Oh, so that's why the folks at The Office had Joss Whedon direct tonight's episode. After all, when bats and possible vampires are involved, who better than the man behind Buffy?

And everything that happened in the office, with the bat, with Jim the would-be vampire, with Dwight the monster hunter ("I have hunted werewolves. I shot one once, but by the time I got to it, it had turned back into my neighbor's dog"), was gold. Pam's art show added a poignant touch too. But I may have had one too many weeks in a row of over-the-top Michael.

Although the running gag with the candy bars was inspired -- right down to "Chunky" at Pam's show -- Michael's speech to Ryan's business-school class felt, well, a little predictable, which is not something I've ever really felt about this show. But Michael's string of platitudes about the business world, his movie-inspired "teaching" style (Dead Poets Society, in this case) -- it was all stuff we'd seen before.

Fortunately, though, there was a bat loose in the Dunder Mifflin office (Toby: "The simple solution would be to open a window ... if we had windows that could open"). Just about everything about this subplot had me rolling, from Dwight's obvious glee at finding the bat guano to the final showdown with the bat, and Meredith (great physical work by Kate Flannery and Rainn Wilson in that scene).

Also, while Jim's, uh, transformation doesn't sync up with the Whedonverse version of how vampires are born, it made for one great running gag, hitting the right note of tormenting Dwight without really doing any harm. Dwight's reaction to it, too, was fantastic: "One crisis at a time." (Also, "If a vampire bat was in the U.S., it makes sense that it would come to a -sylvania.")

I'm a little conflicted about the art-show scenes, though. I've been a Roy booster for a good portion of this season now, but he was kind of back to his old self tonight, giving himself points for showing up with his brother, then using that to get Pam to spend the night. Yuck.

And Oscar and his roommate, with the "motel art" comment? Ouch. Although they have a point -- Pam could stand to be a little more honest with herself. The art show did, however, give Michael a chance to redeem himself after the b-school fiasco. There was no way he wouldn't like Pam's rendering of the Dunder Mifflin office, and the moment -- after the wildly uncomfortable "Do you have something in your pocket?" line -- was genuinely sweet, Chunky bar or no Chunky bar.

So was Michael too much for you tonight? And did the bat make up for it?

Comments

Every time I write off Michael he redeems himself. This time when he showed up at the art show and made Pam's day. She got a little beat up this episode, so she deserved a boost. Kudos to the writes for not having Jim be the one to swoop in and save the day.

Kudos also to Ryan being banished back to Kelly's area, his worst nightmare, even though we know deep down he cares for her. Poor guy.

Jeff | Feb 15, 2007 11:28:30 PM | #

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I liked Michael this episode. He was much more tolerable to me this time around. The ripping of the textbook, albeit hilarious, was the one point that was over the top. Otherwise, what he did to Ryan was rightly deserved.

Loved the Dwight/Jim vampire subplot, including how they got Creed involved (answering Dwight's questions before he's even finished phrasing them). Also, I loved Angela's reaction to the bat, CLASSIC!

As far as the emotional art show scene...loved that as well. I, too, was thankful that is was not Jim who showed up, but instead another chance of Michael to redeem himself. Even if it was completely accidental, there are sides to him that show he is a good boss.

Oh, and as far as Roy is concerned--those are typical actions of someone of his character...I was not surprised at all.

JS | Feb 16, 2007 6:23:36 AM | #

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where is andy bernard? what happened to his character? why has he disappeared from the show?

jb | Feb 16, 2007 8:09:01 AM | #

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Andy was just made a series regular, so he should be back. There was a cut scene that is available online where he was told to take anger management classes. I believe that is where he is now.

dm | Feb 16, 2007 8:24:03 AM | #

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I'm just not buying the overly gullible Dwight. Yeah, the guy's a doofus. But, he's got something in that big gourd of his. First he thinks the guy might really be Ben Franklin. Now he really thinks Jim's turning into a vampire? No sale.

gl | Feb 16, 2007 10:27:13 AM | #

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The camera work during the scene of the "just-discovered" bat was awesome. The shots of people running, Creed sitting calmy, and Jim looking like "What the....? was great.

Ren | Feb 16, 2007 10:54:25 AM | #

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I am also getting a little tired of Michael's antics. It is starting to feel a little bit forced as if the writers have to make Michael act like a moron each and every week. They should give him a week off and focus more on the other characters. On the plus side, however, I loved the Jim/Dwight subplot. Every touch Jim added to the vampire story was hilarious, but especially when Dwight was getting a drink of water and he caught Jim staring at his neck. I died in laughter at that moment! Props for finally giving Meredith something do not involving alcohol. And, I really liked it when Kevin went running from the bat and ran into the camera. Great work! Good to see Joss Whedon's name again!

Mark | Feb 16, 2007 11:46:45 AM | #

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Stanley does it again. The bat flies, Stan says, "goodbye."

shoparazzi | Feb 16, 2007 12:35:37 PM | #

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Loved the bat scenes, loved how Michael supported Pam. Wonderful episode.

robyn | Feb 16, 2007 1:59:28 PM | #

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I liked this episode, but I prefer when they keep most of the episode in 'the office'.

andy | Feb 16, 2007 3:30:08 PM | #

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Over Michael. Give him a week off. The bat scenes were the best. Im still laughing ready the comments posted here. Meredith and Angela were the best.

Ray | Feb 16, 2007 3:38:00 PM | #

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I totally agree that there is way too much focus on Michael. Sometimes he makes me laugh, but more often he makes me wish he would just shut up. I get the whole idea that he's supposed to make you feel uncomfortable, but there is a limit and lately they are definitely surpassing it. It was a little disappointing because it seemed like Joss Whedon's involvement in this episode was kind of watered down by Michael's absurdness.

nc | Feb 16, 2007 4:35:48 PM | #

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I wasn't that surprised at Roy's behavior- he did come to the art show- I'm not even sure that he would have done that when they were engaged (he didn't want her taking art classes then...). I was shocked(and rather pleased) by Pam's near-blatant admission that she didn't love Roy. Also one of the deleted scenes for the episode shows Karen almost ripping down Pam's art poster-that can't be suggesting a good dynamic...

sara | Feb 17, 2007 7:08:07 AM | #

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Michael at the wedding was way over the top, but this seemed like back to normal, barely bearable Michael. I like the Joss Whedon touches, and I don't just mean the vampire stuff, but the truly clever humor and depth and surprises.

slayer | Feb 17, 2007 9:48:53 AM | #

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I think Creed may be making the jump from my favorite fringe character to my favorite character overall.
"What size?"

mj | Feb 17, 2007 10:21:33 AM | #

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I really liked the episode. I usually think Michael is too much to swallow, and it has been too many weeks in a row now for that, but atleast this week's actually seemed toned down. I don't mind that it set up the future likelihood that Jim can reclaim his old desk, either.
I loved the bat story, of course. I always prefer episodes that have a good in-office story seperate from Michael (like they did with the Office Olympics). This one was also good because it took some of the drama away from Jim-Pam-Karen for a week. I've been rooting for Roy lately, too, but this week showed that Pam was right all along when she left him.

Sarah | Feb 17, 2007 4:12:13 PM | #

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The Michael stuff is just getting far too difficult to watch. This is taking uncomfortable comedy and just making it hard to take.

I also agree with those who voiced their concerns that Dwight is being written as an absolute moron. What with believing the impersonator was actually Ben Franklin and now the vampire thing. Gullable is one thing, but Dwight is now being written as far more than gullible. He's unrealistically stupid.

Writers of The Office, help Dwight out, write him as a little less idiotic so we can start to believe in him a little bit.

Laura | Feb 18, 2007 1:12:50 PM | #

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE DWIGHT!! I
THINK I WORKED WITH A "DWIGHT" ONCE, & DATED ONE.. A LONG TIME AGO!! THOSE
KINDS OF PEOPLE ARE OUT THERE! THATS WHAT MAKES THIS
SHOW SO POPULAR...EVERY OFFICE IN REAL AMERICA HAS A
PAM, A JIM, AN ANGELA, A BOSS
LIKE MICHAEL, AND A DWIGHT.
DONT YOU GUYS ALL KNOW AT LEAST ONE "SANE" PERSON THAT
HAS THE "CRAZY" EYE?? I MIGHT EVEN HAVE BEEN ONE FOR
AWHILE...WHO KNOWS?
WHATEVER...THE OFFICE IS FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!

LIZ/LAS VEGAS | Feb 19, 2007 11:15:56 AM | #

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