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(More customer reviews)When we last left the staff of "The Office" it was at a crossroads: secretary Dawn and her fiancee Lee were headed for the States, Gareth was headed for a promotion, and everyone's least favourite boss David Brent had been made redundant. The only person not heading in a new direction (unless you count downwards) was the person who never moves at all: Tim, the every-man of the show whose future prospects were looking monotonous and bleak.
Now, three years later the BBC documentary crew have come to film a follow-up show and see where their previous stars have ended up. Gareth is on a power trip as the new management boss of the office, though he wields about as much respect as David did in his day. Tim is miserable, unsuccessfully trying to bond with the new secretary who is utterly baffled at his jokes and seated next to Anne, a woman with appalling manners and long-winded stories. Dawn is tanned in Florida, but without a real job permit she's forced to babysit full-time for the mean-spirited Lee's sister's baby.
And David. Oh boy. Reduced to a cleaning-produce salesman, he's attempting in his evenings to break into show business by guest appearances at pubs and nightclubs. However, the general public at large despise him, and he's beginning to realise what the rest of the world has always known: he's a pathetic schmuck. And here is where the show takes its most astonishing turn - in the first two seasons, we alternatively cringe and laugh at David's behaviour, but now we are made to feel profound pity for him. One scene in particular, in which David eats alone in an empty food court, actually brought tears of pity to my eyes. No one deserves to be this lonely.
But the Christmas party is looming. David pops into the office uninvited on a regular basis, and the manager Neil is so fed up that he tricks David into agreeing to bring a hot date to the party. Desperate, David seeks the help of a dating agency, which results in several appalling dates and brings up many misogynist, sexist and size-ist comments that only David Brent could possibly come up with. Meanwhile, Tim is bracing himself for Dawn's imminent arrival and praying that he won't humiliate himself yet again.
There are a couple of things I didn't quite agree with: Neil has always been a reasonable and likeable man in the past, but here acts quite jerky toward David (or maybe he's just reached the end of his rope in regards to his ex-employee), and Gareth seems a bit under-used. Worse however, was the complete lack of lines given to Jennifer, who has always been my favourite character. But the repulsive Chris Finch is finally told what we've all wanted to tell him since day one, and the actress playing Anne is so good that the creators probably wished they'd found and put her on the show sooner.
There is one scene that I really must point out simply because it's quite subtle but adds a lot to the overall playing-out of the show. When the staff pick out their Secret Santa names, Jamie (the *other* nice guy in the office), looks at his, smiles and promptly swaps it with Tim, who is in the process of declaring he can never buy his candidate a present. Later on, when Trudy is handing out the anonymous gifts, Gareth looks at his commando-soldier with distaste and demands to know who gave it to him. In the background we see Jennifer look at Jamie and mouth "was it you?" to which he nods. Given the fateful turn that Tim's Secret Santa gift takes, we can see that Jamie purposefully gave up his original name to give Tim once last chance. I never expected *this* show to make me go - "Awwww".
The entire two-part finale plays out to perfection. With the same wry humour, humdrum lives and scarily accurate portrayal of human behaviour, anyone who has been a fan of "The Office" will not be disappointed. Just when you think things can't get any worse for these characters, the heavens open and God (or at least the writers) throws them a curveball that may revive their fortunes. The performances here are Oscar-worthy, and I'm not exaggerating. From David's decline into depression and renewal of hope, to Tim's face when he hugs Dawn goodbye to the strains of "I Want You Back For Good", to Dawn's quintessential scene (don't worry, you'll know it when you see it), the talent here surpasses the television screen that displays it.
The Christmas send-off is the best possible ending to an amazing show, giving us everything we expect and more; the resolution to the Tim/Lee/Dawn love triangle in particular is done with a simplicity and poignancy I just didn't think this show could possess. At the same time we're expecting a `real life' ending, we're praying for a happy ending, and though I just can't give it away, I promise that you'll be more than satisfied.
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OFFICE SPECIAL - DVD Movie
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