Movies & TV

Unpopular opinion, but I really like the early seasons of the Office US. It tried to replicate the drier, bleaker tone of the UK version. There were a lot of melancholic moments during those seasons, and it left an impression on me because the episodes would just end after something sweet or vaguely sad with the black credit scenes without any music - almost as if it was an early draft of the documentary it’s supposed to be formatted as.

My favorite is probably the Office Olympics - everyone was getting along and having fun while Michael was away. Pam made makeshift medals for the winners. After he returned and is extremely pissed off with everything, everyone just awkwardly scuffles back to work and Ryan throws away the medal in front of Pam, upsetting her. But then Michael received one of the makeshift yogurt peel medals and he was genuinely happy about it which turned his day around, and made her a little happier. Then it cuts to the silent credits.

Later seasons everything was always ending on a happy note. Most of them were still good but really took away from the whole “this job is fucking miserable, but at least I have some people I like here” vibe and turned it into “we’re a big family so sometimes we fight!”