i watched it out of context for the millionth time and I still bawl my eyes out. It's so beautiful: Tim's gift to Dawn, David gets the girl and the last laugh, it has to be one of the best episodes of television I've ever seen
shareI grabbed an episode from series 2 randomly to watch while I was eating the other day, and the same thing happened that always happens: I had to finish the series from where I started.
I just finished the Christmas episode (for the hundredth time) a minute ago. Such perfection.
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(My film) is going to be so much bigger than anyone is predicting right now. -Tucker Max
I've just finished watching both seasons of The Office including the Christmas Specials. The final episode is indeed a tear jerker. Tim and Dawn's story is beautifully crafted.
Perhaps I'm getting old but I think David Brent's character has been completely misunderstood, I found myself sympathising with him, he comes across as a man on the verge of a nervous break down.
He wants to be liked, (loved even) but at every turn he is stone walled. Of course he IS embarrassing and that dynamic is taken to the extreme however during the final episode it was heartening to see David Brent come full circle, he realised where he was going wrong and telling Finchy where to go was Brent's 'eureka' moment. Fantastic episode.
It's all a deep end.
Another "eureka" moment (in my opinion) was David realizing what he said was mean when he said to the lady who came to the party that he "was waiting for a blind date and I was afraid you were it."
shareI don't think that was so much a eureka moment as panic like a rabbit caught in headlights. But he did seem to have seen the light in that episode in general.
shareI think the Christmas special is so good that you could watch it without having seen any of the previous episodes of The Office - then start watching the entire series from beginning to end. I say that because being a documentary style a lot of the explaining of earlier plots is done for you, and from my own perspective this is how I became a fan of the show.
Another point, Richard Curtis said that The Office is the greatest piece of someone else's work that he wished he'd written which is praise indeed.
"Stop listening to music made by poofs - Stick on some Elton John".
Just finished the finale for the first time in a good few years. Yeah, it's pretty damn close to perfect. Incredibly subtle the shifts in that last episode - most notably David's realisations and consequently him immediately coming across as a more sympathetic character and in those final moments him getting the laughs off his (former) staff that he had been craving since episode 1.
The acting from the guys who played Neil and Finch was outstanding too. So masterfully done the way they carefully made Neil a little bit more of a prick in the special. He had graduated from trying to maintain professional standards while David by his own doing screwed things up to actually seeking to further put the boot into David (the constant queries about who he was bringing to the party, laughing at Finch's cheap gags).
yea. Being a romantic person myself I just love Tim and Dawn. It feels genuine. Everything else is also great about the episode but when the song "only you" plays I get teary eyed.
shareIt's a great episode. They managed to tie everything up so nicely. That's why I was kind of sad when they released the David Brent film last year. They should have let it end with the Christmas special.
shareBrits make kick-ass Christmas specials/episodes.
shareIt's a masterpiece. The scenes of Brent sat alone in service stations eating a meal after work or those horrendous public appearances gave me a lot of empathy for the guy. It makes you realise just how empty his life is and how lonely he is and why he's so desperate for attention and comradeship, longing to be liked. Then he slowly starts wising up, stands up to Finchy and meets a woman who appreciates his humour and eccentricities.
The end of Dawn & Tim's arc is sublime, perfect. Tears every time she rocks up and kisses him and leads him away by the hand. It's arguably the greatest ending to a British sitcom ever.