“You Know What a Great Pilot Would Have Done? Not Hit the Birds"
By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under TV Reviews | Comments (21)
The Office
Wow. Just Wow. Even for the’ season finale they couldn’t manage to pull the show out of the tailspin of mediocrity. Really? That was it? Where were the big moments? OK: The fact that Dwight put a bid in on the building in which Dunder Mifflin is located could potentially have huge ramifications down the line. And the final line, from Jo Benett (again, after the final commercial break), did open up the possibility that Holly might come back next season (fingers crossed). But what was the point of the printer defect and of all the whistle-blowers if there wasn’t going to be any consequences? There were four potential whistle-blowers and by the end, that entire subplot was superfluous, except to reestablish what we already knew: that Erin likes Andy.
Meanwhile, Michael Scott continued to be Michael Scott, and after threatening to fire and imprison the whistle-blower, he back-tracked once he realized there actually was as whistle-blower and then allowed Jo to manipulate him into giving the public apology on behalf of the company, something that Michael would’ve been eager to do without any of that manipulation because Michael is an attention whore, whether that attention be good or bad. The reward: He probably beat the cute otter as the top story on the local newscast’s website.
And that was it. That was really it. Although, I will note that, should Holly return next season (which is a distinct possibility as Amy Ryan hasn’t yet been able to convert her Oscar nomination into tons of movie work), they’ve set up a way to write out Toby — at least temporarily — as a successful novelist.
A hugely disappointing season finale.
30 Rock
This season finale, while slightly underwhelming, was still fun, and more importantly, it set up the possibility that Matt Damon could come back, even briefly, next season. Indeed, Liz Lemon finally met her Astronaut Mike Dexter, who was actually a pilot named Carol, who was otherwise perfect for Liz: He hates people, he loves “Fart Knockers,” he has a goofy dance, he invented Air Law, and he looks like Matt Damon.
Meanwhile, Jack finally made a decision between Avery and Nancy. He chose Nancy. But then, once Nancy met Avery and figured out she was pregnant, Jack chose Avery. I wouldn’t at all mind seeing Avery written into the show more next season — she’s been one of the better parts of this season of “30 Rock.” But more importantly, it means no more Nancy, who has been one of the worst parts of this season of “30 Rock.” But will Jack actually be a baby daddy? I doubt it. It’s a comedy, so there won’t be an abortion or a miscarriage. But, I’m sure the baby will end up being another man’s.
Elsewhere, Jenna discovered that Paul was two-timing her, impersonating Cher behind her back. She made him choose, which resulted in a moment that was probably only funny to those of us who watched “Puttin’ on the Hits” in the ’80s.
The bigger development last night was Kenneth’s firing after he decided to do his job badly to avoid a promotion that would take him to L.A. and away from his best friends. Coincidentally, my two-year-old son woke up and walked into the room just in time to catch the tail end of the episode and Kenneth’s drunken tirade, and I kind of marveled that it was the exact sort of drunken tirade to which a two-year-old should be exposed (his exact words: “Can we watch that again, Daddy?”)
So, is that the end of Kenneth? Of course not. But it should be interesting to see where he lands next season — my guess is a different position (maybe he replaces Grizz or Dot Com).
And the line of the night goes to Matt Damon’s jet pilot Carol, on Chesley Sullenberger, who successfully ditched his plane in the Hudson Bay after it hit a flock of birds: “You know what a great pilot would have done? Not hit the birds. That’s what I do everyday: not hit birds. Where’s my ticket to the Grammys?”
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Comments
Posted by: TylerDFC at May 21, 2010 9:40 AM
(YEAH, I reprinted from the Community/Parks & Rec thread. Didn't know there was going to be 2 different postings. Probably should of.)
The Office was ok, but had no ending. The "everyone was a whistle blower" twist was pretty funny and went with the characters. But there was no resolution to it, like you said. I have a hard time thinking a hard ass like Jo is just going to have a bonding moment with Michael and then stop searching for the culprit. It would have worked better as an hour long with more "search for the suspect" and everyone getting more and more paranoid. They could have turned it into a Survivor parody with alliances and the whole thing. Just really weak kind of like most of the fizzled plot lines this season.
30 Rock was pretty good. I'm glad the love triangle is over but have a hard time thinking Elizabeth Banks is sticking around. Or Matt Damon for that matter so as amusing as they are, story wise it's obviously going to be resolved somehow and they won't be around. So really, the storyline didn't move forward in the long run.