Season 2 of The Office is the season where the series became what it is today. The quality jump from the first season is absolutely astonishing right from the very first episode, and leads to one of the most consistently strong seasons I've ever seen from a comedic series.
This season continues where the first one left off. Michael is still trying to make his workers like him, while also having an odd on-and-off-relationship with his boss, Jan. Jim has a girlfriend, but he still has feelings for Pam, who's finally starting to go forward with her wedding, and Dwight is starting a secret relationship with his colleague Angela. There's also the threat of downsizing, but that's resolved super early on in the season. Like Season 1, most of these plot threads are in the background of most of the episodes, but there's a stronger continuity and a season finale where everything manages to tie together fairly well. Outside of this, however, the majority of the season is still focusing on silly office hijinks.
Most, if not all, of this season's storylines are pretty much entirely original from the UK version, which helps give it a much stronger sense of identity. It's much more earnest than the UK series, with Michael Scott being a more sympathetic character, in particular. His attempts at trying to be a well-liked boss make him more endearing than David Brent, and Steve Carrell plays him nearly perfectly. This season also introduces a fairly tragic aspect to his character, seen most clearly when he has to fire someone in his office. He spends the whole episode devastated about the prospect and it shows that even though he's not a great boss, you can't deny that he cares about his work. This combination of tragedy and comedy works wonders for the show's staple cringe comedy.
The other characters also get a lot more to do. Jim and Pam's will-they-won't-they relationship is more gripping than ever, and it's devastating to see Jim slowly lose faith as the wedding approaches. The minor office workers get a lot more focus and characterization as well, especially the accountants, Oscar, Angela, and Kevin. The episode quality is far more consistent as well, with my least favorite episode (The Carpet) still being really good. At its best, we get the season finale Casino Night, which is still one of my favorite episodes ever made. The camerawork is also a lot better in this season. Every shift and pan feels deliberate to make the documentary nature of the show feel more credible, and the camerawork even gets more shaky whenever the show gets dramatic. The whole production feels like the show at the peak of its craft.
Being one of the series' best seasons, there are a lot of notable episodes:
The Dundies: A strong season premiere that hits the ground running right off the bat. The whole premise of an office awards ceremony is excellent, and was hilariously executed. We also get the first Jim and Pam kiss to end the episode off on a big note.
The Client: This was the episode with Threat Level Midnight, which is just a hilarious subplot in its own right. This is also the start of Michael and Jan, easily one of the strangest romantic subplots in the series.
Christmas Party: The Office's Christmas episodes were always outstanding and this is one of the best. Michael's gift swap game is an absolute masterclass in hilarious cringe comedy, and the subplot with Jim's present for Pam did a great job added some heart to the proceedings.
Booze Cruise: Serving as the midpoint of the season, this episode could have been a season finale on its own. The hijinks on the cruise were amazing on their own, but what really made this episode was Roy re-proposing to Pam, Jim breaking up with his girlfriend, and Michael learning about Jim's feelings.
The Injury: This episode was just plain bonkers. Michael burning his foot on a George-Foreman grill is the type of thing you just don't make up, and Dwight's concussion/accidental friendship with Pam is so bizarre you can't help but love it. Even with how crazy the series gets, this was still one of its strangest episodes.
Casino Night: What an amazing finale. The titular casino night was a lot of fun, and it gave the whole ensemble something to do. Michael's love triangle was great, but the real highlight was Jim's painfully realistic and phenomenally acted confession of love to Pam, along with that excellent cliffhanger. This is still one of my favorite episodes ever made for bringing every storyline together and for balancing comedy and drama incredibly well.
Overall, Season 2 of The Office is a massive improvement over the first as the show finally starts to carve out its own identity. The writing, characterization, and production are all improved drastically to create one of the strongest seasons of the whole series.
5/5 Stars
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