At the same time (and this may be a pathetic rationalization)I am starting to feel there may occasionally be a certain value in watching media texts “late” and somewhat out of cultural context. I wouldn’t go so far as to grandly compare such viewing to the French critics watching Hollywood films in a bunch after WWII but there are often useful things that crop up. In Ireland, we have sometimes gotten Hollywood films that are conspicuous products of the “boom” during what is now very evidently a “bust” and that contrast is sometimes critically productive.

Their relationship elevated them to a different position in both the office and the show’s narrative, but after their breakup they have been relegated to fairly minor positions, and Andy and Erin (who offer a sort of klutzy play on Jim and Pam rather than a different type of relationship) have taken over. And yet, as far as we can tell, neither character has actually changed, which makes their previous breakup (and Dwight’s behaviour therein) the only barrier. It makes me wonder if, when the show comes to an end, a happy ending for the characters would be a rekindling of their relationship, or whether their history is too much of a barrier for their love to truly blossom.

Or maybe, just maybe, Angela’s sleep apnea mask might one day sit on a Mose-made night stand at Schrute farms again.