Michael’s still over the top, but in a more interesting way in the last episode.
As much as I like Jim, I really like it when he becomes the butt of the joke. It seemed like for a long time, the writers had Jim just shy of walking on water.
I did like that Jim got a bit of a comeuppance this week. The difference between him and Michael is that he’ll learn from it. The look on Jim’s face when Phyllis called him “Michael” was priceless.
Ah, not so easy being Michael, is it?
For a second there, I thought Dwight was going to leave Michael alone in the wilderness. Poor Michael. I get that he’s not the best in social skills, is petty and self-aggrandizing but does he have to be so stupid too?
It’s that same stupid deer in the headlights look he always has. I think Jim is such a smarmy bastard.
I liked parts of this episode a lot, although the Michael-as-Survivorman thing was too wacky for me to get into.
I loved that nobody liked Jim’s idea about he birthdays, and Jim talking to Michael about it later. I think it tells you a lot about both Michael and Jim as characters.
I do have a nitpick, though. In this episode, Meredith’s birthday is supposed to be the last in “birthday month.” But in a previous episode where Michael wants to throw a birthday party in order to lift people’s spirits, he chooses Meredith because even though nobody has a birthday coming up, Meredith’s is closest at a couple weeks away or something.
Seemed like kind of a glaring error to me.
I liked the part where Dwight is talking about how he might let Michael die in the wilderness, but he wouldn’t let him lose his dignity. Cut to Michael standing there in his self-shredded suit pants. Hilarious.
Michael as survivorman seemed in character to me, because he is always into pop culture references, quoting movies and comedians and stuff, so I could totally see him seeing Survivorman and giving it a shot, especially if he is encouraged by Dwight to do it. There seem to be a lot of episodes this year taking place outside the office.
My favorite part,
“The sun is in the Southeast quadrant making it about…”,(steals a quick look at his watch), “…2:30 in the afternoon.”
I also liked that Jim got his comeuppance (great word) a bit. I like Jim as a character but not so much as somebody I might want to hang out with.
Michael making a tent in his pants was funny too.
I loved Michael and Jim chuckling over Jim’s “hard” joke at the end. Michael seemed so pleased that he and Jim were laughing about the same thing.
“Look, I’ve tented my pants!”
Michael- “…and I’m going to return a completely new man.”
Jim- “That’d be great.”
And Jim will definitely still be there in 10 years.
I thought when Michael called Jim ‘my young ward’ I thought for certain we’d get a look of terror or desperation on Jim’s face.
Is Jim accepting his face? I’m kind of expecting a Jim breakdown of some kind this season. Sort of like an early mid-life crisis.
-Joe
Jim is a smart guy and I would’ve thought he would realize that being in charge for a day or two does not mean he gets to change Michael’s policies. Clearly he is in charge to hande minor decisions as well any emergencies.
Definitely. It’s been foreshadowed by “Philly Jim” in the SecondLife episode. I think both Jim & Pam are going to decide they want to do more with their lives than work in the Scranton office of D-M, but the things they want to do are mutually incompatible.
My favorite bit was Dwight with the rifle: “Don’t worry, I’m just using it for the scope. The safety’s -” pause, click, “on.”
I think we’ll definitely see something major happen with Jim assuming that we get any more episodes this season after next week’s.
Not only was the Second Life episode telling, so was his line to Michael last night that he didn’t see himself at Dunder Mifflin in ten years. Neither had Michael when he was in Jim’s position.
Since Pam is more and more working toward her artistic ambitions, I think it’s likely that Jim is going to become increasingly frustrated at how deeply he’s digging himself into his role at DM, which has been a concern of his since the first episode.
I loved it, especially the Jim story. Steve Carrell (as the writer) did a great job of indicating that maybe a good portion of Michael’s idiocy was induced by the weird interpersonal pressures of managing an office of disparate and opinionated people. I just loved when Jim was like, “Toby’s a nice guy, but sometimes . . .” 
I loved that, too. You really got the sense that Michael might have been more normal before he began managing the branch and they all drove him crazy. I like that episode focused on the fact that everybody in the office is weird–Michael isn’t always the problem. I think his conversation with Jim at the end is one of my all time favorite Office moments.
I actually thought this episode was the weakest one they’ve had in a long time. Everything just felt forced and contrived. And there’s wasn’t as much funny as we’re used to.
Amusing episode, but still kinda weak. I don’t like it when the writers (in this case, I think, Carrell himself) try to “explain” Michael. See Jim? See how difficult it is? Still really think I’m such a dork? Well, yes, in fact, absolutely. These little Michael buy-backs just don’t cut it for me. You’ve made him a monumental tool, don’t try to explain him or justify him now. Just run with it.
I definitely do not agree with this. If you do this, you end up with a Frank Burns. Where would The Office be if Michael got to go statesides while Jim and the crew still had to fight the war?
Agreed wholeheartedly. One of the things that sets “The Office” apart is that, despite the fact that Michael is a tool, and can be stunningly insensitive, we still empathize with him because we believe that he’s got good intentions under the dunderheadedness. We like him because he’s a three-dimensional character with believable motivations, and his flaws come from his personality rather than some generic asshole syndrome.
Hell, if there’s one reason other than Jim and Pam that Season 2 is considered the best, it’s because of moments like the end of “Halloween,” when a depressed and lonely Michael is cheered up by trick-or-treaters, or pretty much the entirety of “Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” from Michael playing conductor with Toby’s daughter to the Fundle Bundle debacle.
Telling line… “When we used to have cable (or was that satellite??)”
I think Michael is being eaten out of house and home by his load of a girlfriend. I think they are hinting at it whenever he has to lose something he loves to give her what she wants.