Coming after the relatively strong Seasons 4 & 5, Season 6 of The Office felt like a massive step-down. It's more uncomfortable than funny, and the overall story just feels stateless at times.
Season 6 does have a more well-defined plot than most seasons of The Office, pretty much entirely focused on Dunder-Mifflin going out of business and having to be sold to another company called Sabre. Despite this otherwise interesting premise, however, the season feels stakesless. It never feels like the company is in danger, or that Sabre is causing any major chances. Even worse, Sabre actively detracts from the comedy, as the moments involving them just feel less funny. As a result, Season 6 can feel like an utter slog to sit through, especially in its second half after the buyout happens.
There are also a few other subplots that fare a bit better. Jim and Pam's wedding is definitely the best part of the season, but it ends fairly early on in the season. There's also storyline about Jim becoming assistant manager, which feels like it was built up to in the last few seasons. However, Dwight's unsympathetic behavior during this subplot makes it fairly lackluster as well. I'd also be remiss not to mention Scott's Tots, which is not an episode I particularly enjoy watching. It's heavy on the cringe, and light on the comedy, with both Michael and Jim going through some awful and embarrassing experiences. There's a reason why there's a subreddit about how hard this episode is to watch.
I also think the season ends on a pretty lackluster note. There's a fairly interesting storyline about Sabre having a scandal, but it lacks consequences or stakes, meaning that the season finale feels fairly uneventful. No one got fired, Sabre didn't face any backlash that stuck, it just felt like a waste of potential.
Despite my many issues with the season, there were some solid episodes:
Gossip: The general gossip storyline was a lot of fun on its own, but the parkour cold open alone was worth the price of admission.
Niagra: Jim and Pam's wedding was easily the best part of the season. It was heart-warming and sweet, culminating in that iconic dance down the aisle. I thought it was pretty much perfect.
Happy Hour: This episode was just plain funny throughout. Date Mike was a lot of fun to watch, the warehouse workers had some highlights, and just seeing the cast let loose during Happy Hour added some levity to an otherwise drab season.
Season 6 was a massive step down in quality for the series. The storylines were uninteresting and lacked stakes, the cringe comedy lacked humor, and Sabre seemed to just drag the show down. There were some good episodes, but overall, Season 6 was easily one of the show's worst seasons so far.
2/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment