The Office (UK) S1 E4 - 'Training' Review


Teamwork.

'Training' improves upon the its predecessors by upping the comedy in one of The Office (UK)'s best episodes yet.

 David Brent and the team embark on a training course which ends in calamity after David attempts to take over the show himself. Playing on yet another of the common activities a salesman would have to undergo in an office, this episode works so well because we get to essentially watch the coworkers undermine and irritate the poor man leading the training.

 Rowan, the guest in this episode, is the stereotypical up beat, smooth voiced training course instructor who lives by the book and uses more company jargon than actual words. As such it is hilarious to watch him butt heads with David, as the office manager constantly derails the training with random comments and useless anecdotes. It is equally both endearing watching David try to lead the course himself and funny seeing how much he gets under Rowan's skin. One particular scene between the two men had me laughing out loud, when they are role playing as customer and worker and David cries rape to get his attention, much to the horror of everyone else in the room.

 Dawn had a much more developed arc in this episode, as we see how rocky her relationship with Lee truly is. Their constant fighting shows how toxic they are as a couple and seeing Tim as the shoulder to cry on further emphasises how much of a better fit he would be with the receptionist. Sometimes Tim's bumbling awkwardness still came across as too much, such as when he suggested marrying Dawn himself in a not-so-subtle attempt to convey his feelings, which Dawn naturally doesn't register. The closing moments of the episode, when Tim walks out of training in a stuttering storm of frustration is a bit clunky, but it's empowering to see the guy FINALLY get out of his dead end job, or at least try to. Unfortunately, he then chooses to go back in to the room and ask Dawn out in one of the most cringe-inducing scenes of the series so far. It was truly a struggle to watch, like a car crash in slow motion. At least there will be some development in their relationship following this awkward encounter, which mixes things up mid-season.

 Overall, this episode had some very funny one liners and some proper belly laughs, and watching the office inadvertently cause a motivational trainer to leave in a fit of rage is a just hilarious.

 DID YOU KNOW?!

  • David Brent ended up returning in the Red Nose Day Special in 2013. In this episode, David revives the Foregone Conclusion song "Equality Street", which is mentioned in the after credits scene of 'Training'
  • Series producer Ash Atalla directed the training video from "Training Day" specially for The Office (UK), with presenter Peter Purves dying his hair to appear younger than he was at the time of filming. The video is presented in full on the home release of the series.
  • Stephen Merchant can be heard dubbing the voice of Rowan during a conversation between the instructor and David near the start of the episode
RATING - 7.3/10

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