Jabberwocky

_*****

Ted creates a fake project for Linda to convince her that the company is trying to go green and runs into trouble when other employees want in on the project, too.

The review for "Father, Can You Hair Me?" can be read here.

Linda (Andrea Anders) hates her job and, were it as simple as that, the issue would be to just transfer to a different department; unfortunately, Linda actively hates the company she works for, secretly hoping to bring Veridian Dynamics down from within and liberate the world from the terror they cause. Ted (Jay Harrington) sympathizes with Linda's feelings, but with a daughter to feed he's unable to speak against the company for fear of losing his position, and instead decides to make the company appear better through creating projects that will appeal to Linda, appeasing both his bosses and subordinates with as little effort as possible.

Being put on the roof garden project completely re-energizes Linda's desire to work for the company, changing her attitude dramatically and bringing out the absolute best work that she has to offer. While Ted's efforts to convince her that information on the green team is classified are somewhat dubious, her excitement for the project blinds her to the fact that it's too large an undertaking to work on alone and the progression of events is very believable. In the end, the bio luminescent garden is absolutely gorgeous and incredible, and the addition of the fire-squirrel (a squirrel cross-bred with firefly DNA) is wonderful and hilarious. Despite the project having been completely unauthorized and likely to backfire in some way against Ted and his department, it provides a beautiful moment, and it's great to see it on-screen.

Veronica (Portia de Rossi) is on the hunt for a large sum of money missing from her department, forcing Ted to try to convince her that it was moved to an imaginary project in order to keep hidden the garden he's commissioned from Linda. The Jabberwocky project, named after the first word that Ted saw around the office, is left without description as Ted uses underhanded tactics to convince Veronica that she should already be well aware of it, stating that "[she] know[s] what that is," and forcing her to pretend that she does. What makes the storyline funny is that everyone in this office imagines that they know everything about the project despite knowing nothing in order to keep up appearances, as the moment that they're left uninformed on large issues within the company is the moment that they've lost their jobs. As the story draws on, everyone within the company starts pretending that they know what Jabberwocky entails as no one wants to be out of the loop, and while everyone is discussing it in an effort to get information from their peers, they're left answering questions with questions and learning nothing more at any point.

The growing efforts of everyone in the office trying to get involved on the Jabberwocky project is funny, but having everyone so desperate for inclusion without any idea what it is is something of a distraction as the story draws on. The people of Veridian Dynamics are convinced that Jabberwocky will make or break their career, but have no idea what it is, and while they certainly would be excited to get in on the ground floor on something so big, it's strange that none of them show any hesitation in light of the fact that the project's goals may be unrealistic and unattainable.

At the close of the story, Veridian Dynamics has chosen to fast-track the Jabberwocky project and ship it to the Japan office for completion, leading to a humorous moment as the Japanese project leader worries that "there must be a page missing." The joke is funny, but it feels as though it was written in in order to excuse the series from following up on the story in later episodes and instead return to the status quo.

As always, the cast is phenomenal, and I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the performances in this episode. The chemistry that these actors share is wonderful, and viewing each episode is a pleasure because of the dynamic that this group has created with each other.

Michael Fresco opens this episode with a clip of Ted and Veronica's presentation, then flashing back to tell the story of how the two of them ended up in that situation. What makes the opening so effective is the ridiculousness surrounding Ted and Veronica in that moment, leaving the viewer in anticipation of what will actually happen by the end of the story. As for the presentation itself, it manages to exceed all expectations in being about nothing and simply using exciting and unrelated words, mixed with epic music, without every showing or describing a product, and it delivers exactly what the audience was hoping for from the beginning.

Michael A. Ross writes these characters at their most neurotic here, and it creates an incredibly entertaining half-hour of viewing. Linda shows a great interest in the company's green initiative, unaware that Veridian Dynamics' idea of going green is, as Ted says, to stop logging production when they've run out of trees, but it still gives Linda something to look forward to in coming to work, and Linda interested in her work is Linda at her very best. Veronica exemplifies everything that the company chooses to be, confused over Linda's determination that the company has gone green, musing that "there's no program to green the building...there is a commercial for it, but no program," and seeing no fault within her logic to endorse an actual green initiative. The main plot for Phil (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Malcolm Barrett) in this story is their belief that, in not assigning them to the Jabberwocky project, Ted has revealed his disappointment in them; despite having done nothing to inspire any ill-feelings in Ted, they grow progressively more concerned that he's angry with them, and it's through their excessive efforts to impress Ted that they begin to irritate him.

There's not likely to be any repercussions for Ted's having stolen money to create a roof garden, though the show runners seem to have a good grasp on continuity, and it's likely that Jabberwocky will be mentioned again, if only in passing. As for the roof garden itself, it's certainly the kind of set that would inspire a real romance between Ted and Linda, another event likely to be held off for far in the future.

The review for "Secrets and Lives" can be read here.