The Office: 4x05

The Office
4x05
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And we're back to thirty minutes - which has its fair share of pluses and minuses. Plus: not filling in the gaps with Michael driving his car into a lake. Minus: thirty less minutes of funny and cuteness. Oh, well, whatever. As long as I can count on the constancy of my Thursday night, as long as I know it's going to be there for me, I'll take what I can get. (Sorry, was discussing with a friend, how TV is a source of comfort when everything else is haywire in life - moving, job searching, etc.)

Tonight was all about ensemble...

And I loved it. When they stay on site, all together, it reminds me of season 1 and 2. Less bells and whistles (not that I don' t love the occasional bell or whistle) and moments with Cousin Mose, but the idea of that group trapped in an enclosed space, for an unknown amount of time... pure comedy. And in honor of that, tonight's breakdown is by character...

Michael: Such dedication. He can be laughable, sure, but that ad was pretty dang good! I mean, come one, Chariots of Fire?! Awesome. Michael broke out of his creative lock box. He used the talents of his workers. He visualized the unicorn. It's inspiring, really. Look for Mike's Cereal Shack in a city near you.

Andy: KIT KAT BAR!! Come, on! (Though I do like "football cream.") And I'm sorry, what he and Angela were doing is called "facing." I have this on good authority from a friend. Apparently there are by-laws to facing, and I think "cheeking the earlobe," crosses the boundaries of decency. Also love that Nard Dawg has NO clue what is going on with Dwight.

Dwight: Heh. "Oooooh, D." And, I'm sorry, but his second lifer can fly? Saving the masses from overpriced paper. Plus, his life was so good, his second life had a second life. Who can top that?

Jim: I, like Pam, want a Philly Jim. Too cute. Plus, bringing in breakfast, proud boyfriend smile at Pam's animation, followed immediately by protective/jealous boyfriend arm around the shoulders... always a win. Even if he did have to catch a ride home with Meredith. Guess he pissed... (P.S. Let's not give Jim and Pam any issues yet, everyone - this is normal. People work late.)

Pam: I loved focused, artistic Pam, falling asleep in the office, but having to decide if sleeping in the same place as Dwight and Michael was better or worse than falling asleep at the wheel and dying in a fiery car crash. P.S. I need Pam to clear my phone lines.

Darryl: The song was fantastic. And the backup singers - even better! Hysterical. Why did I feel like I was watching Cheers?

Phyllis: I want to see the outtakes on that crying scene.

Angela: Who doesn't hate being titillated? Yeah, I need outtakes on that, too.

Dunder-Mifflin.
The people-person's, paper people.

The Office: 3x23

The Office

3x23
The Job
SEASON 3 FINALE

"It's a date."

One we have to wait FOUR months for! Holy. Crap. So... I can't say this was the funniest episode of the season (not that that's EVEN the point right now), but as usual, by tomorrow afternoon, I'll be laughing at things I never noticed tonight. Best thing, bar none, about The Office - it gets better with time! Good stuff friends, good stuff. Still, I realize a lot of other things happened besides the last talking head...

And I'll try (won't promise) to focus...

1. The cold open was really funny. Should've known Michael would get the day wrong, but you gotta love his confidence!

2. Dwight. I think, if you go back to my Safety Training blog, I mention how, "Dwight and Andy are SO going to love one another." And here we have them, painting the town - or the office - black in the season finale. Not sure it was all about love, what with Andy cleaning out Dwight's cup, but it was funny to watch. Especially the "interview."

3. Creed.

4. I don't even know WHAT to say about Jan. The boobs. The boobs. God, the boobs. The meltdown was sort of, tragically funny. I mean, my word, what is with that woman? And they've definitely created an interesting dynamic for next season. Michael looked super excited about Jan waiting at home for him in her stretch pants... wow. And props to all the smart speculators over at Office Tally. That's where I first heard rumbles that the "big" thing between Michael and Jan was her boob job. I should have figured the episode title had a little extra meaning.

5. RYAN? What? Sorta shocking. I'd love a count on the number of times this season someone has mentioned that the kid's made NO sales. Interesting. I saw a theory from someone who thinks it's possible Ryan got A corporate job, not THE corporate job. Who knows. Wallace said he was interviewing "low level" people, so maybe Ryan's MBA made up for his sales record. And I'm thinking Kelly won't take this break-up lying down.

6. Kevin and his "list."

7. Meredith wanting Jim to "turn around" and show off his sexy, hot haircut.

8. The Jim/Dwight Hell dream.

9. Pam's secret job in Dwight's regime.

Jim and Karen...

It must be discussed (and I never really have before, so this could be lengthy). The minute he came in with the haircut, I knew it was Karen's idea... as I'm sure almost everyone did. She's competing with something she can't understand and the reaction is to hold on tight... I think we all (at least I do) get that feeling, and the night in New York, the overcompensating, the conversation about moving together... were all her way of laying it out on the table. Interesting, though, how Jim never really answered her questions... As for Karen's "sudden" bitchiness toward Pam - I think it was natural, considering what happened at the beach, and she's taking every opportunity to get Jim out of Scranton, where she knows they can't co-exist with Pam. It pained me to watch them flit around New York, because it shows they do have a connection. Still, it all seemed so unnatural. So non-Office. But I think that was kind of the point. We needed a visual reminder of who Jim is, opposed to who she's wanting him to be. It makes me a little sad for Karen, because even though I never wanted them together, she is a great girl... just not for our Tuna. I honestly never really believed she knew the same Jim we do, and that's not her fault. (On a side note: did anyone else ever find her a bit dismissive of his feelings? Deflecting Jim's concerns over Dwight, telling him he has homeless hair, talking down to him as "Adult Jim," etc?) Overall point? If you have to change someone to be with them, probably not gonna work. Still, I do hope we find out what went down between the two of them come season premiere time... did they actually break up? (Obviously the did.) Do we get to see how it happened? What did he tell her?

PAM: The lady gets her own section tonight!

When our girl makes a decision, she's all in (just like Luke, *sniff*). And I'm love, love, LOVING it. No qualms discussing Jim, her feelings or standing up for herself - even if it's a little bitchy - to Karen. And it's not like Karen wasn't a little witchy herself (and I get it, I'd have been in protect mode, too, if the girl for my boyfriend, laid it all out there). Still, I was actually rooting for Pam in the Karen scene. Yeah, the beach wasn't her best choice in timing, but backing down would have taken away from it. She's sticking to her guns, making her desires known... and hey, that's what we've been waiting for all along, right? Best part... she's most concerned about Jim's happiness, not hers. Well, I mean, we all know she wants him and loves him (I'm sorry, even if we don't hear it 'til the last episode, she does. Did you see the look on her face at the end when she said, "Everybody loves him..."? MmmHmm. Pam loves him.) but she's trying to be okay if it doesn't go her way, 'cause she just wants him to be happy. Cliches and all. And lucky for her (and us), looks like they might finally have the timing right... *grin*

And speaking of good timing...

Wow, wow, wow, wow. I'm not gonna lie, when they showed Jim and Karen all cutesy in NYC, I got a little nervous. I should have known they'd take it down to the wire, but I was at a friend's house and we kept looking at each other during commercials saying, "What the crap is gonna happen?" Then... everything happened!

To start, I was just SO happy to see Jim and Pam smiling at each other during the haircut exchange and laughing in their way over Jan's "growth" later on. It's always been the little things with those two and tonight we FINALLY saw it returning again. I think one of the best scenes was Jim, alone in the corporate lobby, hearing someone else answer the Dunder-Mifflin phone. He gave up on New York a little, then.

And then, there's the note. Herein lies the beauty of Jim and Pam. She's supporting him and, at the same time, promising she remembers everything, and she just... knows. The yogurt lid from Office Olympics was a perfect choice. Loved it. And someone was hitting us hard with the symbolism when David asked Jim where he saw himself in 10 years and it cut to Jim and Pam at the beach. I'm a fan of that scene, her asking him to finally come back. What am I saying, I'm a fan of the last 10 minutes in general!

And then there's the talking head at the end... wow. So, Jim's obviously made a choice. (A good one, I think.) And Jenna was fantastic, the tears in her eyes and the goofy smile on her face. My friend and I both screamed, "WHAT!" And immediately rewound it to watch again. I think we ended up with the goofy smiles and the choked up feeling, just like Pam. So, so good.

Who knows what we'll pick up with in September. It makes sense to me (and this is just me), that after everything they've been through, whatever state Jim and Pam are in at the beginning of the year, they'll be taking it slow. I hope they are... I want to see some Season 2, flirty love. And it really doesn't seem realistic that they'd jump right into this thing. They have lots to sort out, lots to talk about (I'm still waiting on a good fight, honestly), but I'm okay with that. I'm okay with slow...

Because they finally got the timing right!

The Office: 3x22

The Office
3x22
Beach Games

Holy. Hell.

I just... that was... wow!

I'm gonna geek out here for a minute (or half an hour, or until next Thursday) and admit how completely and totally nervous I was during this entire episode. Not kidding. Like butterflies bangin' around in my stomach, just waiting to see if the Promo Gods were leading me astray. And holy crap they weren't! I mean, I expected something to happen, don't know what, thought of various scenarios involving Pam coming clean somehow... but to see it actually happen?

Well, as Jim would say... WOW.

Back to that in a moment. For now, I promise to focus (for a couple of seconds) on the rest of the episode because it was, in a word, amazing. And not just because of Pam and the sweeps play. (Prepare yourself for a long one tonight...)

Seriously funny stuff went down...

1. Michael and his 40 illnesses a year. Good to know he does NOT have eggs, but has possibly eaten animal waste. And really, who wouldn't promote a person to corporate who, "gots to get their freak on?"

2. Meredith and her "bathing suit."

3. Poor Toby, being forced to stay behind... all he wanted was to see Pam in a two piece!

4. Song time on the bus. "And the night got deathly quiet..." Did you notice Michael's operatic version of the song? Funniest part of the scene.

5. Funtivities. All of them. Dwight and Ryan in the egg race. Mush! Mush! Every sumo match... but especially Jim's TH after he was attacked by Stanley. Dwight coal-crawling.

6. Michael's TH descriptions of Jim, Dwight, Stanley and Andy. Jim's not a hard worker, Dwight's an idiot, Stanley's done good for America and Andy is not to be trusted. Good stock to choose from for the next Regional Manager.

7. Two words. HARRY. POTTER. I'll solidify my nerdiness and say, I loved every minute, of every Harry Potter reference...

8. Angela and Dwight's clandestine meeting in the weeds, and her subsequent revenge in letting Andy float away. I think I laughed most during Michael's TH where Andy was in the background.

9. Creed and the fish. I mean, come on!

10. Oscar trying girls for a while because Angela thinks he can switch...

11. Bob Hope and Amanda Bynes.

And now, for the intrigue...
If Michael had asked me to choose a name for my team tonight, I'd have gone with TEAM PAM! I loved watching Jenna in this ep. Pam is coming out of her shell and you could see her filing away every moment that Michael held her back, or she saw Jim and Karen together, until she just... blew! And no, I don't think her venting session was out of character, considering the situation. Everyone reaches a boiling point sometimes, and this was hers. She walked on the coals, proved a point to herself (the most important kind); there was an adrenaline rush and things got said. She's tried to talk to Jim several times this season and she finally had an audience with him... so what if everyone else happened to be in the circle. It's one of those moments in life when we do something unexpected, and it's exhilarating and freeing and we're so glad we did it - even when we wake up the next morning petrified and completely embarrassed.

And can I just say... Jim's face was priceless. I can't wait to see what he has to say about this, especially with a new job opportunity looming above him. Maybe, maybe, he'll start to understand a little of how Pam felt last year when he sprung his feelings on her. Maybe he'll break up with Karen. Maybe he won't. Maybe he'll choose himself (lame)... whatever the case, next week should be interesting.

That said, I don't know that Jim and Pam will "get together" at this point. It seems rushed and fast and not on point if they do (feel free to prove me wrong, though, Greg). Pam's focus tonight was missing Jim and their friendship. OBVIOUSLY, they have feelings for one another, but I think what we'll see next year, is a return to season 2 Jim and Pam.

Still, this shooting two endings thing is making me crazy, so seriously, let's talk options:

1. Jim goes to NYC. This works on... yeah... NO levels. He has to be in Scranton. Seriously, I'd be pissed if they gave him a new job two years in a row. It doesn't work.

2. Jim and Karen break up, she leaves Scranton. The Jim and Pam door is wide open.

3. Karen gets the job in New York. She and Jim try long distance, but it's shaky with Jim and Pam on the road toward one another again.

But hey, what do I know, Jim and Pam could be making out at the closing credits again this year... and I'd be perfectly happy with that. All I know, is they have to give us something... or it's possible there will be a fan uprising.

And let's not forget, something big happens for Jan and Michael next week, too... and apparently the key word is "big." I have no clue where to go with that... or the fact that Michael's up for a job at corporate?!

It's gonna be a very tense (read: impatient) week for me.

(Here's a link to the new, "we can't show you anything from the finale," promo: http://video.dotcomedy.com/player/?id=103071)

The candy at my desk...

Forget Jelly Beans.

If I were Pam (here we go), the candy jar at my desk would contain an endless supply of these yummy "Sour Cherry Patches."

Who cares if they eat through my teeth and cause spontaneous dental hydroplosion

Of course, it would defeat the purpose, because I'd eat them all (every last one, don't even try to take some for yourself), and Jim would stay seated, his back to me, and never visit reception.

And I won't even mention the jokes Michael would come up with.

So, it's probably best that I'm not Pam... for numerous reasons.

(Note: This blog is being posted in the midst of immense distress. I just ate the last "sour cherry patch" from a bag I got for Easter. Withdrawal is painful.)