A Quick Review of “Mafia” (The Episode of The Office, Not The Jay Mohr Movie, Obviously)
I have a splitting headache, so I’ll make this one quick.
I had few expectations going into this past Thursday’s episode of The Office—do you blame me?—and had even less so when Jim and Pam were nowhere to be seen at the beginning of the episode. Their absences have to lower the overall episode score by at least two points out of ten, right?
The episode started out slowly, dragged on and on, and nearly got me to stop watching at one point. The whole scene in the restaurant bored me to tears, even Andy’s scene where he had to go jump-start some woman’s car. Dwight and Andy’s plan to “convince” Michael that Grotti wasn’t part of the mob not only saved the episode, but it actually made the entire episode overall somewhat enjoyable. My favorite exchange:
Dwight: …I am talking about convincing Michael that the guy’s not mafia.
Andy: That seems a little far-fetched.
Dwight: Well, more far-fetched than a mobster walking into a paper company for a low level shakedown? And that happened.”
(One minor gripe about this episode: Michael, Dwight, and Andy all thought that Grotti’s e-mail to Michael was a threat, and not a common sales tactic! I can only come to one of three conclusions:
- No salesperson in The Office has ever had another sales person with another company.
- Andy magically forgot everything he learned about sales from his time in the Stamford branch.
- It’s no wonder that Dunder Mifflin is a failing paper company.
Although, I suppose not all three conclusions are mutually exclusive.)
It pains me to say this because I love Kevin’s character, but I could not stand his act in this episode. Committing identity fraud by taking a call designed to prevent identity fraud? And why did Jim have a pay stub on his desk like that? Actually, I have a better question: how did Kevin get access to Jim’s office in the first place? Or could Dunder Mifflin not afford a lock for his door?
Another thing…in this exchange:
Dwight: Did he threaten you?
Michael: No, Dwight, not everything is a threat.
Andy: Mobsters are.
Michael: There is no such thing as monsters.
was that an unedited goof, or am I seriously supposed to believe that Michael stumbled upon the word “mobster,” the way he stumbles upon one big dictionary word per episode?
Finally, couldn’t the episode have ended with something happening to Michael that necessitated insurance? Was it too much to ask for somebody to plow into the garage of his condo? Couldn’t Michael have burned his foot again on his George Foreman grill? Couldn’t some idiot with the vanity license plate “DA MOB” rear-end him?
(Too cheesy? OK.)
And please don’t point out that, even if it’s true, supplemental insurance doesn’t cover any of the things listed above. Did I mention my head hurts?
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment