(S06E11) You know a company is doomed when it parades Michael Scott in front of its shareholders as an example of its best and brightest. But, as we saw from Michael today, his sales skills only take him so far.You really, really wanted to see him pull a plan out of that savantish mind of his that would have saved Dunder Mifflin. At least I did. But, thankfully for the show's writers, that was never going to happen.
The interesting thing about this episode, though? The shareholders meeting plot was just OK. What I really wanted to see was more of Jim devising ways to assert his authority around the office. That was much funnier, and it was a small reminder of what attracted people to the show to begin with: small, real-life situations everyone who's ever sat in a cubicle could relate to.
But let's talk about the shareholders meeting a little bit. They're always tedious affairs, with every old lady who has a couple of shares tucked away in her closet coming to air grievances about how the company is being run. But with the news that DM is running out of money, you knew the shareholders were going to be on the warpath.
Of course, Michael had his typical blinders on, just psyched that he was going to get to wear his new Gordon Gekko-style shirt and tie and take a stretch limo to New York. He was too busy practicing his waves and spins to worry about whether people were going to boo the crap out of him.
About that limo: that scene bugged me a bit, for a couple of reasons. One, it takes an easy swipe at the dopey blind spots executives of failing companies often have (like the auto company execs taking private planes to testify in front of Congress). Even in good times, most companies would have sent a Town Car. Heck, Michael was expecting one, saying how good the "torque" was on it. But the other part was about how the folks at DM Scranton acted as if they never saw a limo before. Erin even marveled, "It's what high school kids take to prom on TV shows." Jeez, they're from Scranton, but they're not rubes.
Anyway, like I said, I had a glimmer of hope that Michael was going to magically come up with a winning 45-day plan after being the only person at the meeting to make the crowd cheer. Even when he decided to call his "Mexican" accountant Oscar for help, I figured Oscar's anger about the company was going to help.
But I should have known; if he was too scared to ask questions in front of a few hundred angry co-investors, how was he going to say anything in front of Alan Brand, David Wallace, and that random congressman? Not sure if it was disturbing or funny to see the gang celebrating in the limo as the ticker showed DMI stock sink like a stone.
I want to see more of Jim as boss. He handled Ryan perfectly. Ryan's a douche, and he's somehow become more douchey with every humbling trip to the bottom. Jim's not a yeller -- Pam only remembers him raising his voice in excitement at finding the car after a long day of apple-picking -- so he used his best skills: trickery and passive-aggressiveness. And, despite Ryan's entreaties that he would finish the job Jim asked him to do, Jim ushers him into his new closet office by saying "It gets bigger once you're in there."
You do start to think that with Jim's ability to handle people and Michael's corporate suck-up skills, together they'd make one perfect boss.
More fun stuff:
- Ryan spread the rumor that Jim had no authority. And Pam believed him. She almost didn't raise her hand when Jim asked the office if they thought he had as much authority as Michael. Then she realized they're married. Good talking head there.
- Loved the Recyclops cold open; the funniest thing in the whole episode. It addressed the NBCU green week initiative and it was funny to boot. Leave it to Dwight to take a benign character and make him an office-destroying monster.
- Michael cited his 17 Dundee award wins as a reason why the big bosses should listen to him. Maybe he forgot that he made the Dundees up.
- Again, despite the fact that Michael has embarrassed and exasperated David Wallace, he won't ever get fired because he's the only one making a profit. Like I said, the man's a savant.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-20-2009 @ 10:16AM
Henry said...
I'm worried about the future of the show. If Dunder Mifflin goes under, what's going to happen. Will they be bought out? Will Scranton somehow pull together and start their own company (doesn't seem like the show)? Or will it end, and the creators are easing us into it?
Maybe they will come out of it in the end.
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11-20-2009 @ 10:54AM
Sarah said...
i thought the episode felt very real. i was glad when the shareholder's meeting issue wasn't magically solved and the fact that no one from Scranton had seen a limo up close, even though some of them are married, felt believable (as Scranton is supposed to parallel Slough where there is only one bar).
what i really loved was Recyclops! seeing how Recyclops has transformed over the years gave up a little snippet of the many receptionists they've had through the years. my fav was when the old lady was the receptionist and Creed was standing next to her, kinda like a geriatric Jim and Pam. that must've been when Pam was in NY?
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11-20-2009 @ 11:18AM
Lisa said...
Ryan being put into the closet was my favorite office moment for a very long time...go Jim!
I still contend that together Michael, Jim and Oscar will come up with a winning formula to save DMI, I just think it will take awhile. (that's what she said.)
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11-20-2009 @ 11:46AM
Drex said...
I cant this crap anymore, the over the top factor has gotten WAY outta hand on the show..
/throws hands up/ I'm done..
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11-20-2009 @ 2:22PM
Eric H said...
I am really sorry you "Can't this crap" maybe you should see a doctor be for that gets too serious, it sounds pretty bad.
11-20-2009 @ 1:54PM
ac said...
Any chance for someone to put Ryan in his place is a golden Office moment.
As for the whole bankruptcy plot, lets face the facts:
The show is probably not going to end this season. I think there will be a season 7 and maybe a season 8. So someone is going to find a way to keep the company afloat and why not make that someone Oscar.
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11-20-2009 @ 2:25PM
Eric H said...
I really thought Oscar was gonna do it in last night's episode, he is obviously smart enough to do it, and even Micheal could see it, he just has to get his confidence. I do agree that we will probably see Jim, Micheal and Oscar save the company, after all we saw that last week Jim wss working on a huge contract with a grocery store chain, so I am thinking Jim gets the contract that will give them the cash they need now, Oscar fixes the long view and Micheal takes credit for it or solves some strange problem that crops up in a way that is 10 times stranger than the problem itself.
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11-20-2009 @ 8:37PM
Chris said...
Damn, I like everyone else, really thought Michael and Oscar were going to pull something from their bums to save the company. I kind of expected it, they way the built of Oscar's frustration with DM. It was disappointing when he choked and I couldn't help cheering as Michael called Alan Brand a moron, and he was right. Michael's branch has kept consistently strong sales (they even *dropped* when Michael left to form his own company) while they've managed to run the company into the ground.
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11-20-2009 @ 8:55PM
tingrin87 said...
So, i watched the Drew Carey Show all the way through, and it hit a steep decline after they got rid of the whole company he worked at (can't remember the name off the top of my head)
Weeds has declined greatly since they moved to the border
IMO, if you attempt to make a drastic change to the basic fabric of a TV show, its quality will decrease drastically. The Office /needs/ to stay as Dunder Mifflin, for the sake of the fans
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11-21-2009 @ 12:26PM
J. said...
I only had a scene consistency problem w/ this episode:
The ending scene had Dwight at the front of the Q&A line raising hell. But how was he there if he supposedly escaped in the limo w/ the DM crew before the conference started up again sans Michael? I guess they must've stopped the limo somewhere and dropped him off around the block?
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11-21-2009 @ 1:51PM
Georgia said...
If you noticed Andy was there too, so it wasn't in chronological order, just a scene we didnt see from the stock holder's meeting
11-21-2009 @ 3:20PM
J. said...
That's what I thought at first but I was wondering why Michael was absent. I guess he took a restroom break.
I"m reading way too much into this.