#The office season 8 and 9 full#
#The office season 8 and 9 series#

Grounded in realism, Val was one of the better new characters introduced this season.

The only other plot of note was the subdued and sweet courtship of Darryl and the new warehouse forewoman, Val. And we still don't even know the outcome (though they left little room for doubt). It wasn't until the finale, 'Free Family Portrait Studio' that Dwight finally took the initiative to get the kid tested. There were hints all along that the father of Angela's baby was not her possibly gay state senator husband, but the issue resided on the backburner for the majority of the season. Pam and Angela both had babies named Phillip, but the origin of Angela's pregnancy had much more intrigue to it. For everyone else in the Office, the stories were relatively minor. And of course, we'll never forget you, Florida Stanley. Ryan was true to character, talking a big game but ultimately choking when his big moment came. Poor Cathy was punished for her actions by being banished from the show, never to be mentioned again. I enjoyed seeing Jim squirm and being forced to turn to Dwight for help (their scenes together were some of the best of the whole season). That little drama resolved better than I'd hoped.

#The office season 8 and 9 full#

Dwight got a chance to experience both the thrill and the stress of leadership while Jim had his hands full fending off the affections of crazy Cathy. It was a silly idea, but the characters involved made it interesting and fun. Beginning with the 14th episode, 'Special Project,' we got a great business-related arc centered around the launch of the Sabre Store down in Florida. Those episodes made up the previously mentioned Tallahassee arc, which demonstrated that there is life, and laughs, left in this show when they get it right. The last few episodes of the season devoted a good deal of screen time getting Andy and Erin back together, which proved to be a bit of a letdown after a run of some of the best episodes in a long time. There was also a potential romantic entanglement between Andy and Robert's wife (guest star Maura Tierney) in 'Mrs. So I wasn't rooting for either side, really. The writers fell back on the old love-triangle trope, giving Andy a girlfriend, but they didn't bother to give her any personality or defining characteristics. Last season, Andy pined for Erin while she was dating Gabe, so I guess it was Erin's turn to carry the torch. I haven't made it a secret that I'm not much of a fan of the Andy and Erin relationship. By the time Andy and Erin crashed a stranger's bachelorette party to break up with his bland girlfriend, I wished they'd been part of a different show. It wasn't always a problem with the locations themselves, but with the writing.

#The office season 8 and 9 series#

There were times, like in 'Pool Party' when it felt like I was watching a different series вЂ“ an Office spinoff, maybe вЂ“ instead of the show I know and used to love. I suspect the motivation behind this was to change things up and keep them fresh, but it didn't always work. Speaking of 'Garden Party' and 'Gettysburg,' there were quite a few outings that took the characters away from the office this year, including an entire arc set in Tallahassee, Florida (more on that storyline later). Even when Andy did try to flex his managerial muscles, as in 'Garden Party' and 'Gettysburg,' the storylines were too absurd to accept as legitimate character development, yet not funny enough to make it worth pushing the reality of the show to an ever more extreme degree. The choice wasn't out of left field, and it had some potential to bring a new flavor to the show вЂ“ the insecure manager who is in over his head and knows it, rather than the incompetent manager who desperately wants to be one of the guys вЂ“ but instead of properly cultivating Andy as a manager, they decided to have him share the spotlight with James Spader's Robert California, who wore out his welcome early on (as I feared he might). Season 7 ended without revealing the next branch manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton, but the question was answered soon enough in the season premiere, 'The List,' with Andy sitting in the corner office. Instead of a heading in a single, coherent direction in Season 8, the stories and the characters were all over the map. Looking back at my review of The Office's Season 7, I concluded with the hope that the writing staff would plan the next year out ahead of time because having a destination in mind (in last year's case, sending off Michael Scott) seemed to have done the show some good. Note: Full spoilers for The Office: Season 8 follow.