Review: 'The Office' Still Sluggish

THE OFFICE - Season 9, Episode 3: "Andy's Ancestry"

Unfortunately, this episode was another dud, although at least it furthered the story between Jim and Pam and hinted at where some of Dunder Mifflin's finest will end up when the series come to a close. The main storyline of the episode—Andy bragging about finding out that he was related to Michelle Obama, the rest of the office turning on him because his wealthy family must have owned slaves, and Andy finding out that his ancestors merely transported slaves—was weak and meandering. Worse yet, this provided another opportunity for Andy to do his Michael Scott routine: act "cool" around Darryl, call useless meetings, come across as a time-wasting buffoon, and generally be an embarrassment to the office. It's painfully obvious that the writers and producers wish Steve Carell hadn't left the show, because it seems like a lot of Andy's storylines are just recycled Michael Scott material.

That's too bad, because Andy had the potential to be a different kind of boss when the character was written well. Perhaps this is a hint as to how The Office will end. Due to Andy's inept behavior, the Scranton branch will finally be closed. It looks like Darryl will be leaving to accept a job with Jim's new sports marketing company, and he convinced Jim to tell Pam about it by telling him, "It's not real until your wife is on board." Although Pam appeared supportive and Jim noted that he has the best wife in the world, she also seemed unsure. I'm just glad they didn't drag it out longer and have Pam accuse Jim of cheating on her to build tension between them, which is where it seemed to be going.

For reasons unexplained, the new guys Clark and Pete were friendly again despite the events in last week's episode. Pete appears to be a possible romantic rival for Andy, as he had a moment with Erin in the diner last week and this week spoke Dothraki to her. If you aren't familiar with Dothraki, it's a language spoken by a race of people in HBO's Game of Thrones, and Dwight offers to teach Erin to make her seem more cultured in front of Andy's family. That was amusing, as was the new guys' habit of enthusiastically clapping for Andy to get on his good side. Overall though, "Andy's Ancestry" dug up another lackluster episode. Better luck next week.

FINAL GRADE: C-