The Office running thread

You've watched the show before this season, right? Given all of the inappropriate things Michael has said, he would have been fired before the end of the first season in the real world. Dwight maced Roy, had a stash of weapons around the office, set off a fake fire drill that nearly killed Stanley and viewed gay pornography on his work computer. Ryan was indicted for misleading company shareholders. Andy hits Dwight with his car after being cuckolded. In "Customer Survey," Kelly makes a second false rape allegation (Michael: You cannot say "I was raped" and expect all of your problems to go away, Kelly. Not again. Don't keep doing that.). Meredith got drunk and flashed Michael in his office. And this is just what I remember off the top of my head.

So on the list of fireable offenses committed by Dunder Mifflin/Sabre employees, Dwight's gun play isn't an isolated occurrence -- not even when you include its best seasons. You're holding the show to a standard that it has never met. Which almost certainly explains why Sepinwall and the AV Club never mentioned it.

 

Boom, roasted.

 

I really don't want Jim as boss. When they did that before, the show really lost the funny.

 

I still wouldn't be surprised if they at least give Daryl a shot. Also, the Gabe stuff is just getting uncomfortable.

 

Dwight's weapon stash drew some heavy-duty criticism here, if I remember right. None of that other stuff comes close to a FUCKING GUN BEING FIRED IN THE OFFICE AND INJURING SOMEBODY.

Well, maybe the car thing.

 

Not entirely true. He's holding the show to a standard that it met its first couple seasons. And he's holding it to the concept that the show, modeled off the British version, orginally seemed designed to follow.

But, admittedly, it strayed from that model LONG ago. This week's plotline was certainly nothing new.

 

In Season 2, they could find humor in someone burning a Pop Tart.

In Season 7, someone has to fired a goddamned gun at the office.

 

Not even in the first season, when Michael kissed Oscar?

 

And this is somehow less fireable than Dwight setting a fire in a trash can and locking people into the office? Really? Dwight did the equivalent of intentionally setting a night club fire and it sent Stanley to the hospital. And Dwight followed it up by cutting the face off the CPR dummy. And all of it was hilarious.

No one was fired for the obscene watermark or Michael treating all of the women to one item at Victoria's Secret or diversity day or Michael hitting Meredith with his car or the raid on Utica....without fireable offenses, there wouldn't be a show.

 

If you don't understand how a gun is different, then you're just being an apologist.

 

I understand that you want something to complain about. I understand that you aren't a fan of the show anymore and you pine for a version of The Office that exists in sepia-colored memories. But the notion that somehow all of the other hilariously wrong acts that occurred on The Office showed realism while the gun in the office required a massive suspension of disbelief is nothing more than nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking.

 

This would be my take on it.