The Office: "Michael's Last Dundies"

Season 7, Episode 21

Another unfortunate case of Willferrellitis

“I had hoped it was like Godfather III, in that it wrapped up the franchise in a meaningful way.”

-Michael Scott

I don’t know why this has never occurred to me, but I think the office should have been producing a “Dundies” episode every year. Much like Cheers’ annual “Bar Wars” episodes (which I haven’t seen, but I’ve heard so much about), the “Dundies” episodes could have been AN EVENT, something that would push the show to go bigger and better every year, or perhaps something that could have been a capper to each season (or perhaps the penultimate episode in each season), as way to sum up all of the emotional beats of any given year.

And I so wish that this was the case, because I think would have added some much needed layers to tonight’s episode. (Yes, I am aware that one could argue that the Christmas episodes kind of serve this function for the show, but since none of them have been adjacent to a major character leaving the show, it’s kind of a moot point.) Tonight was obviously supposed to be the start of the send-off for Michael, a way for the show (and us) to relieve some of our favorite moments for the character before we say truly say goodbye next week. Yet as much as the Dundies might mean to Michael, seeing as how he’s done them every year for 10 years (or it is less than 10? I’m not really sure when the start of the Dundies is supposed match up with Michael becoming Regional Manager.), we’ve only seen the awards once before, and that was five years ago. They don’t hold the emotional weight for us that they do for the character(s), and it doesn’t in and of itself serve all that well as (part of) a send-off for the Michael.

Yet it could have, if it hadn’t been for Will Ferrell. I mean Deangelo Vickers. Aw, fuck it. There practically the same person at this point. The main problem with Deangelo as a character is thanks to any number of factors – the writing, the acting, the relentless promos – it’s practically impossible to escape the fact that this is stunt casting of a very big movie star, and he’s going to do the things that made him a star in the first place. A part of “those things” is, apparently acting “unfunny” in the most Ferrell-y way possible.

Despite The Office being filmed in a mockumentary format, thus meaning that it essentially creates its own reality (in a way), I am now more than ever aware of our reality encroaching on the show’s reality, and it makes for a very weird viewing experience, one that takes me out of the show. Every time Deangelo tried to be funny and failed, for instance, I kept saying to myself, “Come on! This is Will Ferrell we’re looking at here! Nobody’s going to believe he’s not funny!” Perhaps if Will Ferrell hadn’t been all Ferrell-y in this role, Deangelo’s unfunniess would have made more sense; but as it stands, it’s just a poor writing decision for an actor who never should have landed such a large role on the show in the first place.

And on top of all this is the fact the Carrell and Ferrell just had a ridiculous amount of screen time together, both last week and tonight. Not only does this make the shouting of Ferrell’s status as “Special Guest Star” all the louder, but it seems to be taking away from Michael saying goodbye to the people he actually knows and care about. I get that the show gave us some of that tonight (more on that in a bit) and I understand that next week is when the real goodbyes – an emotions – will fly. But I can’t shake this feeling that the show is missing out on opportunities to make this departure even more powerful than it already is/will be.

Yet there were two moments tonight that worked, moments that gives me hope that next week’s finale will actually serve as a proper send-off. The first was the tiff between Michael and Dwight, characters who have had one of the purest relationships on the show (as weird as that relationship might be), the relationship that’s changed the least over the years. Though it hasn’t amounted to much yet, the jokes about Dwight being “forgotten” by Michael seem to be pointing to some sort of meaningful reconciliation between the two next week. (Fingers crossed.)

The second was the one that is most likely already lit up Twitter earlier tonight. (As a man without a Twitter account, I can’t be sure, but the odds are high.) The rest of the office singing to Michael was a genuinely sweet moment, something that the show is very good at, and something that I don’t think it’s done enough over the last few years. But if the show can pull out moments like these next week (and I would hope so, seeing as how it’s been given 50 freakin’ moments to do so), then it should all work out just fine. (Also, more shots of Michael crying. That moved me more than I would have ever thought possible.)

Any other opinions?

Quotes, Etc:

In the wake of Michael’s/Carrell’s departure, the current developments with Erin will most likely get overshadowed, and I’m afraid I’ll have to do so here, for now anyways. But I will say I like where this is going, assuming it’s heading towards an Erin-Andy relationship. What can I say? I think it’s sweet.

“They’re like The Golden Globes, but a little less mean.” Suck it, Ricky Gervais!

“Always the padawan, never the Jedi.”

“I love banter, but I hate witty banter.”

“Appalling…eyesore…surprisingly adequate.”

“That analytical part of me wants to examine it, but I know it has no content.”  

“No, Ryan would never do it. It’s too on the radar.”

“I forgive you for kissing me.”