Season 1, Episode 6, Part 2: "I Am Leaving"

Karen sits down in David's office. David is sitting on the sofa and tells her to make notes, which, like many other actions David takes, seems rather unnecessary, but whatever. Tim sits down next to David. He's wearing a blue shirt today, which seems unusual. David asks him if it's OK if Karen sits in "just to learn the ropes". Hee, ropes-Roper. But really, what ropes? How to leave the company? I suppose David thinks he's going to teach her something profound about keeping employees motivated, but he's going to fail miserably, of course. "What are we doing?" says Tim, confused. David says he wants to talk about Tim's plans to leave, and like in the interview in last episode, Tim corrects that he really IS leaving. "Sure, sure," says David, not believing him. "I don't want you to stitch anyone up, but it's nothing I've said or done, is it?" Tim says no, and David says: "Put that down, no way..." I can already see how much Karen is going to learn from this. I wonder how David would have reacted if it really were something he has said or done, because he thinks he's perfect. The camera shows Karen's pen and notebook, and she's actually writing something. I wouldn't be surprised if it were something along the lines of "Note to self: browse the Internet for secretary jobs. There's got to be something better out there."

"I don't wanna put words in your mouth, but what kind of boss would you say I am?" asks David. That's one of those phrases people never mean. It's like "I don't mean to intrude but..." or "It's none of my business but..." or "Don't take this personally, but..." It's almost always an apology in advance for doing just what you say you're not trying to do. David helps Tim a bit more: "I'm a..." "Good boss," Tim fills in dutifully. David tells Karen to make note of it. "I mean, you're a great boss," Tim adds. I'm not sure how sincere he's being here. Obviously he likes David on some level, more than some employees seem to; he's not a brownnoser like Gareth, but I think he has some genuine sympathy for David. It's just the job he hates. He tries to start talking about it, but David cuts in with another question: "It's not because you asked Dawn out in front of everyone and she said no, is it?" Tim starts self-defending again that he meant as a friend - "put down friend", he tells Karen. Dude, all you need to say is that you quit BEFORE you asked Dawn out. He came back in to say it, so obviously that's not why he quit, and it doesn't make any sense to assume that. David should remember because he was there, but you know, he's David.

"So... why the move?" says David, sighs deeply, and closes his eyes. He seems to be listening intently, but when Tim starts talking, he cuts him off with, "Go on, go on" and "sure, sure". He really won't let him talk. But when Tim says he doesn't like the work, "it feels a bit like I'm wasting my time", David starts paying attention. "Life is too short," offers Karen. "Yes, thank you," says Tim. "I want to retire with stories to tell." "Not just about paper," Karen agrees. David gets defensive and says he could tell her stories about the paper industry "that will crack you up, so..." Yeah, I don't think that was really Tim's point. "That's true," admits Tim, "they are hilarious." "Hilarious, put down hilarious," says David happily. Because the worst insult he could possibly get is that the work he does isn't funny. And it is, albeit unintentionally so. "Do you want me to go on?"Tim asks, but David says: "What have you got?" as if he's heard enough already.

Timterview. He tells us: "It's like an alarm clock's gone off and I've just gotta get away. I think it was John Lennon who said: 'Life is what happens when you're making other plans'. And that's hwo I feel." He thinks for a moment and adds: "Although he also said 'I'm the walrus, I'm the egg man, so I don't know what to believe.' " I liked this a lot, because it shows the difference between Tim and David when using quotations. The quote Tim chose actually described his situation. He credited the right person for it. And in the end, he shows he can still take good quotes with some criticism, even if it's not an entirely serious comment. David thinks using quotations makes him seem smarter and deeper, while Tim knows quotations are best used with consideration and don't serve to prove a point, but only to emphasize it. Nice touch.

Back in David's office, Tim is telling David to listen to him, but David interrupts him, "No, no, you listen to me, 'Tim'!" He does the quotation marks with his fingers. Seriously, David, "Tim" is a really common nickname and I don't see any reason to mock it. He gets so much more juvenile when he's angry, and here it's especially obvious because he has no reason to be. "When you came in you didn't know anything about... the... paper industry... I showed you the ropes, I nurtured you, I gave you a good job..." He's acting like a father who's just heard his son has dropped out of school and he's just disappointed. Karen interjects that Tim didn't want the job. "Didn't ask you," says David. You did ask her to sit in and take notes, though. "Well, you did ask me," says Tim in an infinitely more mature way. "You asked me how I felt and I'm telling you." "I don't wanna know now," says David. "This has been a waste of time." Wow, mature. Tim is flabbergasted and says, "What do you mean?" a couple of times, but David decides the conversation is over. Karen tries to say something, but David says, "Why don't you both go and do some work instead of WHINGING?" You asked him, David. You wanted to talk about it. It's so silly to get mad when you hear the answer.

"I don't want you to say out there what you've said here, apart from the part of being a good boss if you want to," he continues as Karen and Tim, both looking suitably offended, get up to leave. Yeah, I'm sure Tim will be telling everyone what a good boss you are David - sorry, not just good, GREAT. "I don't want you spreading your bad vibes around my office! Do that at the party, that'll be fun!" Wow, he's really hurt. He tells the camera, "You try and do a good deed..." Yeah, well, I'm sure Tim is happy about the job experience at this firm, but does it mean he has to be there his whole life?

The bad side of David's "we're all a big happy family" mentality is that he's so offended when anyone criticizes the work or the office in any way. Of course, the good side is that you can come in late and he won't care; you can get a job without credentials; and you can basically just sit around doing nothing as long as you laugh at his jokes. Not so good for the company, of course, which will be touched upon more in the next season. I think the point here is that to be a good boss, you should be able to take it if someone doesn't like the job, or indeed you, and David has problems doing that. He has yet to exhibit any truly good leadership qualities, perhaps apart from the fact that he shows up for work every day and tries to be nice to people. Not that he always succeeds.

Cue awkward Tim and Dawn scene. Dawn asks Tim if he's coming to the "paartee". He says he is, she says she is too. They both look at each other awkwardly and Dawn touches his shoulder and says "See you later". Tim looks after her when she walks away and might or might not be looking at her butt. I think Dawn is trying to kind of apologize for brushing him off, but she doesn't quite know how to say "I do have feelings for you but I'm too chicken to leave my fiancé, because that would be messy and I don't know how things are going to work out with you. So how about we still flirt like old times instead?" Tim remembers the camera and directs his gaze at the computer. He stares at it looking tired and depressed.

Dawnterview. Is this the first one ever? We could use more of them. She says she hopes she get fired, "because then I might actually get off my arse and do something. I don't think it's many little girls' dream to be a receptionist." She has no clear plans - I think they hadn't thought of the "children's illustrator" thing at this point - but it should be "a career move and not just another arbitrary job. Tim's advice is that it's better to be at the bottom of a ladder you wanna climb than halfway up one that you don't." That's a nice piece of advice, but in hindsight, he didn't follow thru with it, and nor did Dawn. She says she doesn't want to be "treading water" and then realize five years later: "Shit, done it again!" It's cute how she says that, with a little "oops" grin. I think her real problem, however, is that she has to think of Lee, which could be used as an argument against getting engaged too young, but maybe I shouldn't get quite that political. If Lee had more modern views on what his wife should be, she could find her own way in life, but he doesn't, and she needs to be the one to break away from this relationship. As soon as she realizes that, she will be fine.

Tim and Gareth's desk of endless irritation. Gareth is shredding papers with a very loud shredder, which is one of the most unpleasant noises in the office. In a hilarious move I hadn't noticed before, he carefully tucks his tie inside his shirt. Hee, he's worried about it getting caught. Tim, who looks even less motivated after his little talk with David, politely asks Gareth to stop. Gareth asks if he should just hand over the papers to their competitors, but of course fails to see the point that he could do this somewhere ELSE. Donna walks up to his desk and asks him to keep it down, because it's so noisy. Gareth immediately obliges and starts shredding long strips of paper off himself. He looks after Donna as if this is finally going to redeem him in her eyes. Newsflash, Gareth: she still won't sleep with you, no matter how many papers you rip.