Low Blow Puppet

The long awaited season finales of The Office and Parks and Recreation. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

The Office – “Search Committee” (B+)

Three weeks after Michael left Dunder Mifflin for Colorado the search for his replacement was on, and it’s fair to say the candidate pool was large. With guest stars as varied as Warren Buffett and Jim Carrey, and a potential role in the series on the line, “Search Committee” was an audition as much as it was an episode. So who do I think is going to get the job?

Well let’s start with who I don’t think will get the job.  I think it’s fair to say Warren Buffett won’t be around next season, but I certainly admired the cameo. He held his own in that conference room. It also won’t be Will Arnett, as his pilot just got picked up for next season. Too bad, because I thought he would have been a good fit with the cast (I do want to see his new show though). Still, he was funny in this episode.

Ray Romano – who I also don’t think will get the job – stood out to me as one of the better guest appearances. I just loved how neurotic his character was. I mean Merv was exactly what you’d expect a character played by Ray Romano would be, but that didn’t make him any less entertaining. I think his little closing monologue was the best of the bunch (although I also loved Jim Carrey’s brief appearance as the Finger Lake’s guy).

MERV (RAY ROMANO): Honestly I think I sabotage myself. It’ s like I’m afraid of being happy. Case in point: I was supposed to start another job today.

And then there was Ricky Gervais who popped in via web cam with a very one sided interview. He was never really a serious contender before this episode but it was still nice to get another cameo from David Brent.

I think it’s also worth noting the new boss will likely come from outside of the Scranton branch. Picking one of the existing characters could really upset the balance of the office, and I just don’t see the writers taking that risk. I won’t dismiss the possibility entirely, but it’s a long shot at best. Of the four current office members up for the job (Dwight, Andy, Kelly and Darryl) I’d say Andy has the best shot. Dwight was good for an episode but there’s no way they could keep that funny indefinitely. Kelly just joined the search committee, so she’s effectively out of the running. And Darryl gave one of the more awkward interviews in the episode, so I’d be surprised if it was him. I know he was an early favourite but I’m not really feeling him as the boss.

Which leaves me with the two contenders  – James Spader and Catherine Tate. Both seem to be unattached to any other projects for next season and both showed promise in the role. Tate’s Nellie Bertram came across to me as probably the closest to Michael. She sort of looked to tell the search committee exactly what they wanted to hear while being mildly inappropriate all at the same time. That makes her probably the least harmful to the status quo. Plus, it might be cool to add a Brit to the cast.

Spader’s character Robert California was a different entity entirely. He had a really cool energy to him and seemed to be able to control whatever room he was in. It’s also worth noting that of all the outside candidates he got by far the most screen time. His scene with Dwight in particular was fantastic. He managed to be charismatic and ridiculous all at the same time.

And honestly, choosing between those two is where I’m having trouble. Tate is probably the safer bet. Like I said, she’s the closest to Michael and therefore the least harmful to the existing structure of the series. And sure, her interview didn’t go well, but the fact that she knows Jo personally makes that easy to get around. Spader on the other hand could bring a really cool new vibe to the show. I don’t entirely have the pulse on his character yet –I’d need to see more of him to really judge – but what I did see I liked. Obviously, whoever they pick is going to have some big shoes to fill.

As for the rest of the episode, I’ve got to say everybody was really on their game. Kathy Bate’s had a great guest appearance as Jo, absolutely killing every time she was on screen. I love how frank and unpredictable that character is. The way she immediately cuts through any type of bull shit and yet still goes with her gut whenever she feels like it. She’s fun to watch.

She also sent Gabe back to Florida, which was a bit of a surprise. Although, now that Erin’s broken up with him there’s not much left for his character to do, so perhaps it was a good thing the writers wrote him off sooner rather than later. Of course I’m only assuming he’s gone for good, and to be fair he was funny in this episode. But if the relocation does end up being permanent does that mean Jordan is here to stay? I couldn’t help but notice they’ve kept her around these last few episodes.

And then there was Erin and Andy. As excruciatingly awkward as that puppet scene was, I still like these two together. Mostly I just want to see Erin happy though. She’s such a sweet character and she’s had such a hard life. Even Phyllis couldn’t bring herself to tell her they weren’t related. I guess she was just one of those Porkey’s babies.

Last thing (because this review is out of control) – Creed as acting manager was absolutely hilarious. I almost want them to delay the search just so we can get a little more of Creed the boss, making acronyms and conducting meetings with no one. When you think about it, it’s probably the closest we’ll ever get to Jim’s dream of a manager-free office.

My favourite lines:

ANDY: In my family you don’t really go out and get things. If you want something you write it on a list, and then the house keeper goes out and gets it on Wednesdays and Fridays.

DWIGHT: Bread is the paper of the food industry. You write your sandwich on it.

ROBERT (JAMES SPADER): Do you feel heard right now Jim. Do you have a voice right now? You can answer me.
JIM: (hesitantly) Yes.
ROBERT: That was your choice, not mine.

ANGELA: And then he put this flower behind my ear, which normally I would hate because it’s so civil rightsy.

ANGELA: (imitating Jim) Oh hey Pam, dude. Whatever, want to marry me?
PAM: That’s not accurate.

GABE: I have two relationships with Andy. I have a personal relationship and I have a professional relationship. Personally, yeah, I think he’s a rat and I think he’s responsible for the demise of my relationship with Erin. Professionally, he broke up the happiest couple in this office.

RYAN: Little advice. Take a day off from the whole Jim shtick. Try caring about something. You might like how it feels... James.

JO: These are costing me 10 cents apiece you jack ass. I’m roaming!

ERIN: Jo you have one more candidate. He’s a burn victim.
JO: Huh?
ERIN: He’s all messed up. I can tell him to get lost if you want.

ANDY: Sometimes you hear people talking about failing upwards. I think I’m about to do that.

And line of the episode:

GABE: Shut up about the sun. SHUT UP ABOUT THE SUN!

Parks and Recreation – “The Bubble” (A-)

I know NBC promoted “The Bubble” and “Li’l Sebastien” like they were one big season finale, but they were actually two very different episodes so I’m going to review them separately. Of course, if you still want to think of them as one big episode than feel free to treat this like one big review. I will not be offended.

I’m so happy that Chris sent Tom up to the 4^th floor. I say this every week and I’m sorry for repeating myself, but the best part of this show is the richly detailed city that the writers have created. The 4^th floor is just another hilarious part of City Hall’s mythology, and I loved every minute we spent up there. I loved that Ethel decided she was going to punk Tom, I loved Andy’s complete embrace of his new surroundings, and I loved that Chris decided to council some random woman he found crying in the hallway.

And yet none of that really describes the horrible conditions on that floor. I thought it was particularly hilarious that Ethel told Andy and Tom not to move too much around because technically their office was still a crime scene. Oh and who could forget the random guy who barged in on Andy, Tom, and April and violently broke a coffee pot... “tell Mort I said your move.” All part of working on the 4^th floor. Tom probably had the best description:

TOM: The 4^th floor. Small claims court, divorce filings, state ordered drug tests. It’s somehow both freezing and humid. There’s a whole room on the 4^th floor where they store the knives they’ve confiscated from people who went to the 4^th floor to stab someone.

I also enjoyed Chris’ reshuffling of the Parks department. All of his changes were fantastic, but by far the best was that swivel chair. Watching Chris demonstrate how it worked was definitely one of the highlights of the episode. Of course watching Ron sit miserably at that desk was pretty damn funny as well. And really the best part of the whole ordeal was Ron’s meeting with Chris where he tried to get him to change everything back.

RON: Okay, you won’t ever hear me say this again so savour this moment... I may have a compromise.

If there was one story in this episode that was maybe a little slow it was Ben and Leslie’s run in with her mother. The storyline was still really funny – there were certainly a few great lines out of the the two of them – it just moved a little slower than some of the other plotlines. I like Leslie and Ben as a couple, but they sometimes hinder themselves by over discussing their relationship, and that’s what ended up happening here.

And now for the quotes:

APRIL: I put poisonous gas in one of these balloons so if any of them pops you may die.
ANDY: No, April we would all die. Gases fill the volume of whatever container they are in... school.

ANN: How many of you are in here?
LESLIE: There’s 7, and you have an office mate. His name is Stuart and he’s kind of a grouch.
ANN: I have an office mate?
STUART: (sticking his head through the balloons) Get these fucking balloons out of here.

LESLIE: You know what I should do. I should get my mother a one-way ticket to London leaving today, and that way Ben never has to meet and I can visit her in London. Everybody wins.

LESLIE: Stuart please! Could you give us like 45 minutes?
STUART: It’s my office too...
LESLIE: Stuart! (he leaves) That guy was rude.

TOM: I did recently sell my Chronicles of Riddick DVD on EBay for $10. Used the profits to buy the Blu-ray.

CHRIS: Andy, starting now you are nobody’s shoe shine boy. Starting now, you are an administrative assistant... for three weeks. Then back to shoes.

ANDY: Chris! I wasn’t super paying attention to what you just said that we’d be doing but I will give 110%... as soon as you repeat yourself in a more interesting way.

BEN: I mean at one point for no reason I just took off my shoes and held them in my hand.

RON: You made April assistant to everyone. You know who April hates? Everyone.

ANDY: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I read that once on a can of lemonade, but I like to think that it applies to life.

And line of the episode:

TOM: No, I hate the 4^th floor. Last time I was up there I saw someone buy Crystal Meth out of a vending machine.

Parks and Recreation – “Li’l Sebastien” (A+)

As many of you may well know, I’ve watched a lot of season finales over these last few weeks. Now granted I still have a few more to go, but so far none of them have held a candle to “Li’l Sebastien”, and I kind of doubt any will. This episode was remarkable achievement in and of itself. It managed to pay tribute to the season that was by bringing back many of our favourite characters – Tammy, Jean-Ralphio, and of course Li’l Sebastien (may he rest in peace) – and yet, like any good season finale, pushed the series forward in new and exciting directions.

Right off the bat, Li’l Sebastien’s memorial service served as an excellent anchor for the episode. You’ve got to love this town’s unhealthy obsession with that mini-horse. From Tom’s hilariously dubbed video (he took on a British accent for the role) to Andy’s incredibly funny “5000 Candles in the Wind”, there were times I was laughing so hard I had trouble hearing what was happening next.

I think my favourite part of the whole thing though was Ron. Ron being who Ron is makes his obsession with Li’l Sebastien all the more hilarious, and his role in the memorial service was definitely the best. I loved his self directed military manoeuvres as he went about lighting the eternal flame (yes, eternal flame) in Li’l Sebastien’s memory and his speech before the torch lighting... well let’s just say I’ll take any excuse to hear a Ron Swanson speech. That man should teach public speaking.

RON: I have cried twice in my life. Once when I was 7 and I was hit by a school bus, and then again when I heard that Li’l Sebastien had passed. His memory will live on, as today we light a fire that will burn on for eternity.

Chris was also fantastic in this episode. I loved what the writers did with him here. Having a character realize their own mortality is a pretty common sitcom trope, but the fact that Chris realized his over a bout of tendinitis was just genius writing. And he took it so hard too, pretty much re-examining his entire outlook on life. I think my favourite part was when Ann told him that Li’l Sebastien had died and he asked her if tendinitis had anything to do with it.

CHRIS: Oh my god, death is inescapable.

And it looks like from that brush with death Chris decided to attempt to get back together with Ann. I’m not sure how Ann’s going to react to that proposition considering her embarrassment of over the way he broke up with her the first time, but I think it’s probably a good move by the writers. Ann and Chris are really funny with each other – just look at this episode – and getting them back together would be really fun to watch. I’m always a fan of some will-they won’t-they sexual tension.

But the possibility of Ann and Chris dating again wasn’t the only promising development in this episode. First off, we had Leslie being approached to run for office. I can’t even wait to see how that story will play out. The thought of a local Pawnee election sends chills down my spine. Plus it throws an interesting wrench into her relationship with Ben. It’s the old ambition versus love conundrum and as much as Leslie clearly likes Ben, she’s been voicing her dreams of political office since the beginning of the show.

I also can’t wait for the reveal of Tammy 1, Ron’s first ex-wife. One, because Ron has hilariously named her Tammy 1. And two, because when crazy Tammy, Ron’s second ex-wife named Tammy, runs away just at the sheer mention of her name, you know that the character is going to be something special.

And finally, the last big development in this episode was Tom leaving the Parks Department to join Jean-Ralphio’s high end all media entertainment conglomerate 720 Entertainment. I’m not too worried about Tom not coming back – just judging from the little after credits sequence that business is going to fail – but if they do keep him away from the Parks Department for a little while it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. For one, we may get to see a little more of Jean-Ralphio, by far my favourite recurring character on this show.

I’m a little sad it’s all over. It’s going to be a long summer without this show. I am not exaggerating when I say you will not find a funnier show on television than Parks and Recreation. If you don’t watch this show, start. You won’t be disappointed.

My favourite quotes:

5000 Candles in the Wind Lyrics (or at least what I could get)

Up in horsey heaven here’s the thing
You trade your legs for angel’s wings
And once we’ve all said goodbye
You take a running leap and you learn to fly
Bye bye Li’l Sebastien
Miss you in the saddest fashion
Bye bye Li’l Sebastien
Your 5000 candles in the wind

TOM: No I got it. You create Pawnee’s first and only high end all media entertainment conglomerate.
JEAN-RALPHIO: That’s absolutely what I have to do. What does it mean?

JEAN-RALPHIO: Listen to me, I’m gonna need you on my team to pull this off, alright. I can’t do this without you.
TOM: I don’t know man, I can’t. I’d have to quit my job.
JEAN-RALPHIO: Mmm Okay, I’ll do it without you.

LESLIE: Welcome everyone. Sebastian may have been Li’l but his impact on this town and the Parks Department was anything but Li’l.

TOM: Who are we? Where are we going in life? What is the meaning of all of this? These are questions that Li’l Sebastien never had to answer, because he was a horse.

JEAN-RALPHIO: Hope you brought a change of clothes, cause your eyes are about to piss tears.

JEAN-RALPHIO: You can’t die full of regret. Why don’t you live your life like that cow from the video.
TOM: He was a horse.
JEAN-RALPHIO: Yeah, because he followed his dreams.

RON: I think if you would know one thing about me, it would be that I prefer laying wreaths to lighting torches.

CHRIS: What’s the point of doing 10,000 push-ups if you’re going to do them alone? I’d much rather do 5000 push-ups with a wonderful woman... sitting on my back to increase my resistance.

WOMAN: We really enjoyed the service. That fireball was truly amazing.
LESLIE: I’m glad ‘cause it was planned.

And line of the episode:

RON: When I walked in this morning and saw the flag at half-mast, I thought alright, another bureaucrat ate it. But then I found out it was Li’l Sebastien... half-mast is too high. Show some damned respect!