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Hopeful. That’s the word I would use going into Season 9 of The Office. On the one hand, the show is FINALLY reaching its end, which is always exciting for a TV show. But on the other hand, this should have happened a long time ago. The show is adding some fresh blood, which is always nice…but new cast members on The Office have a tendency of fading away into nothingness. But the biggest reason for me on why I’m looking forward to this season is the return of Greg Daniels as showrunner. For those who don’t know Daniels, he ran the show for the first four seasons (referred to as “The Golden Years” by most fans), in addition to creating King of the Hill, Parks and Recreation, and Office Space. So yeah, his return is a pretty big deal. All this said, was this episode a return to form for the aging show? Well…yes and no.

First of all, let me say this: the eighth season of The Office was freaking terrible. The Florida arc aside (which was tolerable at best), there was not a bright spot in the entire season. After seeing that mess, I was fully prepared to give up on this show. But hey, we got one season left now—I figured I could power through it. And with Greg Daniels back at the helm, I actually got pretty excited to see if this show still has any life left in it.

Sadly, this isn’t a complete return to form for the show—without Michael Scott, I don’t think it possibly could be. Michael was such a huge aspect of this show and, since his departure, it doesn’t even feel like the same show anymore. Whatever the case, the Season 8 premiere, “New Guys”, didn’t exactly revitalize my love forThe Office. But for what’s worth, at least Daniels is actually trying. And at least one of the plot points running through this season might actually, dare I say it, excite me.

The plotline I’m referring to, of course, is Jim’s mid-life crisis. Just like all the viewers of the show have been saying for years, Jim and Pam as characters have grown pretty stagnant. And finally, they make light of the situation in what (I think) is the first time they’ve ever had an actual conversation with the film crew. Pam seems to be perfectly fine with her “boring” life, but Jim seems to want more (which, oddly enough, is completely opposite from how they use to be three seasons ago). Well I’m not sure that this whole sports bar thing will be at all exciting, at least it’s giving Jim something moderately interesting to do. It’s a step in the right direction at the very least.

Jim’s story aside, the rest of the episode was pretty average, at least for a post-Carrell episode. Dwight’s still acting petty and jealous as always. Kevin still seems like a complete idiot (although, honestly, his turtle bit in the cold open made me chuckle). And the rest of the cast…well, they still exist. The only character that seemed odd to me in this episode was Andy, who has made quite the transition over the summer.

It’s pretty obvious that Daniels prefers the douchebag Andy from Season 3 and 4 compared to the lovable little scamp from the past few years, because that version of the character is back in spades. And well I too prefer this version of Andy, having him act like a jackass this entire episode rubbed off me the wrong way. And it makes no sense for him to hate Nellie so much. Why was he surprised that she was still there? HE FREAKING HIRED HER FOR GOD’S SAKE. Pushing her off the rope, acting like a “bitch” to her, and even calling Dwight a “loser” just seems off for the character. Although I’m perfectly fine with him acting like a dick to Toby. Ah…it’s been too long. YOU RUINED THE OFFICE, TOBY. YOU RUINED IT!

Overall, it was a perfectly serviceable way to begin the final season of The Office, and all I can hope is that things will get much better from here. You have 21 episodes left, Mr. Daniels. Use them wisely.

Loose Ends:

Obviously no one gave a damn enough to give a proper goodbye to Kelly and Ryan. Just have them move to Ohio, who fucking cares?

Speaking of not giving a damn, these two new guys do nothing for me. Post Stanford arc, The Office has done a terrible job of introducing new characters.

“Don’t you guys have everything? We’re JUST a paper company.” Pam knows how it is!

“Hey New Jim, come sit on my face.”

“What are you still doing here?”—That’s what I was asking!

“You can’t eat cats, Kevin.”

“Now I now why Michael hated you so much.” Oh my god, they referred to him! He wasn’t just a figment of my imagination!

“But if you Toby out, you’ll act like a real Nellie.”

“Let me show you how a real man walks across a flaccid cord!”

“Not bad for a day in the life of a dog food company.” So every episode from now on has to end with a “Dear Diary” moment from Creed, right? THIS HAS TO HAPPEN!

-Matthew