Rating: 
Summary: Vacation's over -- back to "The Office"
Review: Everyone's favorite insane British office workers are back in the second series of "the Office," England's short-lived but quite funny answer to "Dilbert." While the second series isn't quite up to the standards of the first, it's still entertaining and bittersweetly wacky.At the end of the previous series, it was announced that the Swindon branch of Wernham-Hogg would be incorporated into the Slough branch. Now David Brent (Ricky Gervais) is boss of a bunch of new employees, and they're actually used to doing work. What's more, David finds himself competing with Neil (Patrick Baladi), who happens to be his new boss. More bizarre problems follow, starting when David starts making off-color, racist jokes at the welcoming party. A dildo is placed in David's office during a meeting. Then he goes to give a disastrous motivational speech, complete with a soundtrack. Tim (Martin Freeman) starts dating a pretty new employee, which inspires Dawn's (Lucy Davis) jealousy. Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) tries to score with every woman who doesn't curse at him. And finally, a comedy day turns bittersweet when Dawn says she's leaving, and David is given some bad news... Only a few shows -- like the immortal Brit comedy "Fawlty Towers" -- end before they have a chance to go downhill, and "The Office" is one of those few. The series stops on a bittersweet note, with David's gradual deterioration, and the reality about Dawn crashing on Tim's head. But despite the darker note it ends on, it's still uproariously funny along the way. There's a reality-TV quality to the way this is filmed -- monotone workrooms, ringing phones, bored peons, worthless meetings. And there are plenty of funny moments -- the sex toy, Gareth's "tight trousers" phone call, the obscene Dirty Bertie doll, and Gareth hopping all over the office on one foot. Perhaps funniest is David's frenetic dance, which brings to mind a spastic monkey trying to scratch a back itch. The most unsettling part of the second season is the finale, especially since Tim's love for Dawn is dealt with in a rather disappointing manner. And the writing is a little more blatant than last season, especially since David is made even more obnoxious. But it's still laced with great humor, such as David's terrible poetry. "Take this cool dark steeled blade/steal it, sheathe it in your lake/I'd drown with you to be together/Must you breathe?/'Cause I need heaven," he reads to the hapless Dawn.
Ricky Gervais first makes us love to hate David, with his grotesque attempts at comedy, then does a 180 by making us feel sorry for him. This is a guy with great acting talent. Martin Freeman does a good job as everyman Tim, but often the scenes are stolen by the wonderfully corpse-like MacKenzie Crook, or Ewan Macintosh as the seemingly brain-dead Keith. "The Office" manages to be poignant and funny at the same time, which isn't an easy thing to do. Even if it has its flaws, "if you want the rainbow, you've gotta put up with the rain."
Rating: 
Summary: Must have DVD!!
Review: ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, THE FUNNIEST SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN. SO GENIUS ITS HARD TO BELIEVE THERE'S ONLY 2 SEASONS. I'M IN LOVE WITH RICKY GERVAIS!
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