schrute.
I thought it was sweet the way the Dunder Mifflinites took pity on Michael and quietly supported him in his quest to find blood drive girl. They all knew it had very little to do with this woman and more about Michael’s broken heart. They had all been there at one point in time and knew what Michael was going through. It was sweet.
If the writers plan on reuniting Dwight and Angela at any point in time they missed a grand opportunity last night. Especially since Andy wasn’t in the episode (he was off on one of the many non-transferable honeymoons). As a fan I’m still irked at how sloppy the writers handled the dissolution of the Andy/Angela/Dwight storyline. It was a plot that they cared enough about to drag out over weeks and weeks yet they wrapped it up and through it away in one episode? I think fans are pushing for Angela and Dwight, or maybe they were. I’m not sure who this Angela Martin is these days, but I’m not sure she’s the right person for Dwight. She’s changed a bit too much. Last night we saw her sharing personal stories about her love life and chatting it up with Kelly. What?
An overall enjoyable episode. I can’t say I was busting a gut, but there were a few awkwardly funny moments – the staple of THE OFFICE.
A few other favorite moments and quotes from last night…
- Loved the cold open. Jim putting it on the line to save Pam’s job. Pulling out “The Fonz” was a great distraction. (You’re a good fiance Jim Halpert.)
- Jim: “You’re only engaged once. Present company excluded.” (Ok maybe not the best fiance)
- Carnations for Valentine’s Day. (Um, has anyone see Roy? Roy? Yikes. Step it up, Halpert.)
- Loved Stanley and Phyllis faking that they gave blood in order to score a cookie.
- Jim: “I have a lot of work to do this afternoon. Those mines aren’t going to sweep themselves.”
- Michael: “I was hit by Cupid’s sparrow. Funny little bird but he gets the job done.”
- Creed stealing pints of blood from the blood drive. Wonder what he scored on the black market for that? And is there a strong black market for blood in Scranton, PA?
- Michael: “Hey everybody, I just invited Jim to suck it.”
- Pam said that this was their first and only Valentine’s Day at fiances. Does that mean they set a date? Hello!!! We’ve been on this long ass love journey with them since 2005. Throw us a bone already.
- I don’t know about you but I would have liked to see a little Jim and Pam romance last night? I thought they were used as filler last night. They are a great couple, but I would have liked to see maybe a special moment or two.
And now my little wannabe Dunder Mifflinites…I turn it over to you. Thoughts on last night’s episode? Favorite moments?
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“Hey everybody, I just invited Jim to suck it”
For better or worse I thought immediately of you when I heard this line.
Is it possible to enjoy the episode despite not laughing out loud? I did. I’ve been more down on The Office than up this season but I can appreciate some smart humor when I see it.
Not so in love with this ep…felt phoned in a bit. My favorite part was Michael’s final speech, made me actually tear up – oh and when Kevin told his lady friend that he gets nervous talking to a pretty girl, that was so sweet and made her day. The guest actress had a fabulous reaction.
1 – I didn’t realize they were carnations, but I liked it. Probably because the dork in me knows I wrote a fanfic, with the central idea being that on Valentine’s Day, Jim gave Pam carnations.
2 – I so realized the date/engaged thing also. I think that alone has made me more excited than anything else.
3 – Jim and Pam – I wanted more, but considering the lack of interaction in some other episodes this season, I’ll take what I can get.
This was just a… boring episode. I didn’t laugh a lot. Some sweet moments. Some OOC moments (Angela!) – heck, even the fact that Stanely was at the Lonely Hearts Party until the end, that was weird! Nothing is exactly making me want to watch it again and again. Unfortunately, that’s been what most of this season has been like for me. Enjoyable while watching, but not worth a rewatch.
Like others have said, there were not a lot of laugh out loud moments, but I enjoyed watching it. I wish they would use Oscar more like they have been doing with Kevin. Oscar and Kevin have provided some of the funniest moments in the last two seasons.
I am probably in the minority of not wanting to see more romance between Jim and Pam. I like that they’re not the type of couple who make their relationship obvious in the office. And them worrying about how lunch was going was very real. They’re out to lunch with people who are probably around 15 years older than them and they’re concerned about being boring. I think it reinforces the fact that they are not the cool kids of the office. They can be just as dorky and eccentric as everyone else.
Kath, obviously you didn’t hear the spoilers on the jim//pam wedding !
I’ll shut my mouth now (:
I overall liked the episode. One of my favorite parts was Jim and Pam stealing Bob Vance’s french fries. I also liked Kevin talking to that girl at the mixer party:”Are you on e-mail?” Poor Michael. I really hope they bring Holly back soon. It was kind of weird watching a Valentine’s episode in March. Can’t wait for next week.
Kind of a meh episode. I liked it better on the second viewing and i enjoyed the cold open and the final scene.
Meredith and Kelly decorating was funny too.
“Now its just a stupid baby.”
Hey Kath and everyone else here at GMMR, check out our rockin’ mixer at Dunder Mifflin Infinity Long Beach…
http://boards.dundermifflininfinity.com/index.php?showtopic=29502&__source=dmi-us-ca-long-beach
Thank you!!!!
It just seems like Jim might of given Pam a little more for valentines day. I mean really! They wouldn’t make it obvious because that’s not how they’ve ever been. I just got a feeling that Jim did step it up, we just don’t know it.