Monsters of Television

“Bear my child.”

Behold, the Jam baby.

Surrounded by the maudlin quirks of their coworkers, Jim and Pam try to wrap their heads around bringing another life into the world. This episode was filled with all the things that put the series in such a distasteful state: flat jokes, half-finished stories, and a lack of excitement. One would think the urgency of an impending baby delivery would provide loads of excitement for an episode but, somehow, this one comes off dull.

That being said, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer were great. Jim losing his cool, becoming “frazzled,” demonstrates a vulnerable side to him that creates more depth for his character (much like what falling on his face does for Shawn Spencer in Psych) and some great business for him. When people talk about the “little moments” that make this episode, a lot of them are from Jim. Pam as the stubborn and, at times, vicious mother-to-be was inspired, especially in the transition from killer to woman insecure about the event she has no control over. Although the scene where this occurs is a little thrown together and stilted, she sells it the best she can with the limited time allowed to her.

Beyond them, the episode was weak sauce, so weak in fact that they had to delve into multiple sub-A stories, even giving Dwight two plotlines this week. Banging out the parenting contract with Angela showed a lot of promise and even elicited a couple “tuts” but, overall, fell flat. In fact, all the sub-A stories fell flat. Michael playing matchmaker with Erin and Kevin had a small amount of potential but, ultimately, was not very funny, though, given more time to develop, this might have been a better storyline (think Michael making the office singles play a speed-dating game in the warehouse, only for it to be eventually thwarted by Toby on ground of inappropriateness). Even Andy finally asking Erin out was sort of anticlimactic (something that also could have been given time to develop).

Back at the hospital, Krasinski maundered through his scenes, invoking his predecessor, Tim, to great effect. His palpable anxiety and insecurity, especially when the male lactation specialist was flicking his wife’s nipples, was executed beautifully. With the depth Krasinski is giving Jim, I starting thinking a Jam spin-off would be okay afterall but almost immediately dispatched the idea after submitting it to the Frasier test. I’m not even sure what a Jim and Pam spin-off would be about (a half-hour family sit-com maybe) and I’m almost sure the producers wouldn’t be able to get away from The Office‘s visual style to give the fledgling show the separation it needs.

I started thinking spin-off after a moment of clarity. Jim and Pam curl up together, watching their newborn in a cradle next to them, commenting on the life-changing event they’ve just experienced (the section where Jim mentions that before this they were “just kids”). They all but drop the phrase “nothing will ever be the same again.” It’s absence is noticeable and, with the words echoing in my head, I knew that they were true. Last week, when the power structure at the paper company returned to the way it was (heralded by Jim dropping Dwight’s tie into his coffee), I thought they were aiming to return the show to its roots, to the situations that made the series great. But that will never happen. Jim will never be the immature, aimless prankster and Pam will never be the insecure, aimless co-conspirator. These are changed characters and, while the character evolution is a good thing for a show, this particular program has never been able to recover the magic it once had from its original premise. This show is nearly unrecognizable save the mockumentary style. The supporting cast to Michael, Dwight, Pam, and Jim have not had the opportunity to really step up (except for maybe Angela and Andy, though, as I’ve expressed, they recently fall flat). This show will be milked for a while based on nostalgia and the audience’s general investment in these characters (maybe a little of the habit of having a new episode of The Office on DVRs) but the show is flat.

The term “jump the shark” is becoming a lot like “irony” in that its overuse has diluted its original meaning into something less specific. Originally, the term referred to the show being tapped for ideas, returning to old plots in order to pander to an audience. “Last time Fonzie jumped some stuff, people went wild. Let’s have him do it again! But with sharks!” The Office really hasn’t needed to return to old plot devices to continue the show, which I commend. But something about this series has become tired, exhausted under its own premise. Now, if the show makes it so far as to see Angela have Dwight’s baby, we can talk about the show “jumping the shark.”

Though Dwight coaching Angela through a pregnancy and delivery has some potential.