The character of Neil: a little contrived?
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archer1267 — 10 years ago(January 09, 2016 09:07 AM)
Not that Neil was infallible, but I see David as swinging the first punch, or series of punches. Neil admitted that it was awkward to be David's boss, after having been his peer, which was an honest remark. David didn't make it easy and slagged off Neil in front of others repeatedly (calling him "pathetic" for playing ball (cricket?) with staff during lunch and wanting to be liked, mocking the cake he made for Trudy's birthday ("too rich," "I prefer a flan"), or his dancing on Comic Relief day. When he was goading David towards the end, I saw that as payback for all the times David did it to him.
I once had to supervise someone who pretty much told me from the get-go that they weren't going to pay attention to my feedback, and I see that same passive-aggressiveness in David. Neil wasn't perfect, but I think he tried with David, and did seem genuinely disappointed during their redundancy conversation. David Brent was his own worst enemy. -
roland-rockerfella — 9 years ago(September 30, 2016 02:56 AM)
The funny thing is that David was the first choice to take over from Jennifer. Neil only got the gig because Brent failed the medical. The board clearly thought David was the better choice despite his antics, it would be interesting to see how he would have done in it.
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bpjtuition — 9 years ago(January 11, 2017 10:27 PM)
I think that Neil was a very realistic character. He was everything Brent imagined himself to be but at the same time lacked much of his heart and kindness behind the facade.
There was something slightly smug about Neil that was very much behind the surface but that audience subtly picked up on. His friendship with Finch was a fantastic observation of human interaction. Finch is a bully and a nasty, intimidating man. Neil appreciates this fact and Finch also appreciates that Neil is someone whom h has to respect and show admiration for.
Smug is the word that fits Neil's flaws more than anything else. So whilst Brent is insufferable at times and hopelessly deluded, as the show reaches it's conclusion we see that Brent is a tragic figure and that in some respects the seemingly perfect Neil is actually a haughty man full of himself.