I just watched the S2 DVD's and was reminded how brilliant Carell was with that TH. The "It's hard to hit another living thing in the face with shovel for an hour." is one of the darkest funny lines the show ever did.

Pam had a sort of dawning realization in the early part of S2 that the coworkers were getting ideas about what she superficially called her "friendship" with Jim. Her use of the term "friends" to try and deny what is really going on with them is a recurring theme through S2-3.

The other thing about the U.K, version was that, excluding the gap before the Christmas special, it took place over a  much shorter time period and it ended with Brent's firing.

@disqus_okgItcD0yy:disqus Yeah, I agree that Karen comes off badly as well. I found the whole S3 drama to be poorly done. Pam's inability to tell Jim her feelings, Jim's douchebaggery and Karen's clinginess just didn't work for me. The network need to draw the story out until the end of the season led to a bunch of…

Yeah, we rooted for him in the beginning because everyone can relate to having a job that isn't what they dreamed of, but his lack of forward motion after S6 meant we were rooting for a slacker with a cruel streak.

I'd add "Michael's Birthday" and "Drug Testing" to the list, which makes the final four episodes of Season 2 one of the alltime great stretches of television ever.

I think they just couldn't figure out how to make Jim as the manager funny without destroying the character completely. The S6 stretch where he was co-manager was just really bad and they just dropped his ambitions until this season.

While I'd like to believe that Jim wasn't using Karen to protect himself from Pam, they didn't in fact start dating until after Stamford closed and they knew they were moving Scranton. I've always thought it was a bad choice to delay that relationship until Jim knew he was going back because it makes him look pretty…

@avclub-33807fbc68d335db8080d3c10cb78822:disqus  Nice. Lieberstein's inability to understand the premise of the show borders on mental illness, although I wonder if Mindy Kaling didn't also have a major effect on the direction of the writer's room.

The first five or six episodes of S2 were really faithful at depicting an office environment while also being funny. It wasn't something they managed to maintain for much longer.

Pam's snotty talking head about how nice Katy is and what a cute car she had was brilliantly delivered by Fischer.

There was no justifiable reason for Ryan to be on the show after S4 and it sort of felt like the writers realized it.

Dwight's off-screen "Oh, carpenter ants." makes me laugh every time.

While I loved that joke, the idea that this group of people (even Angela!) would play "Who Would You Do" seems crazy.

While 7 had some decent moments, I found S6 to almost completely devoid of good episodes. Niagara was alright for the conclusion of the Jim/Pam story, but most of the rest was barely better than S8 for me.

@avclub-043a5755513643c7f4a9cd35380ec33e:disqus  Roy's attack on Jim at least had the element of humor. My problem was with his freakout in the bar when Pam told him about Casino Night. Rage like that seemed like a sign that Roy was an abuser and it just ruined the whole story for me. You shouldn't wonder if your…

That was an excellent example of trolling. You really captured the content-free vibe most Office UK fans put across.Of course I should have ignored it, but I'm weak.

Good to know there are still a few Office U.K. douchebag snobs around.

I know there are a few die hard S3 fans, but seriously Season 2 can't be beat.

Ryan's transformation from relatable temp to cartoon hipster douche is the perfect symbol of where the show went wrong.