As the episode winds down, we see Daryl go to Jim with some exciting news from their Philly job: they got a buyout. But that’s not all, they’re also getting paid to go and pitch out West. And all of this would take about 3 months. Jim refuses, staying loyal to Pam. And of course, Pam listens to all this from the bathroom with a somewhat surprised look on her face. It looks like all their troubles aren’t over yet.
Finally, we go back to Angela who is trying to find a tent to live in. Oscar offers to let her stay at his place. It’s the least he can do after sleeping with her husband and ruining her marriage. Angela holds his hand and says thank you, it was a very sweet moment, don’t you love Oscar? As they are in the car, Angela breaks down and reveals that she’s in love with Dwight. Dwight may have had one of the best days of his life, but he still lacks true love, which has and always will be Angela.
Somehow, someway, they’ve kept the Dwight-Angela relationship engaging and interesting for nine seasons without actually getting them together for reals. And in the process they’ve made Angela a character I love and root for. Before this season, I never would have imagined that I was going to love watching Angela but actress Angela Kinsey is doing a fantastic job portraying her. Dwight and Angela have their own Jim/Pam-like magic, and I can’t wait for them to get it back too.
“It really is amazing how your life can change in one day,” says Dwight. It’s almost equally amazing when one episode of The Office can turn the season around. If the next two episodes are as good, if not better, then the whole season would have been worth it. Livin’ the Dream was almost like a series finale in itself. It really showed us how these characters have evolved over the seasons, and reminded us exactly why we love them and why they are so beloved. Seriously now, what other show has such a huge cast where each character has been consistent and evolved over time while still being lovable?
It’s the combination of all these things, as well as the humor, that made this episode such a classic. It’s hard to come up with any flaws for this episode, so I suppose that makes this a perfect one. Perhaps you might think that I’m being too positive with it, and that may be true. But this episode brought back the intense amount of love I used to feel for this show, and it’s just in time too. So I hope you will forgive me.
Next week we’ll probably get to the airing of the documentary, which the show has been building up to slowly on the side. I’m glad these episodes are an hour long, at no point did it feel like it was dragging. If we’re lucky, the petition will get NBC executives to supersize the finale, it’s already got about 20,000 signatures.
Livin’ the Dream was a huge episode for The Office, and I can’t wait to get to next week. Let us know what you thought in the comments, as always.
