The Office – “Training Day” – review

I heard months ago that Will Ferrell was guest starring on The Office for four episodes as Michael Scott’s replacement. There were mixed feelings about it. Ferrell can be really funny sometimes (like in Anchorman and Old School), or he can ruin everything (Semi Pro ring any bells?). My biggest fear was that he would come in and be loud, obnoxious, and completely clash with the style of the show.

In a way, I was half-right.

Ferrell’s character, Deangelo Vickers, is a variation of Steve Carell’s Michael Scott. He’s not as in your face or petty as Michael, but he shares a similar personality. He’s definitely not Ferrell at his most intense. But I’m still looking at him and thinking, “That’s Will Ferrell. This is weird.” Just him being there is rather obnoxious and doesn’t fit, even if Ferrell was way dialed down. He’s also kind of mean (poor Andy, feeling forced to make a fool of himself to make Vickers laugh).

This whole season has essentially been the “Farewell Michael Scott Tour.” There have been a lot of episodes about finding closure for Michael. This one had him finding closure about being replaced by someone who might be better than him. I just wish there could have been a different way to go about getting to that closure. We’ve seen countless episodes about Michael feeling jealous and then subsequently make a huge fool of himself because he wasn’t the center of attention. I honestly thought we’d be past that kind of behavior by now.

Next week, the real goodbye for Michael Scott starts. I’m not sure how things will go down. Will Ferrell still has three more episodes left, so we’ll start to see him falter and ultimately quit.

I’m curious as to who will be the actual replacement for Michael. I’m hoping it’s someone in the office already. My bet is on Darryl, but anything could happen.