Archive for May 2012

First of all, I really, sincerely apologize for the lateness of this recap. It’s been an odd and busy time for me of late and just trying to sort stuff out. So, thank you for your patience.

Well, I have to admit, I was somewhat pleased with the 8th season Finale of The Office. After a kind of shaky start  it got  funny and picked up on some recently ignored plot lines, setting the table for next season. Afterwards I was pretty happy with it… but something was gnawing at me about it that I couldn’t pinpoint… Read on »

When this underwhelming Office finale finally came to a close last night, I sadly said this to myself: “Well, as an enthusiastic native of northeastern Pennsylvania, I didn’t see a single shred of “Scrantonicity” in this episode.” Not one iota… and I oughta see an iota, at least. The only thing that encouraged me was that this morning I was gonna re-watch the show online, and I almost always find something hidden in the background, some “Easter egg” that the prop department placed there just for my (semi-delusional) benefit. ;-)  I took Oscar’s sincere attempt at a public service webcam speech to heart: “It gets better”… Well… I dug out my fine-tooth comb and viewed “Free Family Portrait Studio” a second time, in the hopes of ferreting out some “Scrantonicity;” to find out if indeed, it does get better. Hmm… did it?  Read on »

We get three deleted scenes from this past week’s episode Turf War. It should gear us up for the Season Finale tomorrow night:

Harry explains why the employees at the Syracuse branch are just as interesting as the Scranton branch; proving that all offices everywhere are pretty much the same. He even tries giving some interesting looks to the camera:

Dwight makes sure not to throw the baby out with the bath water, I mean car seat. Darryl has a new secret friend:

Toby takes Lloyd Gross to the next level. Erin finds Darryl’s secret friend; or does she?

I wasn’t quite sure what to think when I found out the title of this episode was “Turf War.” I was a little concerned that Andy might try to go out and start his own paper company a la Michael Scott. Having been down that road before, I hardly thought the writers would try going there again. But it seems Andy has loftier goals in mind here: a little thing known as corporate espionage. So not exactly the same as opening a rival paper company, but kind of a take over from within, all the while saving his favorite company. Andy has some business chops after all; I like it.

I also loves me some Jim/Dwight pranks and camaraderie, which we were treated to plenty of in this episode starting with the cold opening.

Jim meets up with Gabe in the kitchen attempting to mix himself a protein shake. Dwight enters and challenges Gabe to eat the powder dry, which he then does, causing him to spit most of it all over the kitchen. Dwight and Gabe argue about the merits of biceps versus core and while Jim is enjoying witnessing their exchange, he can’t help himself and suggests that the only way to determine who is stronger is by a classic thigh curl contest. Read on »

Since “Turf War” will be the next-to-last Scrantonicity, it felt very good to find the first local reference in the very first second of the episode. Literally, the clock read 0:01, and there was a coffee mug emblazoned with “Coney Island Texas Lunch.” Back when I was going to college in Scranton, my friends and I rented out an art studio on Lackawanna Avenue, where the Steamtown Mall is today. We used to walk two blocks down the street to eat at Coney Island Texas Lunch a lot; and it never once occurred to me that there was anything odd about that name; Brooklyn, New York’s “Coney Island” and the state of “Texas” just felt like they belonged together. There was no need for a “turf war.” Read on »