Season 2, Episode 1, Part 1

Ahh, season 2. I actually saw this season first and it was the first The Office DVD I owned, so I've seen these episodes even more than the first season ones. The dynamics of season 2 are quite different from season 1 because of the character changes. Gone are Malcolm, Donna, Ricky, and Joan. In come Neil, Rachel, Brenda, Oliver, and Gareth's mostly invisible friends. The arrival of Neil brings out new, more desperate and pathetic sides in David. Rachel and Tim's relationship brings a triangle drama into the Tim and Dawn plot, which I hate and will probably recap very bitterly. Stephen Merchant will make two cameos as the Oggmonster. And David really gets into a downward spiral that quickly culminates in him being fired. This is going to be awesome.

Disappointingly, each season 2 episode lacks a name for chapter one - it's only "episode one", and I don't want to repeat it in the title, because it might get confusing and boring.

We open where we left off: Tim is still here, at his old desk. In the establishing shot, we see him sitting all alone, as if there is no one else in the office (even if the voices of others can be heard), and it's the same effect as in the end of season 1: Tim is left in his purgatory, lonely and bored, in a job he hates. There are many Xerox boxes on the floor - oo, product placement? - and Gareth's policeman-shaped cookie jar is waiting to be introduced. Tim can't work peacefully for long, though, as Gareth walks in to add annoyance to the mix. "Morning, Gareth," Tim says politely yet tiredly. Gareth lifts a black suitcase on the desk. Somehow I find it hilarious that he would own a suitcase, as if he's a big businessman. He doesn't reply to Tim's greeting, and Tim furrows his brows but leaves it at that. Gareth opens his suitcase, but before taking a black book - his diary? - out, he starts humming the The Muppets theme song. Awesome. It sounds really dorky, because it's completely out of the blue and he sings ever so slightly off key. Plus he sings the "nananana" part really hoarsely, trying to sound cool. The older employee who isn't Malcolm is working in the background and he starts singing along in the exactly same way. They jam to the music, pointing and looking at each other with exaggerated expresisons, like people do when they're singing together. Tim just looks at them seriously.

When they've stopped, David suddenly emerges from his office and sings the bridge, sounding particularly dorky, because he's singing with a voice that says "aren't I funny and cool, yet self-ironic?" And then all three sing along with even more exaggerated expressions and gestures, and they break out laughing in the end. "Muppets," says David and adjusts his tie before returning to his room. It's one of those moments that are difficult to write about, because it's really all in the sounds and visuals. And I haven't seen The Muppets since I was a kid, so if there were some further references, I have missed them. But. This is the only episode where we get a segment before the theme song, and that segment is? The rendition of some other show's theme song. Awesome.

The theme song hasn't been changed, the sad grey buildings and lines of cars continue their sad existence, just like Tim. It's a good thing they didn't change it. Can you imagine a credit sequence with their names and everything? They don't do that on that many UK shows, actually.

Timterview. He says he hasn't given up the idea of studying further, but he's a senior sales rep now. It's weird how that title supposedly changes everything. What really made Tim stay? The thought of a more secure future if he's got a steady job? The fear of change? The people coming from Swindon are "a new, exciting venture" for him. That sounds a bit jargonish. "I'm 30. Time to grow up," he says, which sounds more like an excuse than anything, because last time he said that it's time for him to make something of himself because he's 30. He bites his lip as he looks at the camera, looking a bit insecure as if he's not sure if people are going to buy his explanation.

Back at Tim's desk, he talks on the phone with someone: "Listen, I suggest we'll put this down as a lesson. You have this over to me by 3 o'clock today, then we'll say no harm done." Tim's tone seems to have changed from tired with his life and everything in it to a more self-assertive, perhaps even arrogant behaviour. But at least he's, eh, moving up or something. Gareth's cell phone rings and he has this awesome phone conversation: "Gareth Keenan. Who's this? OGGYYY!!! Oggy Oggy Oggy! Oink oink oink! Oggy Oggy Oggy! Oink oink oink! Oggy!" He listens for a moment, lifting a finger, obviously hearing Oggy say "oink". "Oggy!" Same thing, but this time he almost bursts into laughter. "Oggy Oggy Oggy! Oink oink oink!" He laughs, then says: "Yeah, I'll see you later" and closes the phone. That scene says more about his friendship with Oggy than even his appearance on the show later on. That's a typical teenager moment: "Oo, don't we have a funny inside joke going." It never seems as cool to the people around you. It's about as impressive as a 9-year-old's secret club.

"Do you still keep in touch with Oggy?" says Tim. "Yeah, that was Oggy just then," says Gareth. Tim asks how Oggy is doing, trying to be polite before he has to say something negative. "He's fine, you don't even know him," says Gareth a bit annoyed, as if he doesn't think Oggy is any of Tim's business, even if Tim was just forced to hear about him. "I wish I did, he sounds great," says Tim, not entirely genuinely, I suspect. "He is, actually," says Gareth, staring at his paper, as if he hopes Tim would drop it. Maybe even Gareth can sense a negative comment coming. Tim launches into his criticism: "One thing, Gareth, when you're on the phone, could you keep the pig impersonations to a minimum?" Way to be specific there. Gareth drops his pen in frustration and says: "Yeah, here we go, I've told you before, you can't tell me what to do, I'm team leader." I see they've had this little talk before, and Gareth is annoyed that Tim was promoted and they're not equals anymore.

They now engage in a verbal pissing contest. Tim repeats his title, which he seems to really love. "Team leader beats senior sales clerk," says Gareth as if it's rock-paper-scissors. Try about assistant regional manager, Gareth. It sounds much more impressive than team leader. "My title actually means something," says Tim. "I got a pay rise, I'm on a new scale... Team leader doesn't mean anything." That's kind of rubbing it in, but true. "Excuse me, it means I'm the leader of a team," says Gareth. Who's in the team? If you don't have team members, there can be no leader. Tim, who sees thru bullshit terms like team leader, tries to educate Gareth: "It's a title someone's given you to get you to do something they don't want to do for free. Right? It's like making the div kid at school 'milk monitor'. No one respects it." Hee, milk monitor. That's the ultimate title, because what is there to monitor? It sounds so formal, as if you get to supervise the pasteurizing process. Gareth thinks people do respect milk monitors, "because if people were rude to me, I used to give them their milk last, so that it was warm." Gareth looks at Tim with an expression that says: "I know what I'm talking about and you don't." Tim stares at him as if he can't believe the message didn't go through even if he was so blunt about it. Keep on trying, Tim. Maybe someday he'll get it. Well, if he still thinks inside jokes are cool to everyone else in the room, maybe he simply stopped growing after puberty.

The office. People are working and looking bored. The cacophony of many simultaneous phone conversations rings through the room, even if the employees we know don't seem to be on the phone. Sheila is looking at something on her computer, looking ever so tired; Keith is chewing gum slowly with his mouth open, which makes me think of a cow, especially since his eyes stare so vacantly at the computer screen.

Outside David's office, a dark-haired male employee who I don't recall seeing in season 1 is working some machine - a fax machine, perhaps? David appears at his door, turns around on his heels, and after seeing the camera, goes back into his room. The guy takes a paper out and starts leaving, as David stops him by saying, "Aaaw, no." He's holding a magazine. David's giggling mock-modestly as he shows it to the guy: "Going thru some old stuff. Found that: Inside Paper," and he shows it to the camera, and we see there's a picture of him on the cover. He explains: "It's the trade magazine for the paper industry. My ugly mug on the front, oh no! Embarrassing" He giggles even more at this and stares at his own picture with an inane grin. Some people have a bad poker face, but David has a bad modest face. The guy just stares at him, not knowing how he's supposed to react: should he say David's face is not ugly, or laugh, or just compliment him on being on the cover? David looks at the guy for reaction, but there is none. David waves him away with the magazine. Then he just stands and stares at his own picture with an inane grin fixed on his face. Then he remembers the camera and mutters: "He's put me off, where was I...?" He pretends to be thinking for a moment, then turns on his heels and says: "Oh yeah...gonna make... phonecalls..." and walks into his office with uncertain movements, obviously with nothing to do and only his own face in his mind. You can tell that he starts walking a bit faster as soon as he gets out of the camera's direct view.

A rare moment of tenderness between Dawn and Lee. He's visiting her desk, she's sitting on his lap and they're playing with a rubberband. Lee's face actually looks tender and loving. Tim walks in to leave some mail, and then tells Lee to not stick around behind Dawn's desk, because the new people are coming today. He's polite enough about it, but Dawn's eyes get bigger for a moment, as if she thinks it's kind of rude to ask that. Lee kisses Dawn goodbye and leaves. Dawn wipes her lips a bit, as if she was thinking of Tim instead of Lee. Tim comes back to apologize, but it's not a real apology because he's just justifying what he just did: he has to supervise that it all goes OK. It seems like he's developing a slight Gareth Syndrome about his newfound status. As Tim is leaving, Dawn stops him: "You haven't visited for ages." "Huh?" Tim says, caught off guard. "Oh. Yeah, well, I'm busier now, I'm sorta a bit snowed under. So..." Dawn asks if he's alright and he says he's fine and asks how she's doing. The temperature between them has gone from awkwardly warm to almost zero. Dawn tries to say something funny: "Didn't you just laugh..." but just then the phone rings and Tim tells her to answer it and walks away. Dawn, who just leaned on the desk flirtatiously, now tries to pass it off as a strecth movement. She looks after Tim piningly and then finally goes to answer the phone. Listen, Dawn, you rejected him. You picked Lee. Now live with your choice.

A dull working segment, and I can't find much to say about it. The desks on the window side seem to be set up so that two employees always have to face each other. That's got to be awkward if you don't like each other. At least they're not side by side like Tim and Gareth.