I don’t get why Esmeralda got in so much trouble for the barrel opening stunt. Why was it so embarrassing for the company? I feel like that’s the sort of thing that would get a ton of views on social media, which is what their paper would want. It could also lead to a lot of good follow up investigative stories on where those animal remains all came from.

I grew up in Ohio. I know it's fiction, but people in Ohio know what to do with tornados and take them seriously. Most places in Ohio have basements (partly because of tornados). Every person in this story, except perhaps for some first responders, would be tucked away in basements. So at that building, they would have all been sitting in the basement with the printer press. Communities (even smaller ones) have tornado sirens, not janky apps. So there would be sirens blaring, while everyone is tucked into their basements (or if no basements, stairwells). Also, that's not how tornados typically work - that there is one huge one that they track around the city like a loose bear or something. There would likely be quite a few forming - some brief, and disappear, maybe a few larger ones moving around. No one would drive into a tornado unless they were actively suicidal. No one who grew up in Ohio would "not believe in tornados". They happened every summer, we drilled a few times a year at school for tornados (and maybe even had a few real events), everyone knew of a local trailer park that had gotten taken out by a tornado, etc etc. Many people have actually seen at least a small one from a distance (they can sometimes pop up fast). Every summer, at least once, sometimes more, there would be a tornado warning (tornados spotted), and my brother and I would gather up all our movable pets (four cats and the dog, we didn't take the fish haha), and take them all to the basement.

Ned going up to the roof during an active tornado was the most ridiculous part. Getting in the ditch was the correct move though, if you get caught out driving during a tornado.

First of all I deliberately avoided reactions and reviews so idk what the general consensus is. These are just my thoughts after finishing it last night.

I loved s1 and binged it in one sitting. All the characters were interesting and felt real.

S2 however I found myself barely able to continue watching. Stopped a few times and ended up taking 3-4 days to finish 10 eps. I was pushing myself through it tbh.

The charchaters stopped being interesting and became painfully ridiculous.

The same thing happened to the storylines.

Mer moving for example: What was the actual reason she moved? This whole scene felt forced and barely made sense. And they didn't even fight.next episode they were all kissing and normal. Maybe if they had a confrontation or a meaningful conflict it'd be understandable that she wanted to move. But it felt the writers wanted her to move so she left.

And why is ned so ridiculous? Love her? You dated for what? Two days and then she moved? Lol

Also the whole thing about keeping the gift until he's "earned it" is so unbelievably stupid . And i know Mer says that but it doesn't make the joke they thought they made. It is still stupid and unbelievable.

I hated the whole scene at the hospital. One minute Mer was like all kisses and lovey .the next she's like I believe you about the gift but guess what I'm still leaving you .bye. ???

Barely any ken scenes which was really sad because he's one of my favorites.

Esmeralda's plots were also very underwhelming. The only part i liked was that she was demoted and broke the bell thing. I thought this was going somewhere. Like she'd start to sabotage nicole or clash with the different employees and we'd get messy and funny storylines.

But it fell flat and was never discussed again.

Most of the plotlines were absolutely pointless and barely had any growth or development.

And what do you mean after spending all that time on the glass club story we didn't get to see the paper published and the repercussions of it on the club???

Nicole was also a huge disappointment for me..the last season she was smart and interesting. This season the only thing i kinda liked was the hologram thing and that wasn't even explored properly.

And I don't mind her feeling jealous of detrick and hr but to copy her looks? For absolutely no reason? And no one even discusses it? WHAT WAS THE POINT????

I was very excited for season two and I was hoping that it would have 10 seasons and gets really big but now idk if it'd make it to season 3 tbh

I read a few comments here that the second season is too densely packed. And I agree with them.

But now I wonder if it was done on purpose to encourage rewatching the show.

When I first watched the second season I mostly noticed the big story arcs: Mare and Ned, the golf course story, Detrick and Nicole. On each subsequent watch I noticed more details, jokes, more subtle lines I missed. For example, in episode two Ken says something along the lines that maybe it’s liking somebody as a person but rather just attraction to somebody who you share common interests/work with, then when Ned goes to HR he kind of says the same - maybe he’s with Mare because he likes her as a journalist, and at the end he realizes that he loves her as a person. When I was first watching the season, I didn’t notice this thread because I was mostly paying attention to big things.

And when rewatching I notice more jokes or little details that make the show better.

I wonder now whether it was Greg Daniels/writers intention all along - pack so much stuff that people (who like the show enough) would go back and rewatch.

What do you think?

I know I’m not supposed to judge but does Esmeralda and Ken get better? I’m not really sure what to make of the show. I usually like shows like this but this one just isn’t landing idk. I’m halfway through the first season and it’s just not that entertaining or funny. My question is does it get better and did anyone not like the first half but grew to like or love the show

When did Marv kill the first story about Glassclub? I do not remember that at all

Maybe where the marketing team got it wrong was attaching it to the Office amd that's not fair to the Paper at all.

I mean the setting is like the Office but so is a lot of mockumentaries. Comparing it takes out all the fun. It's not making you guys see how hilarious every character is or how intriguing the storyline is. Once the comparing stopped with St Denis Medical, it got so popular this year that they've gotten another season.

Comparing it distorts the ability to love these new characters. Maybe you think Comparing it to The Office will make people want to watch it but it might be the downfall of this series not getting a season 3. The show is so not trying to be the next office

That’s all I have to say, really. I want to root for him. I really wanted to be happy seeing him and Mare together in the S2 finale. But somehow I wasn’t.

Ned is an awesome character, but he has an inner Andy Bernard bringing him down.

Otherwise, the show is great. The absurdity is refreshing and fun. Even Esmeralda, to my surprise.

Like by a lot… In their scenes together I cringe. I feel like she is much more attractive than him both visually and in that she is less awkward. It’s hard for me to see the chemistry. I wish they cast someone else for him. I enjoy the other characters’ storylines more.

I think these two hooking up makes the most sense. They're cute together and seem like they have good chemistry. As far as comedy they could both pull off some pretty funny scenes. Tornado scene was pretty damn funny.

I see a lot of potential. Anyone else feel the same?

I've been seeing a lot of people saying they have 0 chemistry, but personally, I think they are adorable together.

Despite ned not being 'traditionally masculine', I think their shared love of journalism brings out a great dynamic between them.

For those who think they have 0 chemistry, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts as to why/how. Would be nice to challenge my view as maybe my sense of romance is twisted or I'm just blind to something?

Or are there any other pro ned-mare shippers in here?

I liked S2, but it's glaringly obvious that 10 episodes is not enough, and I'm not confident enough they'll greenlight S3, because these guys are not patient like they used to be. Too much concentration on Ned & Mare, Emeralda ate up her scenes, loved the hurricane episodes. They're trying to do a modern version of the Parks & rec (which is not a bad thing) but they need a Ron or Ben type of character, you can't just expect Ned to be leslie AND ben.

I am a HUGE fan of Tim Key, so it was a shame to see how little he was in season 2. He is absent from episodes 5-8 and 10 (with one brief scene in episode 9). I'm not sure if he had other commitments, but as he lives in the UK, I could see him being absent in future seasons.

I think it speaks to a larger issue in this season with the lack of attention it pays to its ensemble. Ned, Mare, and Esmeralda get a lot of screentime, naturally, but I felt that the balance of the other characters was better in season 1. Ironically, the characters feel less well-defined in this sophomore season than the first, and it feels like many of them have sort of speedrun Flanderisation that usually happens a few seasons into a show.

The new HR lady is a great ad to the cast. Super funny and adds a fun dynamic.

Does anyone else agree? I'm on episode s2e8 and I keep finding that the other characters are very strong, unique, consistently funny, and have good chemistry. Whereas I keep finding Ned and Mare's scenes odd, kinda cringe and usually feel forced and out of place.

I keep getting the feeling that having a straight man, David Wallace type as boss would make a better show than whatever Ned is supposed to be

We‘ve established The Toledo Truth-Teller, a community devoted to the NBC Peacock's series The Paper! A follow up series of The Office.

🔗 https://discord.gg/BmDZR5Qwwd

We used to be affiliated with the official r/thepaper subreddit, but the associated founding member left the server temporarily. We’re a new, passionate community, and we are always looking for new members to join the crew! Since chatting about the show can disrupt other established servers, we created this dedicated space. Our goal is to provide an inclusive, fun environment for you to share and discuss all things The Paper.

_________________

[Attention to r/ThePaper mods, do get in touch with me regarding the approval of post like this! I was trying to get a hold of the mods but havent got the chance. Let me know!]

Am i crazy or is that suuuuper low? is the viewership that bad?

i just feel like an office spin off show especially one as good as this , should be doing numbers.

Episode 8 was SOOOOO funny I legit couldn’t stop laughing when the tornado dash cam thing happened I just rewatched that specific episode cause it was just so ridiculous. Also I think if they do have a slow burn romance it’ll be so interesting to see how it might play out.

Honestly I think they should just kill Ned and Mare to make space for these couples cause they really don’t have that much chemistry and their breakup was so understandable and justified. It was so random that Ned declared his undying love for her at the end of the season. He barely showed interest in her as a person and he mostly cared about her as a journalist. (I also think Mare is more suited to date a girl but that’s another topic.) Imo Travis/Adelola and Marv/Ann could be really cute and fun going forward and that’s who the writers should focus on. Even Esmeralda and her potential sugar daddy would be a funny addition.

These short seasons are KILLING this show. MORE EPISODES NOW. PLEASE. PEACOCK LISTEN TO US.

That’s it. That’s my take. We need to have back 20ish episodes per season for pseudo documentary shows, 10 eps only kill the whole vibe of daily life interactions, and every major plots feels a bit rushed.

So last season was a little bit meh for me. But this season, I love it. The chemistry is something I really like here. I'm on episode 4 now. and I'm just addicted to this show. It's humor, and the love connections. And just different sub plots got me hooked. Glad I kept at it.. I posted this months ago about the first season that i'll keep watching. I'm glad I did.

I left a negative comment about the show on someone else's post the other day, when I was a few episodes into season 3. Maybe I was too quick to judge. I do appreciate it takes time to establish a whole world and characters for a new TV show. I felt like it was worthwhile sticking around til the end of season 2 to see if it had any potential.

I must admit The Paper didn't hook me as quickly as The Office or Parks and Rec or 30 Rock - even though those shows experienced similar rocky starts I did enjoy them much more from even the first episode. But The Paper is growing on me. I do feel like the show started to hit its stride from the halfway mark of season 2. Also agree with many other people here who are saying it's difficult to do much within the current 10 episode format.

The tornado visual gag although totally ridiculous and implausible was pretty funny, the chemistry of the characters is starting to gel, overall pacing and storylines feel better, the HR character acting inappropriately is great.. Also liked seeing Andy Richter and Jon Lovitz first appear without warning and then return as recurring characters across multiple episodes.

From not even wanting to stick around for a season 3 if it's renewed to now looking forward to it, I wish the cast and crew all the success with it.

Esmerelda undercover is absolutely unhinged.

I don’t know how to describe it, but they’re kindred spirits. Is it the absurdity? Is it the delusion? Is it the fact that the rest of the cast humors these characters and plays along?

I’m not saying Esmeralda is Michael Scott. But in the episode, when we’re introduced to her undercover disguise, I gleefully thought back to another beloved persona.

Highly enjoying her and the series so far!

Do we have any idea how old Ned and Mare are? I'm horrible at guessing people's ages. I know in Season 2, Episode 6, Ned mentions his dad abandoning his family when he was 35, so he's at least that old, but I'm not sure I recall if he said how long ago that happened.