It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen. Well, maybe not the moment you have been waiting for, but definitely the moment that Dwight has been waiting for. For at least seven years, probably longer.
And looking back at seven years really makes a fan think: Why did I love this show so much in the beginning?
Dwight, after Deangelo is injured, is named interim manager for the Scranton branch. And, as per The Office of late, chaos ensues.
If nothing else, this episode was certainly unexpected. Michael leaving came with a lot of warning and preparation. Will Ferrell’s guest appearance was advertised excessively. But the moment occasion of Dwight, Assistant to the Regional Manager becoming Acting Manager? Definitely did not see that one coming.
And thankfully so. Dwight is a terrible boss, as if that could not have been predicted. And while many of the antics were a little off the rocker, this show had some elements of past seasons that were fun despite being a bit over-the-top.
“Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager” definitely counts among the weirder episodes of this show. But even though there were little moments of Jim humor reminiscent of The Office golden years, the show was overrun by weirdness that was pretty cheap at times.
Obviously, Dwight’s gun holster mishap is something exceptionally strange, even for newer Office seasons. Debilitating injury to a character is something very unexpected on. Yet, this exaggeration through an unrealistic situation is a bit of what The Office has become characterized with.
There were moments of this behavior back in “the day”. Andy’s outburst over his “Rockin’ Robin” ringtone (via The Office: “The Return”, Season 3 Episode 14) is one good example. I doubt anyone could have expected a new recurring character to punch his arm through a wall. But it was done anyway.
There is a level of risk that this show used to take that is quite different from what is so expected from it now. It may even warrant the bold statement that despite The Office not starting out as a typical “filmed in front of a live studio audience” sitcom, the show has somehow developed into just what it was competing against what it began its history against: the prime time situation comedy.
As we drown in the mediocre offerings of network television these days, we long for those humble beginnings, before The Office decided kitsch was the new funny.
Would Dwight have practically humped Kevin in a previous season. Maybe, but it just doesn’t seem right.
On the other hand, realism did exist in the form of the long-standing rivalry between Dwight and Jim. Dwight’s attempt to fire, and upon learning he did not have the authority to do so, pre-fire Jim was quite the throwback.
One quote was a reparation for some of the weirder, more eye-sore causing moments of this show:
“If I had thought that there was a real chance that Dwight would be permanent manager, I would’ve pre-quit and you might be saying to yourself, well that’s pre-pre-mature to think, but I always say ‘it’s better to be pre-pre-pre-prepared’.”
Thank you, Jim Halpert. More adorable knowing looks into the camera from you could make a girl swoon.
Which calls to mind a final issue: I have spent many blogs writing about what is wrong with The Office now, analyzing why we’ve started to complain about this show that for years we sang the praises of. In this way, I’ve expended many fewer words writing on what was great about the past.
This quote is a perfect demonstration of what The Office was for me in the beginning. It was wordplay and fun and quick wit.
Shock humor can be fun. Sure, let Dwight shoot someone’s eardrum and making them temporarily deaf. We might laugh at the insanity for a moment. But The Office we love is the simple one; The Office that reminds us that the tedium of life can be fun if you put a stapler in Jell-O or play a Pavlov’s dogs experiment on a co-worker.
I may still love you, Office, but the histrionics are not quite the reason.