The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Rating: 75%
So here's film number 10 and the third movie with Moore's Bond and so far seems to be the best that Moore has given us. Let's fine out why with my review for The Spy Who Loved Me.

Plot: When both a British and a Soviet submarine mysteriously disappear, Bond is assigned to investigate. He starts in Egypt where plans for a highly advanced submarine tracking system are on the market, where he meets Soviet agent Triple-X a.k.a. Major Anya Amasova who is his main rival for his plans. They try to best the other but eventually are ordered by their superiors to work together and find out who is making the submarines disappear.

This may not quite go as high as From Russia with Love or Goldfinger, but it comes close and is definitely the best Bond film from Moore that I've seen so far. This film has great action, we get more gadgets then what we've been given from the last 4 films put together, and they covered some new ground with the story and with the kind of woman to have as a Bond girl. Moore actually ended up improving with his role as Bond and what helps is that he has Barbara Bach by his side as Amasova as Bond's equal, making the story a bit more compelling and clever then expected. Also we get another gadget that has been referenced a lot in shows and stuff: a car turning into a submarine. Yeah, about time I finally get to one of those. The main villain Stromberg was...okay, he had a good evil plan but he didn't entirely stand out. But with him, we also get a new villain named Jaws who was more menacing and powerful. Oh yeah, there's little to no attempted humor in this film. That's a really big plus.

And that's my review for The Spy Who Loved Me. It was a great improvement from the last couple of films with a fresh, new story and a Bond girl that went hand to hand very well with Moore who also improved as Bond, had great action, a good side villain, and is altogether a very enjoyable film and is the best so far of Moore's Bond.

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

Rating: 40%
Bond film number 9 and the second one with Moore, here's my review for The Man with the Golden Gun.

Plot: When a golden bullet has Bond's code name '007' etched into its surface, the agency is lead to believe that it's the work of famed assassin Francisco Scaramanga, who uses a golden gun to kill his targets. Because of this M relives Bond from the case for finding him. But Bond unoffically goes on investigation anyway by finding out where the bullet is manufactured and works his way to identify and face him.

Now this particular film has some argument as to whether or not consider it the worst Bond film there is. Because while some of the action was kind of okay, we have a story that wasn't quite as entertaining or as amusing as you'd think, more silly moments and not much imagination. In fact we get a chase scene where we get the police chief from the previous film as the comedy relief and - you guessed it - he was unfunny and didn't really have any reason to be in this film at all. The main 'good' thing about this movie is Christopher Lee playing as Scaramanga. Most people - myself included as of after seeing this film - consider him to more or less be the best part of the movie, but some people, or at least I for one thought they could've done more for him as a villain. Scaramanga was a very interesting concept and Lee was awesome because...well it's freaking Christopher Lee, but I found myself at a loss about how Scaramanga and Bond were viewed as equals. I mean I see some of it, but I wasn't completely sure how that worked. The main Bond girl in the film Mary Goodnight was also a kind of mix. Because on one hand she did kind of try to be a little more helpful then she was really capable, but was otherwise helpless and kind of a bimbo like Tiffany case.

And that's my review for The Man with the Golden Gun. It seems to have an interesting concept with its villain and had some nice action, but otherwise just gave us the unfunny sheriff again, gave us another helpless Bond girl, and a story that wasn't very interesting.

Live and Let Die (1973)

Rating: 55%
Alright so coming at Bond film number 8 we see the joys of Connery's Bond end with Roger Moore who has the most films in his pocket as Bond. Yes this guy even surpassed Sean Connery's Bond with most films. It's okay, I find that hard to believe too. So starting off with Moore's days as James Bond, is Live and Let Die.

Plot: After three British Agents are killed in New York, New Orleans and San Monique, M assigns Bond to all three of these places and find out if there is a connection to their deaths. During his travels he comes across a ruthless gangster named Mr. Big and his psychic Solitaire. Mr. Big plans to bankrupt his competitors in the poppy business and use Solitaire's powers of seeing the future to secure his plans. And of coarse it's up to Bond to stop him while also taking an interest in Solitaire despite the fact that she will lose her powers if she sleeps with a man.

Okay while this wasn't the worst movie to start off in replacing Connery, it's still a movie that's kind of just a little meh and nothing else. The main good things about this film is the action, the boat chase more or less, the main song Live and Let Die is a little memorable and is little surprise that it was at least nominated for best original song, and Solitaire was a good Bond girl for the most part. But the rest of the film surprisingly focuses a fair bit on racial overtones and having some okay humor, and some effects during the end that are kind of...weird. Because with villains, they were pretty much all black, and some of them did play into some kind of stereotypes that I found to be surprising that they were taking those characters into that direction. With the boat chase scene, a good portion of the chase was a police sheriff tried to stop and arrest Bond and the people chasing him as the comedic relief. He wasn't annoying, but he wasn't all that funny and he helped make the scene a lot longer then it probably needed to be - so much in fact that some critic Leonard Maltin thought the film was ultimately an excuse just to have chase sequences like the boat chase. And during the very end of the film, while it did show us some new gadgets (something that seems to be easily a plus to have considering some of the films I've seen so far) some of the effects that they had for them during the end of the film where - again, weird. I'm not how to explain it better, but ultimately the effects where just unexpected because they're not the kind that you'd expect or really should be in a Bond movie. But I digress. With Moore as Bond he was...not that impressive. He had some little moments here and there, but ultimately he started off in this film and not really living up to the concept of the character James Bond. Also the villains weren't all that menacing or memorable except perhaps with Tee Hee Johnson.

And that's my review for Live and Let Die. The action and the Bond girl were good, but it otherwise had some racial stereotypes, a chase scene that was good but was a little too long, humor that wasn't all that amusing, odd effects, and a Bond that is not off to a great start. So was there any improvement to this particular Bond as his reign continued? Let's find out with the next few films.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Rating: 60%
James Bond film # 7 and the final film that had Connery's Bond, here's my review for Diamonds Are Forever.

Plot: While Bond is looking for Bolfeld, M assigns him to Amsterdam where M suspects that South African diamonds are being stockpiled to depress prices by dumping. So Bond disguises himself as a professional smuggler named Peter Franks and contacts a diamond smuggler named Tiffany Case. Through her, he tries to find the person that's at the highest of the diamond smuggling business and find out what they're up too.

Now even if this film does manage to be a little enjoyable, it is easily the worst film that has Connery's Bond. Because what helps make this movie still enjoyable is that we have Connery back for at least one more movie with his charm and altogether presence that makes him James Bond and it had pretty good action during the climax of the film especially. But the rest of the film has stuff that's either annoying or a little too silly. With annoying I mostly am talking about the assassins Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint. They may not be the worst characters I ever had to put up with, but just how they acted, how they were trying to be funny and how it looked like they were the main villains of the film for a while that just annoyed the crap out of me and lead me to feel like the Bond franchise has begun to sink with this film. Also there was Tiffany Case as a character. Again, I've seen worse characters, but she did stand out as particularly helpless and kind of an idiot, and apparently she's considered to be least likable Bond girls so it figures that I'm not alone. For silly we have a scene where Bond escapes the enemy in a moom buggy which I didn't think too much about at first, but after hearing some opinions and thinking more about it in retrospect, I can see why people find it really silly. But I also found a car chase from the middle of the film to be kind of silly. I mean it does have Bond doing a somewhat cool trick with his mustang at one point, but otherwise I found most of it to be not all that great and kind of acted more like a car chase you can kind of find from just about any action film from around that time that you could possibly find while you are switching channels on your TV. And that also brings us to the same problem that we encountered from the last film - that this film for the most part lacked gadgets and other aspects of the bond franchise that make James Bond awesome to watch.

And that's my review for Diamonds Are Forever. It has moments of being annoying and silly and not acting a whole lot like a bond film, but we still get Connery even if it's for the last time and it had some action and other aspects of the franchise that makes the movie bearable.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Rating: 75%
So after You Only Live Twice, Connery decided to retire the role of James Bond which resulted in him being replaced by George Lazenby just for this movie. So let's talk about how that turned out in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Plot: For the past two years, Bond has been searching for Bolfeld after the previous film with no success and has been removed from the case by M leading him to consider resigning from the Secret Service. But while all this is happening, Bond comes across Countess Tracy di Vicenzo and saves her from committing suicide. Her father who is a crime boss notices this, and asks Bond to try to start a romance and eventually marry her in exchange for knowledge of Bolfeld's whereabouts.

Now this is kind of a fascinating film to reflect on and see how people have viewed it. Whether it has to do with Lazenby's performance, the film itself or both, people's views seem to be highly divided among about what they liked or disliked about this movie. With both Lazenby and the film, I myself feel like I'm kind of in between with what's good or bad about this movie. For the movie itself, there's one side where magazines like The Observer who felt that "All the pleasing oddities and eccentricities and gadgets of the earlier films have somehow been lost, leaving a routine trail through which the new James Bond strides without noticeable signs of animation." But on the other hand, people have come so far as claim that this is the best bond film and is even the last truly great film in the series. For the first argument, I would agree that I did notice how all the gadgets and other things from the series have started to disappear which is something that I find strange and kind of makes the film act like a totally different movie from the kind we want/expect from James Bond. But despite that, I would have to side with the other party because admittingly, they did give us a story that's very unique from what they normally give us with James Bond. With Bond threatening to resign from the service and the film as a whole acting a little more about catching the central antagonist rather than find out who it is later in the film, we are given something very different from what we originally get. Also the main love interest is very interesting. In fact I wanted more of Tracy with her back story and her relationship with Bond. Because one of my other issues with this film is how she's left out during ...I think roughly whole hour or longer from the film just to be replaced with Bond finding Bolfeld and sleeping with other women. What the heck? I mean I liked that she came back and stayed for the rest of the film but I still ended up wanting more after all the time that she was gone and I was starting to forget all about her. Because as a Bond girl, she was also very unique with her past and how she and Bond met and started a relationship. Also for the record, sorry everyone if you're all "What the heck H.A.K.?" with not even mentioning the other Bond girls in my other reviews. Just know that when that's the case, it's because I have found the women in those films to be generally 'meh' and not really have anything interesting to say about them either good or bad. Okay now with that out of the way, let's get to the guy that temporarily replaced Sean Connery as Bond. To put it bluntly, with Lazenby's performance, people either thought the sucked and just wasn't a good actor, or thought he held out pretty well and was the kind of Bond the film needed. This is where I'm a little more torn with what I thought about the movie. Because part of me felt that this guy was not really someone to take Connery's place. That in no way means I also thought he sucked or anything, but he wasn't completely convincing. But at the same time I would also somewhat agree that he kind of was. While he wasn't quite as devilishly charming as Connery he sort of stands his ground as someone trying be a little bit like Connery's Bond. There are also moments during the second half of the film that as an actor, Lazenby did a genuinely good job with how Bond should react to certain moments in the movie that lead me to more or less agree with people who say that Connery's Bond would be out of place with what is happening compared to Lazenby's.

And that's my review for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Whether you disliked Lazenby's performance and how certain aspects of the James Bond franchise are left out, it's still manages to have a very creative story, a great Bond girl, and an actor who stood his ground somewhat well as James Bond himself. This particular bond film is either disliked or viewed as one of the greatest is not THE greatest Bond film ever made. But which side you pick concerning Lazenby or this film or both is 100% up to you.

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Rating: 70%
Alright. Now here's my review for the 5th bond movie and the second to last one with Sean Connery; You Only Live Twice.

Plot: An American spacecraft is hijacked by a mysterious spacecraft, leaving the American to automatically believe that the Soviets did it. But the British believe that someone else completely did it and so send James Bond to Japan to discover who is really behind the hijack.

This is another just decent Bond flick. One one hand it has good action, Connery being Bond just the way we like him, and it had a pretty good climax. But the problem is that the film is a little too long and the story does turn out to be a little confusing. I say confusing because when it comes to thinking about what happens to the spacecraft and why, I don't think they actually really explain why the antagonists in this particular film are doing it. There is also a scene where Bond is flying an autogyro called The Little Nellie and fights a couple of enemy helicopters that did kind of have a purpose but at the same time I felt was a little out of place and was kind of there just to have an autogyro/helicopter battle. Also there's a moment during the very end of the film that has a big reveal about the central villain that was something of a let down for some people which while I kind of liked it, I think I can see why.

And that's my review for You Only Live Twice. It has its issues at being a little too long and being a bit of a mess or a let down at some points, but still manages to be a decent enjoyable film with its climax, action and Connery...well...being Bond.

My Top 5 Best And Top 5 Most Painful Episodes of The Office

Once upon a time in the earlier days of the 21st century, Ricky Gervais created a British sitcom about the day-to-day lives of office employees called The Office. Even through it only lasted for two seasons, it became one of the most successful British comedy exports. Years after the show ended, it was remade into different versions in many other countries. But none of them made such a large and remarkable impact as the version that was made in the United States. This version of The Office gave so many characters - sometimes to hate with all our hearts, but in most cases were made for us to love to no end - and had comedy, drama, romance, and a lot of it was done exceptionally well. But as the years have gone by like leaves in the wind, it has become less interesting and tragically keeps making more seasons when it has painfully overstayed its welcome. Few words can really describe how sad that this once classical show has now become a bland, boring,  and uninspi-

 

What? It's finally over!?! As in it ended a couple of weeks ago !?!?! OH PRAISE MY MASTER ALMIGHTY, THE EARTH IS FILLED WITH HIS GLORY AS IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Oh don't get me wrong. It was a very good show - one of NBC's best. But...well...there's no other way to look at it except that it just had the freaking go. After Pam and Jim finally got married and had their first child not too long afterwords, the series really did start to annoyingly overstay its welcome. The stories really did become less interesting, the comedy was less clever, the rest of the show as a whole didn't really give us any more real juice under the debatable exception of the last couple of episodes of Michael in Season 7 and most of the second half of season 9. But however you view its later years, The Office as a whole was a great show that had some brilliant and unforgettable jokes, great acting when it came to both the comedic and dramatic moments, and some of the best romance that you could ever watch. But as entertaining as it is, it sadly also brings out some of the most annoying, awkward, and altogether unbearable moments ever seen in either TV or film. What some of us might find very funny to watch with characters like Michael, Dwight and Andy, the rest of us may sometimes if not often find to be pure torture to watch. So now that The Office has finally kicked the bucket, it's time to take a look at The best and most painful (because worst...just doesn't really express it) episodes of The Office.  

The Top 5 Most Painful Episodes

5) Sexual Harassment.

Now to be fair with this episode, the jokes that are done by Jim are pretty funny and the part where Pam's mom comes to visit is pretty cool too. The rest of the episode on the other hand...just no. The story starts off with corporate having Toby make a 5 minute review of the company's sexual harassment policy. Michael greatly dislikes this as he really likes making sex jokes and sending trashy e-mails, so he tries to fight against it. Who can really blame why people dislike this particular episode? Not only are the jokes not funny (again, Jim's jokes are the exception to that), but the episode is probably among the episodes that are very horrific to watch when it comes to Michael. From bringing a blow up doll in the middle of the review, to bringing a lawyer to fight against Jan her lawyer (well I don't know if a lot of people dislike that, but I personally always hated that part when it comes to how irritatingly far Michael goes), to trying to make Phyllis feel attractive by saying he hopes he doesn't get a boner from her, Michael just takes the whole episode and makes it unbearable, awkward and just brutal to watch. Plus we are introduced to Todd Packer in this episode, and while he gets much worse as the show goes on, the hate against him all started right here.



4) Gay Witch Hunt and The Convict

When it came to organizing the most painful episodes I ended deciding to just make a tie with these two episodes because in terms of structure and what we more or less put up with from Michael, they're kind of actually the same. Michael discovers something really personal about one of his employees (Oscar is a homosexual and Martin is a former criminal) and starts spreading the news all over the office, he then starts a meeting in the conference room where he starts to truly make the whole things a way bigger deal then it is, does something excruciatingly painful to watch and it results in that employee leaving the office. (Oscar gets a three month paid vacation and Martin just quits.) Now there's some funny moments too. Dwight pretending to be sad Jim left and Jim putting Andy's calculator in Jello in Gay Witch Hunt are both pretty funny. And Jim giving Andy false information about Pam when he tries to pursue her in The Convict is something Pam and Jim fans have to just love watching. But again, when Michael makes both matters a way bigger deal then you want it to be, you just can't believe what you are watching. In Gay Witch Hunt, he over does his claim that he's okay with homosexuals by kissing Oscar, which...is probably a bit more awkward and disturbing then it most likely sounds. And in The Convict when the employees discover that prison sounds way better then the office, he tries to convince them otherwise by creating the persona of "Prison Mike" where he "explains" how horrible prison is, and when that doesn't work, he just locks everyone in the conference room until they decide that the office is better. Which of these moments do you find unbearable is completely up to you, but they're both great examples of how Michael can learn one thing about a person and just make it uncomfortable for everyone.



3) Mafia

 If you look up worst episode of The Office on Goggle, the episode that you will most commonly find in the lists that you see on just the first page is this particular episode. And taking another look at it, I can see why. A insurance salesman comes to Michael's office and just because of his last name and how he looks and acts, Dwight and Andy are convinced that he is actually part of the mafia. So all three of them try to decide what to do and eventually try to face the salesman at a lunch meeting with Andy dressed as a mechanic. This is an episode that shows not only how Michael can be gullible and take things the wrong way, but just how he and Dwight and Andy are all idiots. Most if not all of these other lists that have this for one of the worst episodes point out how we need Pam and Jim to balance things out since during this whole episode, they are on their honeymoon. And they are absolutely right. There isn't really anybody else in the office that really gives out a plain and clear voice of reason like Pam and Jim do individually or together. Granted, other people in the office discuss the possibility the likeliness that the salesman isn't part of the mob, but no one really makes a clear opposition to Michael, Dwight and Andy's claims. Plus we also really needed either Pam or Jim or both in terms of comedy because I can't think of anything that was particularly funny. And the whole mix up with Jim's credit card because of Kevin just doesn't make things better. So with Michael, Dwight and Andy acting like morons with no one to really stop them, Mafia is a painful episode to end up in my list as well.



2) Phyllis's Wedding

Now I consider Season 3 to probably be the best season when it comes to a lot of the comedy and the big moments that happens between a lot of the main characters. But as painful as some episodes from that season have easily become like with Gay Witch Hunt and The Convict, I think I can more or less put up with them compared to this one. In this episode, Phyllis is getting married to Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration. (I hope everyone who watched the show enjoyed what I did there.) And Phyllis asked Michael to push her father's wheelchair down the aisle at the wedding. Michael takes this as something that's going to be the highlight of the wedding, but when her father decides to amazingly get off his chair halfway down the aisle and walks Phyllis to the alter by himself, Michael feels upstaged and starts becoming petulant over the whole matter by making an embarrassing toast in order to try to still be the highlight of the wedding resulting in him getting thrown out of the reception. Now Michael making a fool of himself in the office is one thing, but when he's trying to get everyone's attention like a little kid at something like a wedding, that's just wrong. Because it really is embarrassing and awkward, and is just too much to bare. That is the kind of moment where I either fast forward, hide under a pillow or otherwise just run out of the room until it is over whenever I get to that scene. It truly hurts to watch this episode, but it's NOTHING compared to my #1 most painful episode of The Office.




1) Scott's Tots

Mother fricker why would anyone in heaven's name create this episode? Just...you...why...toast...you know what I'll just get to the plot out of the way. 10 years ago, Michael made a promise to a class of 3rd graders that if they all graduate high school, he will pay for all of their college tuition due to his belief that he will be very rich by the time that happened. This unsurprisingly bites him in the rear like nobody's business as it has been ten years and all of those children have pushed themselves to graduate high school and invite him to come to their high school and display their undeniable gratitude, not knowing that Michael can't keep his promise as he his not rich like the believed he would be. How should I begin to possibly describe how brutal this episode is? Because ultimately while this episode got high ratings and people on the internet have different choices as to which episode is the worst or the most painful, the undeniable truth is that deep down, everyone and their dog knows that this one is the worst. It just tears you apart at how stupid Michael is and just how sick and wrong the entire situation is. What makes this worse is how the children even created a song and dance number to show their appreciation, and considering the entire situation, it has to be one of the most disturbing songs you've ever heard. If that song reaches your mind for any reason, you have to immediately sing something random but catchy to keep it from staying in your mind and haunting you for only heaven knows how long. I know part of the purpose of the episode seem to be to show how sad it is that Michael's dreams have not come true and all that, but the truth is we don't need this episode for that. You know why? BECAUSE THEY ALREADY FRICKING DID IT!!!!!! In Take Your Daughter to Work Day, Michael begins to realize that he hasn't come close to his dream to marry and have 100 kids. And when that happened, we felt dreadfully bad for him. In here they're just taking one of his dreams and shoving it right in everyone's face - just torturing us slowly but deeply as the episode goes on. And to top it all there's a prank that Dwight pulls on Jim while all of this is happening, and while it's not completely as sick and wrong, it's also very painful to watch. All this and a little bit more is why Scott's Tots is and truthfully always will be the most painful episode of The Office.



Dishonorable Mention: While my decisions are final with the top most painful, some of my friends have pointed out that a fair portion of Season 9 has been a torture. Because during a good portion of Season 9, Jim is offered an entrepreneurial sports job that was created from an idea that he and an old college friend had. Throughout the season, Jim and Pam start having a lot of fights over the entire matter and the worst of that is in Customer Loyalty where they get in a extremely brutal and devastating fight. While this isn't painful as far as being very uncomfortable goes like the episodes I went with, it still is painful to watch considering that all we've been through with Jim and Pam seems to be on dangerously thin ice. These moments were heartbreaking, uneasy and just horrid to watch to the point that even if it's not on the list, we still have to recognize them for what they did to us during the final season.    






The Top 5 Best Episodes

5) Beach Games

Like I said when I began to talk about Phyllis's Wedding, I consider season 3 to be the best when it comes to its comedy and big moments that happen to some of the main characters. And one of the best examples of that is in Beach Games. In this episode, Michael learns that he's a candidate for a job at corporate. So he decides to use Beach Day for the entire office as a chance to create a competition on deciding who will take his place as manager if he gets the job. So he selects Andy, Dwight and Jim as candidates and has them form their own teams with other employees; Team U.S.A. for Andy, Team Griffindor for Dwight, and Team Voldemort for Jim (you can guess the kind of jokes are pulled from those names.) And from egg and spoon races to inflatable sumo wrestling matches, we get some really funny jokes. The best one is probably where Jim thought he was going to die during his sumo match against Stanley. It's also an episode that just helped bring up the suspense of not just the possibility of Michael leaving, but the good ol' love triangle between Jim, Pam and Karen. But the best part of the episode is in the very end. When no one else takes Michael's challenge to walk across hot coals, Pam takes the challenge without anyone noticing and as a result of feeling great from the experience, she makes this speech in front of everyone just pouring out her feelings. I still remember seeing this episode for the first time with my mom rewinding that scene a couple of times just loving that moment and cheering Pam on. All this and more makes Beach Games the right episode to be #5 on the list.

 

4) Halloween

Some of the best moments of the show are when it's Halloween and all the characters dress up. Because who didn't get a kick out of later Halloweens where we have Ryan as Edward Cullen, Jim as a "face"book or Kevin, Creed and Dwight all dressed as Heath Ledger's Joker at the same time? And we all owe our thanks to the episode actually titled Halloween. A good portion of the most memorable jokes and creativity from the show revolves around what everyone is dressed as for Halloween. Dwight is a Sith Lord, Kelly is Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Pam, Phyllis and Angela are all cats, Jim is a "three-hole punched Jim" (it's better explained if you've seen the episode), and so on and so forth. We also get another classic prank against Dwight and a little more of Pam and Jim together which is awesome considering that this was just the fifth episode of season 2/11th episode of the whole series. Now the main story to this episode I'm not too fond of - especially with how it ends, and I feel there are people who feel the same more or less. But it's still one of the funniest and is an altogether classic episode from the show.

3) The Return

Yeah let's face it, we all know the main reason why this is in the list. It's because of Andy putting his fist through the wall. I mean come on, who the heck didn't laugh that he punched the wall? Not to mention Jim's reaction to it which was just priceless. But that's not necessarily the only reason why this episode is on this list. The story plays a great factor into it as well. In the previous episode, Andy tricks Michael into suspecting Dwight for disloyalty. And since the only way to clear his name would also reveal his secret relationship with Angela (which she disapproves), he decides to resign. So Dwight is working at Staples while Andy takes his place and tries to be Michael's new best friend and start to annoy the crap out of everyone. Now sure we may have started to care for Andy a little bit eventually in later episodes when he started dating Erin the first time and all that, but this is a perfect example of how he had come a long way to be likable in any way. Because I think Andy is probably the one of very first if not THE first character that we had come to really deeply hate. I mean again, he gets better later on and we get way worse characters like Charles Miner, but before all of that, there was Andy. So this was a great episode to watch story wise because the office was facing the currently most hated person in the show to date at the time and how it turns out is not only funny but it has a great ending. The story also works as a touching addition to the story line of Dwight and Angela's relationship and the love triangle between Jim, Pam and Karen. 

2) Stress Relief

Part of why I put this episode on the list is because its the one that got me and my whole family into the show. But that doesn't mean there aren't justified reasons to putting it so high. Heck, the first five minutes is completely hysterical. Dwight starts a fire in a trash can and locks all the doors and cuts the wires for the phones in attempt to teach the employees for not taking his fire safety seminars seriously. And what happens when everyone thinks it's an actual fire is just laughing-your-butt-off great stuff. The best line from the episode is probably during the very end of that whole scene where Michael is trying to wake Stanley up when he gets a heart attack. During the rest of this two part episode, we get a little more of Dwight causing trouble again by destroying a CPR dummy but afterwords the whole thing is never brought up again...which is weird, but it gets replaced with Michael eventually deciding to cheer everyone up by making a comedic roast of himself to try to cheer the office up. Even thought I didn't know any of these characters the first time I saw this episode, that didn't stop some of the really big jokes from the roast being any less funny. We also get more romance from Pam and Jim that turns out really touching and also a guest-star-filled-video that some of the staff watch that...while is a sort of strange kind of thing to get in a Office episode, does have its funny moments. Stress Relief as a whole has a great story...or sets of stories with touching romance and exceptional comedy that you don't really get in any other episode of The Office.

1) The Job

I picked this episode for one main reason: it gave us the end of the long wait of Pam and Jim finally getting together. I mean the rest of the episode is great too. The comedy for sure has classic moments like the Schrute Buck, Stanley Nickels, and of course Creed's blog; www.creedthoughts.gov.www/ creedthoughts. It had a very big story with Michael, Jim and Karen all trying to get the position for cooperate while Michael gets back with Jan because of her breast implants (loved how Pam and Jim reacted to that). But it's the very end when Jim asks Pam to dinner that just makes this episode great. Because at this point we've gone through three seasons of Pam being engaged to Roy, Jim confessing is love only to be shot down, Jim leaving Scranton and then coming back dating Karen, Pam's speech during the end of Beach Games and a whole bunch of other great moments. But after all that on top of Jim interviewing for that job to build up the suspense even more, we at last see them start a beautiful relationship that we've all grown to love so well throughout the show. This two-part season finale was well acted, well written, very funny and just gave us one big story that ended with our favorite couple finally getting together at last. And that's why The Job is in my opinion the number 1 episode of The Office.

Honorable Mentions: The Negotiation was a great episode for getting rid of Roy for good (aside from appearing in a couple of episodes) and getting more of the romance between Dwight and Angela. Niagra had Jim and Pam getting married... I'll just leave it at that, the last episodes of Michael had him finally getting engaged to Holly and all the employees saying goodbye we're very emotional, and the second half of Season 9 was funny and it more or less wrapped up all the remaining stories like Erin finding her parents and Dwight and Angela getting married. The last episode gave the series a very emotional and at some points exciting ending. Michael even came back during the wedding where we learn he and Holly have kids which is wonderful. (But we didn't see Holly come with him with the kids. What's up with that?) Even if none of them where the greatest episodes even made, they still gave us a lot and that's why they are at least  honorably mentioned.

So that's all the best and most painful episodes of The Office. And looking back, it really was a good show. Even if it's not one of my personal all time favorite due to how it really was painful in a lot of cases that mostly have to do with Michael, it still was a creative show that gave us so many characters to love or hate, jokes that we don't ever want to forget, romantic moments that deeply touched our hearts, and just one show that had great run and will most likely will be remembered for a very, very long time.

Now if you excuse me, I need to hold my stuffed Snoopy and sing a My Little Pony song swinging back and forth to keep my sanity in check for so much as remembering that Scott's Tots even existed let alone talked about it. So I'll see you guys next time when I officially know that my brain is not terribly damaged from bringing back mental scars.