Season 2, Episode 2, Part 2: "Keep the Dream Alive"

Dawn's appraisal. I like that there are more Dawn scenes in season 2. She's a great character and the David and Dawn scenes usually work well. She provides a good straight (wo)man to his moronic behaviour. It's funnier that way. We open with Dawn talking and David listening for a change, even if you can tell he's not listening very intently. The camera is behind David while Dawn talks, but you can tell that his eyes are moving and he seems to nod emphatically just for show. Dawn says that she used to be a children's illustrator, "and when people asked me what do you do, I said I'm an illustrator, but I work as a receptionist for extra cash. But then Lee wanted her to get a full-time job and she's too tired in the evenings to do illustrating, "and now when people ask me what I do, I say I'm a receptionist." She seems sad about this, and it really seems like she has modified her life to Lee's, instead of going after what she really wants. Which, sadly, is what many women really do. David is quiet for a moment and looks kind of bored, until he realizes it's his turn to talk now. "And a bloody good one," he says. Yeah, I don't think Dawn is that flattered to hear she's a good receptionist, because the whole point of her story was that she's not really happy with being one. "Ah," Dawn says, trying to sound happy, but the camera is on David now, so it's hard to tell what she's feeling.

"You'll always have the art, you know, keep up the doodling," David continues. Doodling? That is so condescending. Especially since his facial expression is so dismissing - lips curled down, eyes closed, and he's shaking his head. "Pipe dreams are good," he continues in the same patronizing tone. "...in a way," he adds so you know he doesn't even really believe it's good to have a pipe dream about drawing. "Well, I still hope it will happen," says Dawn, who seems a bit surprised and offended at David's attitude. "Keep the dream alive, because otherwise, one day you'll go, Ahh...could I have made it?" says David. Dawn's face lights up. "Yeah," she says in a tone that suggests she didn't expect David to see her point of view so well. Of course, he ruins it by continuing: "If you keep trying, at least then when it doesn't happen..." - and another dismissing gesture: he imitates wiping the opportunity off the table with his hands - "you know, you can go: At least I gave it a go. You know?" Dawn is left staring at David speechlessly. That was some pep talk.

David clearly has a problem with ambitious employees who want to move on from Wernham Hogg. Not just because they'll be leaving his "family", but because he can't move on himself. He's not smart enough to study, so he tries to make Tim believe it's too late to go back to university. He wasn't talented enough to be a famous musician, so he's dismissing Dawn's career as an illustrator - the career she saw as her primary one and still wants to get back to - as a silly pipe dream. It's clear that he feels inferior to anyone who's gotten somewhere in their lives and would rather believe that the high point of anyone's career is running a small paper merchants firm in a small town. It's really kind of sad.

Employees working. Seems to be the male employees they show the most in this episode. Jamie's furrowing his brows at something on his screen, and the older employee who isn't Malcolm is writing something on paper, bobbing his head as if he's hearing music in his head. Maybe he just enjoys the muzak of office phones ringing.

Tim and Rachel talking in the break room. She's smoking and apparently has an ashtray on the sofa she's sitting on. Are they allowed to smoke indoors at work in the UK? That would be disturbing for the non-smokers. On the other hand, smokers are restricted enough, considering it's an addiction. I feel a bit torn on this issue, since I hate cigarette smoke, but I also think we've gone too far in making smoking as difficult as possible. Either way, Tim asks Rachel how she's liking it so far. "Are you having fun?" She says "Um..yeah," and they both laugh a bit at how that's really the only polite answer to that question. "Well, fun... As fun as you can have at Wernham Hogg," Tim says. Hey, it's a fun place to work in! The boss is a chilled out entertainer. What more can you ask for? "Yeah, it's alright," says Rachel, picking at her teeth or something. It looks kinda unpleasant. Maybe I have OCD about people putting their fingers in their mouth. Tim asks how long Rachel was in Swindon and she says two years. She looks away, which might imply she's a bit uncomfortable, even if I think this scene is meant to set up their growing interest in each other.

Back at Dawn's appraisal, David asks Dawn to name a role model. Dawn asks if she means a historical person, but David says it can be anyone who's had an effect on her life. She picks her mother, which isn't very surprising. I think most women who have a good relationship with their mother would pick her as their role model, because it's such a strong influence on a young girl. I definitely would pick mine. Dawn tells David her mother is "strong.. calm in the face of adversity...God, I remember when she had a histerectomy..." David looks annoyed and interrupts Dawn there, as if he doesn't want to hear about any female parts. "If it wasn't your mother, though? It doesn't have to be a woman, it could be a..." "Man? OK, well, I suppose if it was a man, it'd be my father." Again, not surprising. David interrupts him again and says he's "looking for someone in the.. sort of work-related arena", and Dawn should really know where he's going with this, but she's still thinking of people she actually looks up to, so she names Tim. "Well, he's a friend, isn't he? Not a friend, someone in authority." Dawn suggests Jennifer. I think I would too, actually. She's quite inspirational. "I thought we said not a woman!" says David, a bit annoyed that he has to lead her this much. Maybe he should have started with the question "do you look up to me" or "have I had an influence on your life". Only one answer would have been possible. Dawn finally realizes he wants to hear he's the strong influence: "OK, well, I suppose you're the only one who..." David acts like she just spontaneously mentioned him: "Embarrassing, it's backfired, hasn't it... Ooh dear..." He grins stupidly, more to the camera than to Dawn, because this proves that his employees see him as a role model. "Very flattering," he continues. "OK, Tim then," says Dawn, who's obviously unwilling to name David as a role model. "We said not Tim. So should we put me or not?" asks David. "OK," says Dawn, not facing him. "So shall I put strong role model?" "OK," Dawn says again. Poor Dawn. Sometimes it seems like her job consists of soothing David's ego in various ways.

People are working boringly - until a fire alarm starts to blare. Rachel and Emma are holding their ears and people start leaving their desks. David tells everyone, "Just a drill - do not panic." Gareth runs for the door as if he's panicking. Hee! But he's only going there to prop the doors open so everyone can get out safely. Gareth, of course, uses this opportunity to use whatever little power he has, and he shouts at people to not panic and leave their desks, but I don't really see anyone panicking, plus they all know what to do, so it's a bit redundant. David keeps narrating to the camera: "I'd be the lats one out in these situations. Not because of my job description, just because that's what I do." Because he's the hero. I wonder how he would react in a real fire situation. Gareth is beginning to look impatient, and he motions people to get moving. David narrates: "I do this every couple of months, you know, of course we have to by law, but that's not why I do it. It's because even though I'm always cool in a situation like this, some people are not. So I try to make sure..." Yeah, well, everyone's cool in a fire drill. Who knows how he would feel if it were real?

He gets distracted as Oliver and New Male Employee walk Brenda to the door. "I'll do that," he says. Oliver would rather do it himself, but David says he'll do it and asks Gareth to help. He tells Brenda, "We're gonna get you out of here! Alright?" Wow, he's such a leader! Volunteering to help the poor handicapped girl! Of course, this is bullshit. If he considered Brenda's feelings for one moment, he might realize that she's probably more comfortable in the hands of people who know her and know how to deal with the chair. She probably does not want the extra fuss of David volunteering to carry her, and she can probably call his bullshit. Also, as we will soon see, David and Gareth simply aren't strong enough to carry the wheelchair all the way down, so it's an overall bad move on David's part. He needs to learn that if you want to be the fire drill Superman, you need to work out a bit so you have some strength in your arms. Brenda uses her arms to move the wheelchair, but David hurries to push it instead. You know, if she's already pushing it, she really doesn't need you to push it. Save your strength for the long way downstairs.

The annoying alarm still blares as people walk downstairs in one of those claustrophobic shots above a staircase that continues indefinitely. Everybody's calm. Then we see David, Hero of the Handicapped, carrying Brenda with Gareth. With much difficulty. They really can't even lift the chair very high above the staircase, and Brenda looks uncomfortable. In a real fire situation, which is better: two averagely built guys used to handling a wheelchair, or one fat guy and one skinny guy who don't have any experience of wheelchair-carrying? The chair probably weighs more than Gareth. Big buff soldier, there. "This isn't worth it, it's stupid," David says and they put her chair down on one of those stop-gaps between floors. Well, I'm sure Brenda feels very valued by you right now. David says you can't use the lift in a fire situation, so they have to carry her downstairs, but now they'll just leave her here. Brenda asks if she can't use the lift, but Gareth says you can never do that even in a drill. So they walk downstairs without her and promise to come back for her later. Brenda is left waiting for them, looking quite helpless in the middle of the staircase, the alarm still blaring in the background. She looks up at the camera and then down again. That's just cold, leaving her there. For one thing, in a real fire situation, she would have burned. So much for David's heroic deeds. For another, she's just gonna sit there all alone and listen to the alarm until the drill is over? Idiots. All you needed to do was lift her out of the chair and carry her in your arms. She's a slim woman, they could have carried her easily. She's not glued to the chair, you know.

Outside, the employees are chatting while waiting for the drill to end. The warehouse guys are in the same pack, probably telling dirty jokes. It's funny how there is such a pecking order within the company - the warehouse guys don't even really talk to the office employees, apart from Lee, but even his girlfriend is the lowest-ranking office employee, and he has no interaction with the others really. Dawn, interestingly, isn't talking to Lee, but rather to an older male employee. But she isn't listening to him; she's looking at Tim who's talking with Rachel about Santa Claus, and Rachel laughs in a spontaneous, yet kinda flirtatious way. They seem to be hitting it off, which Dawn doesn't like, and all I can say is yawn. Which rhymes with "the love triangle between Tim, Rachel, and Dawn".

Gareth interviews in his usual dramatic style: "I don't know if you're aware of the situation that's arising here." Hee, arising. It's not like war is imminent - even if Gareth is probably always ready for that possibility - so a little less drama, please. He claims he usually doesn't flirt in the office, which I believe, because no one wants to flirt with him. "There is someone I've got my eye on... I won't say who. I don't know what Tim's playing at, moving in." Yeah, I totally can't guess who it might be. Actually, even if he hadn't said that about Tim, it would be glaringly obvious. There are only six women in the office. Sheila, Emma, and Trudy are not attractive enough for the superficial man, and Brenda is in a wheelchair, which clearly puts him off. He's not interested in Dawn, who is taken anyway, so that only leaves Rachel. I'm usually not a big fan of "the girl everyone's attracted to" plots, but I'll let this one slide, because it seems believable that two young single guys like Tim and Gareth would find the same woman attractive. Gareth thinks Tim is in trouble, since he already made a fool of himself in Dawn, "so this can only end in tears". Hee, he really doesn't think Tim could be attractive or charming in the eyes of women. That's probably because he doesn't respect women, like Tim does, and doesn't understand them. Hilariously, he claims just the opposite: "I can read women." Maybe he just needs new reading glasses. He says you need to be aware of the woman's wants and needs, "and that could be anything from making sure she's got enough money to buy groceries each week to... making sure she's... gratified sexually after intercourse." After or during? These two examples give a good idea of the two things Gareth things women are for: food and sex. So it's really about satisfying his own wants and needs, rather than the woman's. Sometimes I'm surprised that male writers can write this type of stuff, because they really seem to understand about sexism. And Gareth is the office sexist numero uno, second only to Finchy.

Fire drill. Some guy in a jeans jacket is making fake punches at Keith, who's holding out his hands to protect himself. He just stands there perfectly still and holds his hands out. That's so Keith. The jeans jacket guy is talking to a third guy. He won't stay still for a moment. Plus he's a lot shorter than Keith. It's an interesting contrast, like a big calm St Bernard and a small feisty terrier. Sheila is talking to a male employee, but you can't really hear what she's saying. Brenda is still sitting between floors, holding her head in her hand, obviously very bored. Aww, poor Brenda. Hey, are they making us feel sorry for the disabled character? I can't decide if Brenda is a good or bad character, tolerance wise. At least she's not crying or anything. The drill ends and everybody walks back inside. Dawn walks up to Tim. "I see you used all your best lines on Rachel," she says half-jokingly. "Best lines?" says Tim and laughs. "I was just being friendly." In the same tone as he said "I was asking you out as a friend." "Friendly?" says Dawn. "A bit more than." "More than?" "Friendly." The timing is just impeccable between these two. I love the clipped sentences, they seem realistic. Dawn especially seems to do these slow, short deliveries that seem very realistic to me. Maybe I talk that way myself.