drunkeness

(S03E06) You know, this show does it to me every time. I've probably reviewed about 10 episodes of The Office that I have considered classics. Well, you can count this one as number 11.

The episode focused on "Diwali", a major Hindu festival which is celebrated, coincidentally, at this time of the year. In this instance, Kelly has invited the entire staff to a Diwali celebration, and most of the folks are enthusiastic about going, but some, including Angela, are a bit skeptical, if not downright hostile to the idea.

To drum up enthusiasm, Michael convenes a meeting where he attempts to explain "Hindu Halloween" and celebrate the diversity of the Indian/Hindu culture. His presentation includes pictures of famous Indians, and one of them was Apu from The Simpsons, which elicited guffaws from this blogger. Absolute brilliance from the writers.

(S01E23) It seems that much of Earl Hickey's worst behaviors occurred when he was a kid. Last night we witnessed another occasion when his "badness" got the best of him when he accidentally shot a BB into the posterior of schoolmate Gwen Waters, with whom he had a crush on. But things took a turn for the worse (if you can believe that) when he lied to her drunken father about the incident, which turned out to be the last time she even spoke to her father, who then left home never to be seen again.

Cut to the present and Gwen has become an embittered courtroom artist who apparently sets off metal detectors every time she walks through them because a BB is permanently lodged inside her rump. While Earl is at the courthouse to settle some tickets, he recognizes Gwen, and wants to apologize to her. He learns that Gwen hasn't seen her father in 20 years, and doesn't express any interest in seeing him.

Of course, it wouldn't be a show unless Earl takes action to (in his words) "fix the relationship." So, when he and Randy set out to find Gwen's father, it was a question as to what type of person they would find. In keeping with the tradition of the show, we see that Gwen's father is a drunken, slovenly, incoherent soul seemingly down on his luck.