The Office Review: Is There a Belt Above Black?

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The Office will go down as one of the best comedies ever to grace our television screens. Just because it hasn't been the same since Steve Carrell left, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be just as interested in how this all-time classic will end.

That's right, "New Guys" kicked off the final season of The Office, and there were some serious changes around the Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch. Kelly's gone, Ryan's gone and a couple of young new guys are hanging around making our old favorites act a little crazy.

Clark Duke on The Office

I enjoyed Clark Duke and Jake Lacy in Greek and Better With You, respectively, so I'm holding out hope that each brings something to the table in this final season. For now their characters of Dwight Jr. and New Jim simply helped propel some story lines. 

Yeah, we know Dwight is always crazy, but between giving Dwight Jr. a noogie when he starts to think of him as a son, and everything that happens after the kid does well on the slack line, this may have been a new level of insanity. What on earth was he thinking with that bike-on-a-wire bit?  

Jim, meanwhile, after realizing that New Jim has dreams of bigger and better things but will probably end up wasting his years right there at Dunder-Mifflin, decided to make a serious life change. I'm slightly worried that he didn't discuss it with Pam, but if Jim jumping in with both feet to that Sports Marketing deal means that these two get a happy ending by May, I am all about it.

Also in need of mentioning was the fact that the cameraman spoke to Jim and Pam. Has that happened before? I know that they have pointed at things by moving the camera in certain directions, but I can't remember a time where the person behind the camera actually spoke to the characters on the show.

If it is a way of slowly leading up to learning what this project has all been about - as Jim and Pam questioned, it can't just be about this paper company - then I can't wait to watch it unfold. The man said that they were now more interested in seeing how Pam and Jim end up, and that kind of felt like a commentary on The Office. Now that Michael's gone, and Dwight apparently has his future cemented in The Farm, this final season should be focused narratively on Jim and Pam.

Comically? I don't mind at all if we get to see more of Kevin and Creed. Between the former's crazy summer with a turtle and glue, and the latter's story about the circus that is Dunder-Mifflin Scranton, they should continue to come back to these minor characters for laughs throughout the rest of this final season.

We leave you with a few of our other favorite moments from the season premiere, and remind you that you can check out our The Office quotes page for our favorite lines from the show.

  • Andy hating on Nellie was much better than most of the Andy we saw last year.
  • Dwight: What kind of farming you into?
  • Is there a belt above black?
  • Ryan: It's not garbage, it's my clothes.
  • Kevin: You can't eat cats, Kevin.

What did you think of the season premiere? What was your favorite moment? What part couldn't you stand? And what did you think of the new guys?

New Guys Review

Editor Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.3 / 5.0 (55 Votes)

Dan Forcella is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.

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The Office Season 9 Episode 1 Quotes

With work and two kids, nothing interesting's gonna happen to us for a long, long time.

Pam

It's not garbage, it's my clothes.

Ryan