MovieChat Forums > The Office (2003) Discussion > if they'd only done one series

if they'd only done one series

posted a year ago by daveyh (641)
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The common consensus seems to be that it ended perfectly with the Christmas specials. I disagree. I think the second series struggled for material. It was evident during that first episode when Brent was bombing when giving his introduction speech to the Swindon branch. Like Brent, the show was already stretching for ideas.
This actually set the standard for the 2nd series - instead of just being a prat in normal situations, almost every week there's a contrived situation to show Brent making a fool of himself in front of a watching audience - the motivational speech, the dancing, etc
What else?
There's other threads on this board discussing the inconsistencies of Neil and Trudy's characters, like they'd just been contrived to create the maximum misery for Brent.
There's a couple of continuity issues when transitioning.
Also there was something realistically endearing about Tim in the first series, that despite seeming to be a nice, funny and likeable guy, he's single and his social life is so non-existent that he tags along on the Thursday night out and even spends his 30th birthday with the staff. Meanwhile, Gareth, almost the antithesis of Tim in every way, has a decent circle of friends and seems to have more success with the ladies too.
I've said in another thread, it just seemed like Tim and Dawn had chemistry as friends and nothing else, something Tim misinterpreted or hoped to be more. It was realistically done in the first series, only to be undone afterwards....

[–] daveyh (641) a year ago

....the biggest thing, for me though, that made series 1 so great, was the display of inertia.

Dawn stays in what appears to be a loveless and incompatible relationship with Lee, despite the huge row and temporary break-up previous episode (and you can just imagine they break up and make up like that every couple of years when things get a bit too much).

Tim announces his resignation in a blaze of glory, only to change his mind and stay on.
It's a pity there's that weird "blood pressure" story with Brent. I'd have preferred it if he didn't fancy the extra responsibility, or moving to Swindon himself, or would miss the day-to-day office life, and so turned it down, keeping with the theme of inertia.

It was so great because it was so true to life. So many people who work in offices are so miserable in their jobs and their lives but are so used to the routine that they don't do anything about it and just carry on.

This is all undone in the 2nd series. Although Dawn and Lee stay together, they decide to emigrate and actually go through with it.
Tim charms and seduces the new girl, Rachael, and Gareth is made to look a prat in the process, which is completely at odds with everything we see in 1.
Furthermore, Dawn now appears to be developing romantic feelings for Tim which will manifest in the Christmas finale, but had been non-existent in series 1.
Brent himself is let go at the end, meaning he's got to do something else with his life.
That said, Tim does turn down the temporary promotion, keeping with the inertia mentioned earlier.
Brent doing the same would be the only thing I'd want to change about series 1.
The only other flaw was that it came out 3 years too late. By 2001, fly-on-the-wall documentaries/docusoaps were old hat and were being replaced by reality TV.

Other than that it's perfection.