'Sex Ed' was an episode that had so, so much potential, but ended up disappointing on just about every level.
To begin with, it was written and directed by Paul Lieberstein (Toby) who has written/directed some of the best episodes. So when his name appeared on the screen, I was hoping for another 'Goodbye Toby' or 'Stress Relief'. Instead, what we got was the most disappointing episode since 'Mafia'.
I can't help but feel like the writers are setting us up for Andy to take the reigns of the office when Michael leaves at the end of the season. Here was a story we've seen Michael do variations of a million times, all executed better by Steve Carell. It's not necessarily a dig at Ed Helms - he's just no Carell, who just about always manages to pull off those humiliating meetings. It just felt limp - we knew where the story was going, but there was no real pay off, other than Gabe telling Andy to back off.
But by a million miles the most disappointing thing about 'Sex Ed' was how little impact seeing Carol, or Jan, or Pam's Mom and hearing Holly had. At the end of Season 6, the writers show hinted that Holly would be returning to Scranton or at least paying a visit. We're 1/6 of the way into the season and Holly has only appeared in what I imagine was a pre-recorded voice over by Amy Ryan. It was cute, but it lacked the real punch that made us all believe in Michael and Holly. If this is all the returning of Holly we're entitled to, then I'm disappointed.
And I'm not a massive freak over continuity, but unless Michael got Herpes from someone very recently, how has nobody ever called him on his coldsores? The whole thing just felt like a very rigid, dull way to get the women in Michael's life back to promote the show - like the first answer to the question of 'How do we fit Jan, Carol, Pam's Mom, Donna, and Holly in 20 minutes?' was 'have Michael visit them because he's got an STD'. I wouldn't have even minded as much if there had been a punchline to the joke - we didn't know who Michael got his Herpes from at the end, and I'd been hoping for a punchline that would reveal a typically Michael-ian embarassing situation. Or just, anything that saved this from being such a stale dud of an episode.
'Community' held up NBC tonight. Disappointing on every level.
What did everyone else think?
