Months ago I lamented the departure of Top Chef Cheftestant and Hati survivor Ron Duprat, he of the red Crocs. We were going to miss his jolly laugh, his trouble understanding the meaning of words like “vice” and “deconstructed,” and his revolting cocktails. But most of all we were going to miss his plastic footwear, the fire truck red slip-ons that made him stand out from the rest.
It was then, with great pleasure, that I realized it appears that perennial challenge finalist and lover of all things pork Kevin Gillespie has been sporting his own pair of Crocs this whole time, albeit a much a less fashionable black set. Looking back, it was very hard to pick this up, as they just as easily could have been confused for a pair of black boots. But if you know what you’re looking for then you can (sorta) make out the Crocs, like in this picture from the Penn & Teller episode.
At this point, midway through its sixth season, it seems that with every episode of The Office we are taking the temperature of the series, gauging if it’s on the decline, on the way back up, or holding steady. It’s unfair, and ultimately a disservice to the show and the viewer. However, it’s the truth, and it’s going to continue, especially because this is a show that has exceeded expectations and reached rare levels of brilliance but has also always seemed to be walking a tightrope. Can the show continue once Pam and Jim get together? Will it lose it’s direction after Pam and Jim get married? Will the magic chemistry between the ensemble cast run out? Or will the writers no longer be able to supply interesting but plausible office-related storylines? Even though the show has been so consistently damn good, there’s still this pervading feeling that all the inventive writing and superior acting could disappear one week, never to return. While we have not actually been faced with this reality, we learned last night that the employees of Dunder Mifflin are very much in this predicament, as it seems all but certain that the company will file for bankruptcy. While we have been fearing a sudden, painful demise of The Office, the characters are now fearful of a sudden, painful demise of their office. It’s a new storyline that hopefully, while putting the employees on the chopping block, allows the show to continue to flourish.