The third season of the American version of The Office is comprised of 25 episodes long at approximately 22 minutes each. It is based on the British show of the same name but by this point, it has branched off in its own path. The series follows the Scranton branch of the paper company Dunder Mifflin. In particular, the main character is Michael Scott, the regional manager and the most shallow, selfish and offensive guy that you could meet.
A fair amount of time has passed since the end of the last season and significant changes has occurred. Right off the bat, all of the cast are still here but relationships have formed or crumbled, and we see the fallout from the very first episode. There is the continued ever looming threat of closure. While it doesn’t get much of a mention in the beginning, it quickly rears its head and never quite goes away. The series is a comedy and there is a limited amount of plot. Regardless, things do change to a rapid degree and the series is not afraid to chop and change. The situation at the end of the season is completely different from the beginning. Characters come and go pretty often in this season. Sometimes you don’t even notice that they were gone for a few episodes until they make a big deal of them coming back.
There is a higher focus placed on the various relationships of the characters. A lot of them are now in pairs, although not all of them are public knowledge. Michael loves to flout his relationship, even when it is inappropriate, which is most of the time. It’s a shame that we never got to see how Dwight and Angela got together. We were introduced to them as a pair randomly in a episode last season. While their relationship is obvious to a few select characters, everyone else is oblivious.
Michael takes up most of the screen time and we’re shown his many flaws. The biggest mistake that other characters keep making is trusting Michael with their secrets. Michael is a massive blabber mouth, he pretty much instantly blurts it out in front of the whole office even though he knows, and promises, that he won’t. Yet despite Michael’s personality, he somehow manages to connect with potential clients and get their business. This does show that he had the skills, or luck, to be the best salesman of the branch before he was promoted.
It can get annoying and painful to watch how self-centered and selfish he is. He just cannot read the atmosphere at all. For all the things that he does wrong and continually makes mistake for, things somehow work out well for him. He doesn’t lose his life. He finds success in his romantic life. It’s unfair when you compare his situation with other characters who deserve it more. The show takes a risk and splits the viewpoint into two distinct threads. It is different but doesn’t quite work. As a result of this decision, the cast grows significantly. Among the new characters, Andy is the suck up and rival to Dwight. All it means is that we get another annoying character.
All the characters’ negative traits are emphasized and it gets worse with this season. Angela is particular is going out of control with her overbearing attitude and general negativity. Ryan graduates from a nice and innocent temp worker to an unpleasant person with a horrible personality. Despite how genuinely annoying some characters are, when the season plays around with shifting the characters, you feel like something is missing. It’s only when they return do things go back to normal and you don’t feel that unease anymore. It’s interesting to see how the season plays out the characters’ strengths and weaknesses to its potential. It makes certain episodes and scenes more meaningful than just another gag or joke.
The series is not afraid to take on some of the more sensitive topics. While its depiction is not exactly ideal, it goes all in in trying to make it funny. At least it depicts how not to deal with these topics. Things will often be inappropriate and the series is the perfect example of how a company should not operate. The season finale was pretty interesting as it pits coworkers against each other. It is good that the cast don’t stay forever at their current positions. There is potential for people to be permanently shifted around, creating an air of unpredictability and preventing the current situation from becoming stale.
Overall, the third season of The Office shows how the series is continuing on getting its stride. Characters and episode plots are getting more confident. The characters are coming into their own and the wave of new characters fit in perfectly. Of course, there are dud episodes and jokes as well as boring scenes but on the whole, season three was fairly enjoyable.
-----------------------------------------------
For other reviews, have a look at this page.