I realize that Andy is the branch manager now, but I’m frankly a little surprised at how much time The Office has been devoting to his character. In previous seasons Andy was always a more minor character, almost always taking a backseat to Jim, Pam, Dwight, and Michael. I guess I’m just not used to him being the focal point of the series yet. Perhaps that’s why this episode felt so strange, with appearances from Andy’s brother and parents, delving pretty deeply into the character’s personal life.
At the end of the day, I’m just not sold on Andy as branch manager. I think at this point in the season, four episodes into the new look Office, things should be settling in. If that’s the case, I can go on record and say that I don’t like this much Andy on the show. I like Ed Helms, I like Andy, but there’s just been too much. I don’t like the way the writers are setting him up as such a sad sack, with the rest of the office having to come to his aid. It seems like he gets more and more pathetic each passing week.
I realize that the show needed to have a boss that was significantly different than Michael Scott, I just don’t think Andy’s incompetence is working for me, and I’m not sure that it’s going to work. Luckily, the writing has been pretty strong for the rest of the characters. There were some great moments in this week’s episode. It was great seeing Jim back in the role that he belongs — harassing Dwight and setting him up to look like an idiot. The garden party handbook was a genius move, with several payoffs. I think my favorite had to be the Dwight being the “dance master” of the party. These types of gags were definitely missing the past couple years. It’s nice to see them back.
Most of the other characters had great moments tonight too. There was Kevin (in his wig) not understanding how a see-saw works, Meredith being horrified at being mistaken for Pam, and Kelly and her ridiculous outfit. Angela’s craziness with the pregnancies is wearing a little thin, but I guess there was only so much the writers could do with two of their actresses pregnant. Robert California continues to be a joy, and I’m wondering again why the writers chose not to make him the branch manager. I think it would have made for much better TV. How about you?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Oct 13, 2011 @ 21:42 EST5EDT
These last few episodes have made me feel so bad for Andy. Why does he have to be so sad? Michael was somewhat pathetic, but he had a lot of self-confidence, which helped to give the character balance. Right now, it seems like Robert California brings the confidence and Andy brings the pathetic, and between the two of them they almost replace what the show lost when Michael left. But Andy hasn’t been able to do it on his own.
As crazy as Michael got, he was always competent, and Andy clearly is not.
I could argue that he is competent in his own way, but that does not matter. Andy is putting up good numbers. Companies care about numbers. I’ve seen managers that were drooling lobotomized vampire creatures keep their positions because of the numbers.
Also – Is anyone else totally grossed out by the Whitney commercials? Who are those two dirty birds?