The Office: Whistleblower

Posted by: Lawrence Lee  •  May 22, 2010 @ 6:24pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

The sixth season of The Office has been the weakest of all the seasons thus far. There have been storylines that have been started that did not continue until many episodes later, and other storylines that should have gone for much longer but did not. A lot of the problems lie in the writing, which led to the characterization gone wrong. This resulted in some episodes lacking humour, and some of the characters not being themselves. Character growth is good when it is done right, but when it's not, a lot of the great moments that defined the show are lost.

In particular, Michael Scott has changed considerably. In the past seasons, he was a sad human being, that made the people around him feel completely uncomfortable with him, to the point where they wanted almost nothing to do with him. As Michael had attempted to gain the acceptance of the people around him in all the wrong ways, it led to some great cringingly cruel humour, that the original BBC series was known for. However, Michael could not be a complete idiot forever. He eventually evolved into just plain stupid, and even became the hero in a number of cases, whilst still causing unintentional harm to the people around him.

In "Whistleblower", Michael is the reluctant hero, that is in denial of the actions of his employees, and defends them to no end, despite the in-fighting. The old Michael would have never done this. He would have created incentives for employees to come forward with information, and done the questioning himself, which would have ultimately demoralized the workplace and turned the staff against each other. But instead, in this episode, he kept his big mouth shut, to the point where he was able to provide an ear to Jolene, which made it comfortable for her to speak to him about her more vulnerable side.

Michael's kinder side has saved him in the past, and it saved him again in this episode. It may even bring some more good fortune for him, as he stated that he still misses Holly. Holly is possibly the only woman he has ever known, that had genuine respect for him, and was able to reciprocate transparency of awkwardness, due to her own noticeable quirks. The final scene of the season has Michael looking, possibly thinking of a future with Holly. And that is the end of the season. No big cliffhanger, or something new to expect. There is only the likely possibility that an old storyline may be revisited.

Tags: The Office, season 6, finale, Whistleblower, Kathy Bates, Ed Helms, Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski

Related Posts

• Review: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
• TIFF Review: Beautiful Boy
• Review: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
• Five Things You Need To Know Before You Become A Critic
• Review: The Hangover: Part III

Comments Posted ()