The Office (UK) "Downsize" (2001)

Okay I know that technically the US series should get the parenthesis and the UK version should just be "The Office" but I figured since I posted about the US version first and since it's still ongoing and will lead to many more posts for time sake I gave the parenthesis to the UK version. Having said that I thoroughly enjoyed this premiere episode. The pilot is the only US version season 1 episode I have not seen and I did that for a reason. I had read that the scripts were very similar and that following the pilots the plots and characters started to diverge (while obviously still being similar) so I wanted to definitely see the original first. Yeah I'm one of those guys.

I find the UK version to be more grounded in reality than even the US version (which also is quite true to life most of the time) just in the fact that I work in an office and I would love to look up and see Jenna Fisher everyday. The people in the UK version just seem more like normal people and maybe that's just because I had never seen any of them in anything else (other than Lucy Davis who had recurring roles on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Reaper). It was hard to imagine not knowing that characters as their US counterparts as those characters are actually based on these people and halfway through the episode I started to see them as separate entities. The vulgar language is a nice touch seeing as how when people speak they swear but because of our censors everything has to be clean especially airing at the family friendly hours before 10 PM.

I think this episode perfectly sets up the main characters and the plot line which is sure to evolve through the season. We don't even get a hint of the Tim/Dawn relationship until the very end of the episode and it's done completely by just an awkward pause when her fiancé shows up just as Tim is trying to convince Dawn to come out for a drink with the group. The camera is essentially is locked off and we get over a solid minute of Tim's fidgeting and uncomfortable silence as he has no idea what to say to the man whose betrothed he obviously has some type of feelings for. I also laughed quite a bit with his antics with Gareth all the while maintaining a serious composure. You gotta hate the guy who over inflates his importance in the office and always trying to prove his superiority over the rest. It was scary when he said he was the Team Lead of the office as that is my current title at the firm I work for. Hits just a little to close to home.

I also want to applaud the general awkwardness of David Brent as he is constantly trying to cover off his awful jokes and comments with something even more inappropriate and tasteless. The fact that he leaves poor Dawn in tears at the end of the episode would leave you hating the character after being so annoyed with him throughout the episode however her statement of him being a sad and pathetic little man and his silence following her statement actually makes you feel sorry for him and that his constant need to show how funny he is stems from the fact he has an inherent need to get people to like him.

Favorite moment: Tim dropping Gareth's stapler out the window and their back and forth immediately following it was a huge laugh out loud moment for me which is bad as I watching the episode at my desk on my lunch break. Later finding out it was improvised made me love it all the more. When Gareth asks what if it killed someone and Tim replies that Gareth would get the blame seeing as how his name was on it and Gareth's query about why would someone kill with a weapon that carried their name, Tim's expression of reaching for an answer with his hands on the sides of his head shattered my resolve to keep quiet and had me glancing around frantically to see if anyone heard me. Maybe I should watch future episodes away from my office . . . eh, I need something to do to pass the time.