15. Smoke and Mirrors
Quite possibly the simplest episode of the series. Yeah, there isn't actually an awful lot to this one. The jokes really make this one. Katherine Parkinson's two breakdowns in the meetings are just great. And Richard Aoyade gets some of the best lines of the episode here. The scene when the gang goes on Dragon's Den is of course great, as is Moss' Rocky style training montage. The opening scene with Roy is hilarious as well, leading to a great punchline. It's just one of many very strong Moss episodes, really. Moss is just this fantastic character that you do want to keep watching, and his personality and mannerisms make the episodes focused on him pretty entertaining. And this one is no exception. It's just Richard Aoyade running wild, which is really something to behold.
There are just so many memorably funny moments in this one. I'm sorry if this one is a little shorter than some of the others, but honestly most of what makes this episode great is down to the jokes, and there are only so many ways that I can say "this is pretty funny" without sounding redundant. Regardless, this is one of the show's funnier episodes no doubt.
14. The Red Door
God I love Noel Fielding. I loved him in The Mighty Boosh (which I need to talk about someday), and when I saw him here, I knew something special was about to go down. And it did. One thing I noticed about the earlier episodes of The I.T. Crowd is that they often focus on how the presence of Jen affects the I.T. department. They drop that in later episodes for obvious reasons, but I do really enjoy the first few episodes for that reason. This is probably the one that focuses on it the most, by quite literally having Jen "disrupt the natural balance" of the I.T. department. The introduction of Richmond does many things for the show. For one, it gives Noel Fielding a chance to be brilliant, which is never a bad thing. But it also disrupts the status quo ever so slightly in a way. I mean, this is an episode pretty much dedicated to what happens when the status quo is disrupted, which I'll get to, but it's also a solid introduction for a character who would come back in many of the episodes.
And then there are the jokes. Moss' mug, Roy stuck under the desk, the nest of baby birds, Roy stealing office equipment, Richmond's backstory, Cradle of Filth, The Green Door, there's just so many good moments here. It's another solid early episode that just really works. Proof that adding Noel Fielding makes everything better.
And I really do need to talk about The Mighty Boosh, don't I?
13. Jen the Fredo
In which Jen becomes entertainment manager. And then finds out what that entails. The idea of a roleplay episode isn't exclusive to this show, but it isn't an uber common one either. I've seen it in a few shows though, but I think that The I.T. Crowd probably does it best (Community's Advanced Dungeons and Dragons gives it a run for it's money though, it must be said). The roleplay scene itself is the highpoint of this episode for sure, featuring so many great moments. Roy dealing with a bad breakup is great and lends to some great gags too, and watching it play into the roleplay is so much fun to watch. I also love how the visiting businessmen get so invested into the game, as well as Moss being the best dungeon master ever. The "Ruddy mysterious" line is a fairly strong brick joke too.
Speaking of brick jokes, I think that there's a really subtle one in this episode with The Godfather reference. Douglas described himself in a string of movie titles in The Speech (which I will get to), one of which being The Godfather. And when Roy tells Jen that Fredo gets killed by The Godfather in the film, Jen then thinks that Douglas tries to kill her. It's probably nothing, but I do like to think that that was intentional.
The other jokes here are great too. Jen pretty much becoming a pimp is fun to watch, and her conversation with Roy during the roleplay is absolutely hilarious. Roy editing his ex-girlfriend out of the pictures is great, Douglas' shithead of the year award is just fantastic and let's not forget "It's not for you, Jen".
12. From Hell
If you ever needed any convincing that this wasn't your average sitcom, Jen and Roy try to stop a builder pissing in the sink. Yep. The main plot gets many very funny moments here, with the video chat climax being the comedic highlight. Roy's quest to get his £20 is great too, and the line "GOT YOU YOU CRAFTY IRISH BASTARD!" is one of the best ways to end an episode I've ever seen. Katherine Parkinson and Chris O'Dowd are fantastic here, and they both get some very funny lines. The hidden cameras are fantastic visual gags. Roy roleplaying as the kids bullying Moss is great ("Dem glasses is shit innit"). Moss standing up to the bullies is really funny too, especially when he chases them off with Douglas' gun.
Speaking of Douglas, he's far and away the best thing here. I mean, it's always apparent that he's completely inept at running a business, but here they just play that up like there's no tomorrow. The scene at the door when he meets his father is just so perfect. The Hitlergram line is amazing, Douglas shooting himself is fantastic. He's just so irresponsible, and watching him just mess everything up is so fun to watch. I love Matt Berry in this show, and this is one of the best Douglas episodes hands down. This is the logical extreme of the emotionally instable and dangerously inept boss that Douglas is. This episode is just really strong, and again, one of the best Douglas episodes.
11. Men Without Women
Speaking of great Douglas episodes, this is another one of the best. If From Hell was a great showcase of Douglas as a shit boss, this is a great showcase of Douglas as an unstable, crazed pervert. Matt Berry and Katherine Parkinson have this fantastic comedic chemistry together, and the montage of Jen being Douglas' assistant is perfect, with some surprisingly great foreshadowing of Douglas losing his arm. That ambulance gag in particular is just such great overkill. The opening scene with Graham Linehan as the merchant is spot on too. Also Douglas under the effects of his "love potion" is also hilarious. And then there's his film. Matt Berry steals this episode, seriously he's perfect as Douglas.
It's also another episode that mocks Jen for wanting to do better than what she's currently doing. And again, Jen really can't seem to succeed outside of I.T.. Like in Italian For Beginners, Jen's attempts to make a real difference go up in flames very quickly, this time thanks to becoming the assistant to a mentally unstable madman. Again, it isn't the best episode that does this, but it's still a really strong plot for Jen.
Roy and Moss' shenanigans are amazing too. Having instantly replaced Jen, they do a crazy montage of ridiculous things that really display how fantastically immature manchildren they are. They really are the definition of lovable losers, which is something that the show as a whole focuses one, but this episode especially hammers that point home. That montage contains so many fantastic visual gags.
And next time, the top ten! By process of elimination, you can probably figure most of them out, but regardless, tune in to find out which episodes are my very favourites, because from here, things get really good.
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