'The Office': Meet the new boss

As someone whose "Wire" love knows few bounds, I was very much looking forward to seeing what Idris Elba would bring to his guest stint on "The Office." He's maybe not as natural a comedian as fellow "Wire" alum Amy Ryan, but I think we're in for an interesting few weeks.

Even if Elba's only there to play the humorless exec, as was the case tonight, I think a couple weeks of Angela and Kelly scheming against one another to get him to notice them will make for some serious good fun.

These spoilers don't have a dress code.

Michael's reaction to his new boss -- Charles Minor is the regional VP, taking over the position Jan and Ryan formerly held -- wasn't especially surprising, but we've never quite seen someone on the show who just completely refuses to indulge Michael. Watching Michael's growing frustration -- as Pam notes, his comedy gets more infantile as he gets more upset, and he skipped "the 'Ace Ventura' butt-talking thing" and went straight to repeating Charles' words -- was different enough from the usual inappropriate Michael antics to make it interesting.

And I have to say: Even if Michael's "I quit" doesn't end up sticking for more than a week or two (Steve Carell is, after all, the star of the show), you have to respect him a little for saying it, impulsive and spiteful, though it was. I know I've been sort of dwelling on Michael's (slight) growth as a person the past couple weeks, but I really don't think that the character of a couple years ago would have seen David Wallace's condescending offer to attend his 15th anniversary party for the cheap gesture it was. So good on him.

I also really enjoyed how Charles' presence in Scranton affected the entire branch, with Jim going completely off his game (more on that in a bit) and especially the way he attracted Kelly and Angela. I never really considered it while watching Idris play a ruthless and well-organized drug lord on "The Wire," but Idris Elba is a handsome man ("Oh yeah -- he's a fox," my wife confirmed for me) -- and anything that puts Kelly and Angela in opposition on this show is OK with me.

If I had to choose my favorite bit from that portion of the episode, I'll go with Kelly's break-room semi-monologue ("I'm going to get him to buy me a prime rib tonight." Phyllis: "I think he already left." Kelly: "What!?!"), with her "Should I seduce him?" and Angela's "No -- no one wants to see that" a close second. I fear I'm not doing the bits justice, but they were fantastic throughout, all the moreso for Charles being completely unresponsive to any of it.

Even Jim, who's normally good with just about anyone, gets completely flustered. It's mostly his own fault, though: He's wearing a tuxedo in mockery of Dwight's dress-code memo ("It took him 40 minutes to get ready," Pam needles) and as he tries to explain what he's doing, it only sounds more absurd. His subsequent attempts to dig himself out of the hole only get him in deeper, but he can't stop. It's like he's channeling Michael somehow.

At least, though, Jim knows enough that he'll probably try to correct himself in the future, after ruefully saying to the camera, "For my next trick, I'm going to make my career disappear."

So: Thumbs up to Elba as the new boss and to the "Office" writers for finding a couple variations on the theme of Michael vs. management. Now, if they can find a way to get the guy who played Jay Landsman on "The Wire" to "The Office" (maybe as Kevin's brother?), I'll be in comedy heaven.

A few more notes from tonight's episode:

• Say the word "classy" enough and it starts to sound really funny. I counted at least a half-dozen utterances in the pre-credits sequence, plus one "declasse" from Jim. "French -- classy," Michael notes.

• Michael: "My understanding was that I was not going to be managed." Wallace, on the phone: "What gave you that idea?" Michael: "That was my understanding."
• Also loved Michael's impassioned "Do you even know how paper is made?" speech right before he stormed off to see Wallace in New York, and the totally useless shoving of the chair was kind of a perfect touch.
• Being ostracized following l'affaire Andy hasn't chastened Angela much, I guess. Her talking head about Charles possibly "dumpster diving" with Kelly? Harsh. Team Kapoor for me.

Here's a glimpse at Elba's previous management experience on "The Wire" (NSFW; lots of profanity). Like Charles Minor, Stringer Bell did not suffer fools.

How'd you like "The Office" this week? What do you think of the addition of Idris Elba?

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