The Office (US) S2 E22 - 'Casino Night' Mini-Review


Love.

Season 2 packed a punch with its emotional finale, as Michael finds himself stuck in a love triangle and Jim finally reveals his feelings to Pam. Michael's love life has featured often this season and this was an entertaining conclusion to his first romantic arc. Clearly he still has feelings for Jan, but he was respectful in how he chose Carol, in order to respect Jan's demands (which always seem to contradict her desires). The biggest moment though is when Jim tells Pam that he loves her, a moment where I genuinely felt for the character for the first time. He then went and ruined this moments later however, by forcing a kiss on the unsuspecting Pam. It felt unnecessary and needy for a character who had just laid his cards on the table and should've left Pam alone after she rejected him. It is at least, a compelling cliffhanger and one which sets up much drama entering season 3!

 BEST MOMENTS:

  • Dwight - "Oh my God"
  • "Maybe he did it" [Kelly on Kobe (RIP)]
  • "Why don't we just deal drugs or prostitute ourselves and donate that money to charity?"
  • "Why are you the way that you are?" [Michael to Toby]
  • "I have no future here" - multiple layers to Jim's quote :(
  • "Why, cause I'm from the Hood?" "Dinkin flicka"
  • "You know, things us Negroes say"
  • I really love how Pam gives Michael 'second chances' at starting phone calls by delaying putting the phone through!
  • Nicely done having both the women agree to go to Casino night whilst being left on hold
  • Adorable how happy Dwight was to be a wingman for a night
  • "I stopped caring a long time ago" - perfect Creed
  • "Will Lady Fortune give me a raise?" - brilliant
  • "And the disabled"
  • "It felt really good to take money from Michael"
  • Angela slapping Dwight!! Poor Dwight
  • Weird how similar both Carol and Jan look like!
    • And hilarious seeing them bicker over Michael subtly!
  • First moment where Roy comes across (kind of) alright, letting Kevin play at his wedding
  • Jim finally told Pam! AT LAST! And it's honestly the first moment I've genuinely cared for the character. He put his heart on his sleeve, he wasn't pushy, he just told her what he had been keeping secret for too long. Seeing him cry as well was a needed moment of sorrow for the character, who is usually unflappable
  • Okay, he then went and ruined it by forcibly kissing Pam (a bit too much to be honest), a move that was selfish and didn't consider the repercussions. Oh well, maybe I will like him some day.
  • What a cliffhanger!!!!
DID YOU KNOW?!*
  • In this episode, Michael says he's donating his money to Comic Relief, even though it no longer exists. This was an homage to the original British series, where an entire episode (#2.5) was devoted to raising money for Comic Relief
  • Creed is shown stealing from a vending machine. He holds up a candy bar. This a bar made by Gertrude Hawk Chocolates, a company founded in Scranton
  • Creed mentions the excellent pea soup at the soup kitchen. He would be referring to the St. Francis of Assisi Soup Kitchen at 500 Penn Ave. in Scranton (right across the street from the Penn Paper building shown in the opening credits of the show). The soup kitchen is for the homeless
  • Realtor Carol is married to Steve Carell
  • Michael's line, "Jan Levinson, I presume", is a reference to Journalist Henry Morton Stanley's reported first words to adventurer Dr. David Livingstone, "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume", when the former found the latter in Africa
  • After Michael makes his speech to get casino night started, he says "let's get it started--- black eyed crows". He is referencing to the song by the Black Eyed PEAS "Let's Get It Started" but has the group name wrong. This was a deliberate but subtle joke
RATING: 9.1/10











*Trivia from IMDB

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Office (US) S3 E6 - 'Diwali' Mini-Review

Image
The Festival of Lights. Michael's inappropriate jokes were in full swing this episode as the office attended Kelly's family's Diwali celebrations. Ryan was grilled ruthlessly by Kelly's parents in a number of brilliant scenes, whilst Michael proposed, unsuccessfully, to Carol in a cringe-inducing moment. The irritating boss went on to sink even lower by attempting to kiss Pam. It's certainly the lowest we've seen Michael this season, and it will be interesting to see how he brings himself back from this. Karen and Jim meanwhile earned my approval, proving their chemistry is undeniable. Also, it's Rashida freakin' Jones, so WHY is he not leaving the Pam thing behind him and getting with Ann Perkins!! Either way, a solid and gag-filled episode, one of the strongest so far. BEST MOMENTS "One of our most ethnic coworkers" "Pam wishes" "I wish some of us still had our shoes on" "At lezst I'm not dressed as a...
Read more

The Office (UK) S1 E1 - 'Downsize' Review

Image
Investment in People. The first ever episode of The Office (UK)  sets up an entertaining and relatable workplace, although a number of jokes fall flat. 'Downsize' is light on story and heavy on exposition as it aims t o establish the characters and relationships within the fictional offices of  Wernham Hogg, whilst encouraging the viewer to sympathise with these characters and plot threads. As such, the best way to address this episode would be to view it as a character study. Here is what I got from the characters: David Brent (Ricky Gervais) - The protagonist, loveable idiot boss David Brent drives the show forward and his cringe-inducing gags and interactions form the core of the humour in the show. He clearly wants to do good, but is misguided and inappropriate, resulting in awkward office interactions which many viewers would likely associate with. Despite his rudeness and poor sense of humour, I instantly rooted for Brent and his passion for his colleagues. Ti...
Read more

Arrow S1 E16 - 'Dead to Rights' Review

Image
So... Who Needs Two Bullets in the Chest? 'Dead to Rights' is a solid episode in Arrow 's first season. The episode chooses to refocus upon the Undertaking and the overall running arc of the series, and it is all the better for it. We see fractures in the List organisation, as Moira and Frank turn on Malcolm. Similarly, we see Malcolm struggling to maintain the lie of his identity from his son Tommy, and this conflict plays out well across the 42 minute run time. He kills in front of Tommy and almost reveals his Dark Archer outfit to his son, before Lawton interrupts by shooting Malcolm. Lawton's reintroduction as Deadshot is another excellent move by the showrunners. Deadshot, now missing an eye thanks to his last encounter with the Hood, is a great foe and I'm glad he's back in action and likely to return in the future of the Arrowverse. His new robotic eye is bad-ass, as was the fight scenes between Oliver, the Triad and China White. In the past, little...
Read more