The fifth season of The Office is 28 episodes long. It is set at the Scranton branch of a small paper company called Dunder Mifflin. It mainly follows regional manager Michael Scott. Michael is a weird, offensive and insensitive person. Despite that, his staff is actually fairly decent, despite some eccentricities. While we had a huge surprise at the end of the last season, the opening isn’t too out there. Yes, this, have changed but nowhere near the extent of how it was in the past. There are some new blood added to the cast but it doesn’t change things too much. It’s actually quite surprising when you expect some of the cast to return and yet they have been rotated off.
Looking back at the show while at the beginning of the fifth season, you’ll find it surprising at how each of the relationships have developed up until now. Jan is pregnant yet not together with Michael anymore. Michael is trying hard to win over the new representation who had replaced Toby, although he is forever unlucky in love. While Jim and Pam seems to be the most solid and looks like they’ll come to a happy conclusion. Yet despite the rosy outlook for the pair, they have to go through a few trials first that really puts their relationship to the test.
The show is not afraid to touch upon topics that may be offensive, all in the name of humor. It also likes to laugh off huge coincidences. Whereas it might be contrived in other shows, you won’t mind it here because it means that the characters are allowed to come and go without being forced to stay in that same place forever. The downside is that this causes unexplained disappearances of some cast members. You’ll wonder where they are as they’re here one episode and not in the next.
Some of the best parts are the openings at the beginning of each episode. These scenes are usually random and extremely funny. Unfortunately they don’t segue into the plot of the episode, especially when you wished it did since it seemed like such a great concept to continue with. While each episode is standalone and can be enjoyed individually without being lost, things do move and change significantly over the course of a few episodes.
The Office accentuates the unprofessional behavior of the Scranton branch, from fraud to severe slacking at work. While most of the issues are caused by Michael himself, on the off chance it is someone else’s fault, he is forgiving (or just clueless at how to effectively manage) and there are no repercussions. Each one of the cast has something weird about them, and not in a good way. This causes a dysfunctional workplace but is quite funny to see how it deals with things. The branch also sure likes to hold a lot of parties. There’s one every few episodes and it is the ideal place for Michael to showcase how bad he is. This gets to the point where characters lampshade this.
Just when you think Michael cannot be any more stupid or surprise you, he finds a way. That is a charm of the show as Michael has his stellar moments where it is comedy gold. He can have an irrational hatred for certain people. The shenanigans that he comes up with Dwight are actually quite unpredictable and innovative. Michael is like a child, loving to dish it out but cannot take criticism himself. He cries way too easily, acts childish and can be annoying at times. Yet his branch is doing the best in the company. He loves to play the blame game and as he puts it at one point, he wants all the glory but none of the blame.
Angela was already an unpleasant person and extremely hard to like in the seasons up until now, but she takes the cake in this season. She manages to become even more selfish, especially when she plays both Dwight and Andy with no remorse, taking pleasure in it. Towards the end of the season, there are several surprising changes. We should all expect it by now since the show will keep its word and see through what it started. It shows off what a great salesman Michael yet and that he is not suitable for being a manager. As that arc is completed, you’ll expect the season to end on a flat note with no cliffhanger but it throws in one last spanner in the works.
Overall, yes, the fifth season of The Office is more of the same. There are times where the characters will irk you as their more unpleasant side of their personalities rise to the surface. During other times, you cannot believe how nice they are. The level of humor remains on par with previous seasons, so while you won’t be laughing your guts out every second, there are enough moments to keep you entertained.
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