(S05E06) [Note: I started writing this post at 9:34 PM, which was just enough time to hear Liz Lemon on 30 Rock mention that she always attends jury duty wearing a Princess Leia costume. It may be possible that the thought of this actually exploded the rational part of my brain, so please take this review with a grain of salt.]Well, we knew it was coming, right? Like the current financial crisis, there was only so much juggling that was possible before the inevitable happened: tonight marked the beginning of the "Will Pam stay in New York" subplot. Regular readers know my feelings on this, so I won't dwell too much on it. Let's just hope that the writers find a way to make it more interesting than I'm expecting it to be.
The sad part about choosing now to sound the creaky machinations of the Jim/Pam plot was that it came at the end of a very decent stand-alone office-themed episode...
Tonight's A-story was the Zoolander-like teaming of Jim and Dwight to deal with their sub-par customer reviews. The reviews are tied to their bonuses and Jim needs the money so he can buy his parents' house (a surprise for Pam, because what girl doesn't want to live in her husband's parents' former house in Scranton?) Dwight suspects conspiracy -- because he always suspects conspiracy -- and, shock of shocks, it turns out that he's right.
Kelly, upset that neither Dwight nor Jim attended her America's Got Talent finale party over the summer, decided to tank their survey scores, presumably to send a message about how she feels about them (Dwight, hostile and aggressive; Jim, arrogant and "smudge").
I thoroughly enjoyed this story for a number of reasons:
1. Kelly is precisely the type of person who would have an America's Got Talent party and be upset that someone decided not to come to it.
2. The mugs were phenomenal. I need that Andy mug. No, really, NBC needs to sell these.
3. I had a palpable stomach-drop when Jim realized that Michael wasn't joking about his bad reviews. I love it when The Office relies on the kinds of things real people go through as the basis for its stories. There is absolutely nothing worse than sitting across from your supervisor while he looks through a manila folder and puts on a serious corporate face. I'm convinced that Hell is one long yearly performance review.
4. The phone call between Dwight and Jim (during Michael's training session) was absolutely hilarious. I'm sure some of you thought it went on too long, but I couldn't get enough of Mr. Wiliam Buttlicker and his million dollar paper account.
5. Jim unraveling the conspiracy had a really cool Usual Suspects vibe to it (probably because it involved mugs).
You had all the elements of what makes The Office a great workplace satire. It's a damn shame, then, that we got not just one but two creaky and far-too-soap opera-y storylines wedged in there.
I already mentioned Pam and Jim; the other one was Angela and Andy deciding to have the wedding on Shrute Farms. I'm sorry, but I don't buy that. It's forced and phony. I thought Angela was over Dwight, and now she wants to have her wedding on his farm? Why? It doesn't make sense except to keep the plot going, which is never good. I'm hoping that the writers have something up their sleeves here, but tonight's episode didn't fill me with a lot of hope.
Other stuff:
-- Was Pam's "That's what she said" the cutest thing in the history of the world? Why am I even asking the question? Of course it was.
-- So, let me just explain this to the women: no guy makes a prepared speech about your "art" because he cares about your "art". If one of your guy friends ever -- ever -- makes a prepared speech to you about anything (even, say, cleaning supplies or kitty litter), he's doing it because he wants to sleep with you. Trust me on this.
-- In keeping with last week's Batman theme, if last week's cold open was Dark Knight, this week's was Batman and Robin.
-- Is everyone else loving pseudo-reformed Ryan as much as I am?
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The Office' Photos
THE OFFICE Steve Carell as Michael Scott and Amy Ryan as Holly star in the episode "Weight Loss." Airs Thursday, September 25, 2008.
NBC
THE OFFICE Steve Carell as Michael Scott and Amy Ryan as Holly star in the episode "Weight Loss." Airs Thursday, September 25, 2008.
NBC
THE OFFICE Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor and Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin star in the episode "Weight Loss." Airs Thursday, September 25, 2008.
NBC
THE OFFICE Amy Ryan as Holly and Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone star in the episode "Weight Loss." Airs Thursday, September 25, 2008.
NBC
THE OFFICE, Steve Carell, ''Did I Stutter'', (Season 4, airing May 1, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Chris Haston / NBC
THE OFFICE, Rainn Wilson, ''Did I Stutter'', (Season 4, airing May 1, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Chris Haston / NBC
THE OFFICE, Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, ''Did I Stutter'', (Season 4, airing May 1, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Chris Haston / NBC
THE OFFICE, Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, ''Night Out'', (Season 4, airing April 24, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Mitch Haddad / NBC
THE OFFICE, Rainn Wilson, Cassie Fliegel, ''Night Out'', (Season 4, airing April 24, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Mitch Haddad / NBC
THE OFFICE, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, ''The Dinner Party'', (Season 4, episode 4013, aired April 10, 2008), 2005-,. Photo: Chris Haston / NBC / courtesy everett collection
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-06-2008 @ 11:56PM
SImpression said...
"2. The mugs were phenomenal. I need that Andy mug. No, really, NBC needs to sell these. "
Your wish has been granted?
http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/index.php?v=nbc_the-office_drinkware&pa=PRF_nbc_theoffice_starmugs
Reply
11-06-2008 @ 11:57PM
Jay Black said...
I believe in the audacity of hope.
Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
11-07-2008 @ 2:15AM
Katie said...
As much as I love The Office paraphernalia (1 DunderMifflin T-shirt & a Dwight ASCII print out on the outside of my dorm door and counting), does anyone wonder whether this counts as product placement in a way?
When the mugs came onto the screen for the 2nd or 3rd time, I forget which, there was AN AD at the bottom of the screen FOR THE MUGS. Which were ON THE SCREEN.
11-07-2008 @ 2:50AM
Paul said...
The best is that they don't seem to have Dwight or Jim, keeping it in line with the storyline.
Smart thinking, NBC.
11-07-2008 @ 12:08AM
Joe L. said...
I'm curious as to why they continue to re-iterate, in dialog, that Pam is in NYC for only 3 months, when it is clear that the show is progressing in real-time, which would put her there for at least 5 months by now. They showed her leaving for NYC in ~June (during the Weight Loss episode, which took us week-by-week through the summer), then last week they showed the show was still in real-time when Pam went to work in her Halloween costume. So that's at least 5 months by now, with no end in sight of her coming back to Scranton....
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 12:23AM
Adam said...
That is the funniest/cutest picture of Kelly ever. Just sayin.....
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 1:45AM
gwenshack said...
I love Andy trying to hold in his rage while Jim uses his mug. That anger management course seems to be wearing off, as we saw last week as well when Dwight was allegedly applying to Cornell.
He's going to blow really soon...
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 2:38AM
Ryan S. said...
I think the best part of this episode is how Pam finally got involved in the workings of the Scranton office, she had just been out there in no-man's land in NYC, and with the bluetooths, it was like Pam was back at the receptionist desk, like good old times. I know that we need Pam to grow as a person, but I just want her back at her desk making smarky looks at Jim when Dwight or Michael do something incredebly stupid.
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 3:27AM
Crystal said...
I think that Dwight and Angela are planning to start their secret relationship up again. That's why he kept giving her the sly looks when Andy was contracting his beet farm. Dwight was promoting himself to Angela that he would be at her beck and call, presumably as her love slave. It would give them an excuse to see each other alone. That's why Dwight told Andy that he had nothing more to worry about and the wedding was now out of his hands.
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 3:34AM
Kate said...
Kelly is one of my favorite characters so an episode involving her is immediately liked by me. One thing though. When Jim was noticing all of the mugs everyone had, did Stanley have a cup? For some reason, I cannot picture Stanley going to that kind of a party. But, that is the coolest party favor ever.
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 3:37AM
carterman said...
When Dwight found the Bluetooth headset in Jim's ear and tried to grab it, and Jim said "Don't", anyone else think that there was a double meaning there given the Pam conversation going on at the same time?
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 7:48AM
fowak said...
Jay, I definitely am with you on William Buttlicker. Hilarious and I couldn't get enough either. And I loved that moment when Pam was so excited... "That's what she said! That's what she said! That's what she said!" ...I wonder what her surrounding NYC officemates thought she was doing??
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 4:38PM
Dan said...
:-) I was thinking the same thing. What do the NYC people think of the girl who dresses up like Charlie Chaplin/Hitler and who yells out "That's what she said!" completely randomly?
Great episode, great reviewcap, but I have to worry about you Jay, I seem to recall you saying you have a GF, isn't she a little worried about your crush on Pam Beasley?
11-07-2008 @ 9:04AM
MJ said...
Does any one know if the headsets used by Pam and Jim are real? If so is there a link someone can post? I am not having any luck finding.
Reply
11-09-2008 @ 12:42AM
StillBash said...
They are fake. I don't have proof for that but the name Dwight uttered was a fake company and the device itself is too small to actually work. There's not enough room for a decent battery or antennae. I'm not saying this couldn't be done in the future but currently batteries are too large to fit into such a small device or on-time would be around 5 minutes.
11-07-2008 @ 9:19AM
pumpkinhead said...
OMG. I'm so dense. I just realized. Jim's now Roy!
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 9:28AM
ConspiracyGuy said...
When Jim was unraveling the conspiracy, I seriously thought Ryan was the mastermind, and this was his plan (with Kelly's help) for him to work his way back up to corporate, and maybe "win" Kelly back!
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 3:31PM
Eric said...
My thought as well. I knew Jim was on Ryan's "list"
I couldn't remember if Dwight was on it too.
11-07-2008 @ 9:27AM
Courtney said...
This was the best episode of the season in terms of humor, plot development, and especially with Jim and Pam! She's finally back in the episode (and I loved how confused Dwight was, thinking Jim was talking to himself). I'm going to be writing my own review on my site (raked.wordpress.com), so feel free to stop by later (probably after lunchtime).
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 9:37AM
Kitty said...
OMG...I LOVED the William Buttlicker scene! I nearly fell off my chair!
Reply