Photos
Video
'The Office': Single, and maybe not
On the one hand, I'm a little surprised that Michael Scott had the fortitude to actually break up with Jan. Then I saw how he was handling it on Thursday's Office, and sure enough, that was our guy.
(These spoilers can, in fact, fit in a rowboat.)
Of the various personae Michael Scott can put up, I think we can all agree that Bad Michael is the least palatable. But tonight's Indiscriminately Needy Michael wasn't exactly easy to take either. Funny, sure. But not easy to take.
Really, there was probably no way to come back from the dinner party, but given the pathology that both Jan and Michael exhibit it wouldn't have been a huge surprise if they'd stayed together. Somehow one of them summoned up the will to leave, though, and so we have Michael alternately returning to his outsize sense of his own attractiveness and wallowing in self-pity over being single again. Good times.
Of course, the spectacle of Michael trolling for dates by having everyone in the office write down someone's name on a 3-by-5 card -- and more specifically, how everyone reacted to it -- made for some fine comedy, from Stanley's "I don't hate anyone enough to put their name on these cards" to Kevin suggesting a "hot and juicy redhead" named Wendy.
And even if the whole thing was an excuse to get Michael and Dwight at the chair model's grave site singing "American Pie," that'd be kind of all right (how much did that scene feel like the director just let the cameras run while Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson got silly?). The way he treated Pam's landlord, though? Not cool. And aside from mistakenly dialing Jan while going on about her boob job, mostly just uncomfortable and not uncomfortable-funny.
But while Michael was treating the landlady like crap and possibly getting Pam evicted, one of the sweetest Office moments we've seen in a long time was building. As they're joking about the setup, Jim pretty much asks Pam to move in with him -- which takes our girl aback a little. Finally she stammers out something about not living with anyone till she's engaged. "Have I not proposed to you yet?" Jim asks. "Well, that's coming."
And by god, he's not joking. Jim shows the camera the ring he bought for Pam -- "I got it a week after we started dating." That qualifies as a serious Wow, not just because it's all sweet and shmoopy and romantic, but because Jim is actually stepping up. He's known he's love Pam for a good long while now, but Jim has not exactly been, you know, a grown-up for much of the show's life.
I also liked how the show (B.J. Novak, who has yet to be on screen since the show returned, wrote the episode) managed to stay true to the jokey nature of Jim and Pam's relationship by having Jim get down on one knee -- to tie his shoe -- as they're walking to their cars. You can tell that Pam, even though she wants to, doesn't quite believe Jim is actually going to propose, but since we do, that makes it all that much more fun. It's kind of a marvel that, best efforts of the NBC promo department notwithstanding, this relationship hasn't fully crossed over into gooey, Notebook-ish territory; it takes sharp attention to character to pull that off, and The Office has done it really well thus far.
And no, I haven't forgotten about the goofy parking subplot. I'm always up for anything that gives Ed Helms and Brian Baumgartner more to do, even when it's as trifling as that. Kevin's quizzical look after Michael asked "What part of 'shorn't' don't you understand?" and his genuine happiness at getting a post-breakup win after the meeting of the Five Families.
But what sealed it was Andy's utterly ridiculous speech about why he took on the task of getting the parking spaces back from the W.B. Jones construction crew. Here it is: "Did I do it for me? No. I did it for the little guy, Joe Sixpack. The guy who wakes up every morning in his $400-a-month apartment and wonders how he's gonna pay the mortgage, how he's gonna fill his car up with oil, how he's gonna pay his kid's orphanage bills. That guy shouldn't have to wonder where he's going to park."
More good stuff from Thursday's episode:
- Jim and Pam explaining the walk from the satellite parking lot: "Today, we saw a junkyard dog attacking the bones of a rotisserie chicken." "Nature!"
- Michael on being single: "I like it. I like starting each day with a sense of possibility. I'm optimistic, because every day I get a little more desperate, and desperate situations yield the quickest results."
- The entire, rowboat-based conversation between Michael and Phyllis about her single friend. And later, "I'm setting Michael up with my fat friend anyway. He can just deal with it."
- And finally, this fantastic Creed non-sequitur: "When Pam gets Michael's old chair, I get Pam's. Then I'll have two chairs. Only one to go."
Is Needy Michael just a little too much to take? Did the Jim-Pam story make up for him, and what the heck was Creed talking about? Have at it about this week's Office.
Honestly, the best moment was Kevin saying how nice it was to finally win one for a change, referring to how awful his life has been thusfar.
Corey | Apr 17, 2008 11:51:25 PM | #I though the Michael storyline was a bit much, but what else is new? I would have loved for him to meet Phyllis's friend, though.
Kevin and Andy? The best. Everything about it, from Kevin acknowledging how nice it is to win to the whole Joe Sixpack speech. Awesome.
Finally, Jim and Pam? Pretty cool. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.
Girley | Apr 18, 2008 6:07:31 AM | #Gotta say, this episode wasn't quite up to par. Sure, Michael can be churlish, needy and self-involved, but this week he was just plain mean, from his complete disinterest in his employees' parking issues to his treatment of Pam's landlady to his (admittedly toothless) threat of firing anybody who didn't provide him with names of potential girlfriends. Mind you, the episode was filled with its usual assortment of great little nuggets. Phyllis, Creed, Kevin and Andy had some priceless moments. And Jim and Pam? Pitch-perfect. I usually make fun of my female friends who fall for sappy romantic comedies, yet even I couldn't help going "Aaaawwww!" when Jim whipped out that ring. Here's hoping these two characters make it to the altar without any more drama. After watching their troubled courtship, it's just a joy watching them happy together AND still be funny.
Marc | Apr 18, 2008 6:58:44 AM | #Michael to Oscar - "Hey Oscar Meyer Weiner...lover. Hilarious!
Jeff | Apr 18, 2008 7:18:21 AM | #I think the whole point of the Micheal set-up storyline was really just to introduce a way to raise the Pam and Jim storyline. It may have suffered a little because of that.
Even the parking storyline really served Jim and Pam because it created a context for them to be seen walking together where Jim could play that joke.
But as sweet as Pam and Jim where (I was suckered when he went down on one knee), Andy and Kevin were the definate icing on the episode. I'm so glad they kept Ed Helms who adds great elements to the show as an almost but not-quite-as-over-the-top version of Dwight. One wonders if his emergence as more of a character has something to do with the planned spin-off.
sac | Apr 18, 2008 8:05:25 AM | #Another great episode!!! This show is so different from the rest of the so called comedies on TV. For me, they can't make a bad episode.
sideshow AL | Apr 18, 2008 9:14:18 AM | #There'd better be more "drama" between Jim & Pam before they "tie the knot." More often than not, once an "on again, off again dating duo" becomes a "'til death do us part married couple", it's all down hill, and the comedy dries up.
Rico | Apr 18, 2008 9:46:20 AM | #Thanks for the great recap, Rick. I enjoyed the episode a lot, even needy Michael. Ah, Creed, what are you up to? It did seem like Steve and Rainn were just riffing at the end, I couldn't understand a lot of the words they were singing but that probably wasn't the point anyway. Jim and Pam are golden, BJ Novak really writes them so well. I couldn't help but scream a couple times, even though I know they aren't real people I'm just so happy for them both. Andy still seems a bit sedate or underused this season to me. His silly monologue at the end didn't ring true for me, it was amusing but not LOL funny.
Amy | Apr 18, 2008 9:48:29 AM | #I really enjoyed this eppy -- from Michael's oh-so-inappropriate comments to Andy's "orphanage" speech. Creed's slightly ominous "two down, one to go" -- priceless! And Jim and Pam -- do0d! I *so* laughed and cried and it was so totally perfect. I was surprised and not surprised at the same time, ya know? I guess I'll have to stay sharp along with Pam to see how the relationship progresses (hopefully) from here.
lvk1978 | Apr 18, 2008 10:31:10 AM | #As soon as Jim proposes to Pam, he will be hit by a car and die
Vanessa | Apr 18, 2008 12:42:41 PM | #I saw Wendy twice today. You know - that hot and juicy redhead!
Looking for my 3rd chair... | Apr 18, 2008 7:19:08 PM | #THE OFFICE and 30 ROCK hour block is the best 60 minutes on television. It's just a shame they're put together at an awkward hour, 830-930 ET. I'm not an EARL or SCRUBS fan, so that hour is TiVo'd while SURVIVOR is watched. My point is, it's horrible that Thursday is such a competitive night of television. It seems all the networks put their best on the same night. We wind up watching UGLY BETTY, CSI, and the NBC comedies over the weekend before we read or are told any spoilers. But, congrats NBC....still Network #3, but trying with this witty hour of quality writing and a million laughs.
mjf | Apr 19, 2008 5:10:16 AM | #
Zap2it Twitter Talk
