Reviewing the episode “The Convict” of The Office in 2020, even for the stars of the show.
As the enthusiasts will remember, in the ninth episode of Season 3, Michael discovers that Martin Nash, a black painter recently transferred to the Scranton branch from Stamford, is a reformed convict. After Nash (played through actor and comedian Wayne Wilderson) revealed that he had taken the time to worry about insider trading, he talks about his delight in the thief, who is a little bigger than running on Dunder Mifflin. With the ruthless heart of his staff, he might prudently prefer to paintings with him, Michael becomes Mike Prison for either thief is bad.
While jokes and stereotypes about race are several episodes of The Office, “The Convict” is complete with them, and they are unimaginable to forget once you find yourself in the middle of a national fight for racial equality.
In the Angelscheck episode of the Office Ladies podcast, former co-star Jenna Fischer and Angelos Angeles Kinsey exploded how “The Convict” resisted today and consulted Wilderson about what plos angeles and Martin Nash loves.
“We replaced a wonderful array of emails with Wayne about this episode, and we were talking about what it was like to review this episode in light of everything that’s happening in our counterattack with the Black Lives Matter movement,” Kinsey explained.
Wilderson, who sent some brains through Voice Memo, said he had just seen the episode and had hit it.
I said, “Wow. I just saw him again. Maybe I’ll look at it for a year or so. It’s such a tight episode with one and the other happening now, you know?” He said. “It sounds a little more nervous at times, however, it’s quite poignant for all the disorders we’re facing right now: with race and how we focus on that, and what’s funny, what’s not, and who can say what, when.”
“The Convict,” which he wrote through British office creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, was launched in 2006. But virtually a sincere friend, five years later, Wilderson feels that the jokes and comments are still in place.
“This pretty much puts a magnifying glass on where we’ve been and how far we’ve come … what comedy we can do,” Wilderson said. “I probably hadn’t seen him for about a year, and seeing him during those moments was very interesting.”
“With that, comedy and its commentary, I think it holds up very well,” he continued. “I’ll say it’s an old episode of Office.”
Fischer, who had not seen “The Convict” since its broadcast, also said he “discovered a moving new character” when he relaunched. “There are definitely lines and moments that delight me, and I’ll talk about it as the episode progresses,” he told Kinsey.
One of those lines takes some angels after the scene in the conference room where Michael, Pam, Angelos Angels and Kevin transform into an apple that receives paint opportunity tax credits for employing Nash, an ex-inmate.
“We come to this line that Michael has … you and I said it,” Kinsey said. “He stood out in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.”
“Yes, that’s when Michael tells us, “A black man arrested for almost anything in this country, ” said Fischer.
“I mean, we were reviewing this episode, a civil rights motion in our country. People are truly on the streets protesting the fact that other black Americans are being arrested for almost anything, but not just for being killed. So yes, that phrase hit me hard, ” continued Fischer. “And I must mention that I expected Michael to make a joke here, but he doesn’t. And I’m glad he doesn’t.”
“I know that too, ” agreed Kinsey. “I think, Jenna, as a spectator, we expect Michael to play for the cameras, right? He thinks he’s like an artist … and it doesn’t anyway.”
In the previous episode, “The Merger,” Michael greets Martin at the workplace by saying, “Follow me, I’ll show you where all the slaves work.” He made so much respect for the point and outlandish jokes during the series, so watching him state bluntly that black men are arrested for anything in america definitely provoked a moment of reflection.
“It’s fair and sincere, and I think that made the line powerful,” Kinsey said of the scene.
In an interview with Esquire in 2018, Steve Carell spoke out against a reboot and expressed concern that, regarding the punctual habit and jokes on which so much comedy of the show was founded, would no longer be accepted into today’s society. “The Convict” is an overly high production surplus from a debatable TV episode in 2020, yet it so clearly illustrates the damaging prejudices and thinking that some other Americans still feel today.
As stubborn before, “The Convict” may also be the episode in which enthusiasts meet Prison Mike, Michael’s fit epass that attempts to “scare his employees.” While nature is undoubtedly grumpy to watch on television, actors can’t highlight it in mixed filming either.
“We’ve all lost it, even Steve, which never happens,” Kinsey said. “We’re about to get divorced in this scene.”
Aleven, although Wilderson had a lot of fond memories on set, said filming the scenes from the mike prison was what he remembered most.
“[It was] hilarious, and obviously, taken after taking it, it was very difficult not to hurt while Steve was in Mike’s prison. And we broke up a lot,” he recalls. “But there’s a moment towards the end of their Prison Mike regime, and I think they use this genuine version in the episode, where he says, ‘Thank you for allowing me to be a component of your life, because you have a tight life… You have a tight life. It was the first time he did it at the time that “you have a tight life”, and the camera is behind me and you are also able to see my cheeks swell, because I ‘I’m about to burst into laughter and I don’t want to spoil the shot.”
“That whole day in the conference room with Mike prison quite special, I must say,” Wilderson said.
Don’t listen to the full episode of the podcast to get more information behind the curtain on the filming of “The Convict.”
You can stream episodes of The Office on Netflix and watch the pod weekly on Earwolf, Apple Pods, or Stitcher.