No thread on this yet, so I’ll start one. I thought this was one of the better episodes. All the hidden resentments and grudges simmering in the office were brought boiling to the surface. I liked the Jim and Dwight stuff especially ("…everybody kept calling me Dwayne for the entire day. I think Jim paid them to do it.") It was a nice touch to have Jim actually even start to think about how much time he spent tormenting Dwight and maybe even realize that Dwight had some legitimate grounds to complain (not that I want Jim to stop tormenting him).
Jim may have had an epiphany regarding his treament of Dwight, but I literally cried with laughter during that segment – in particular when he described the nickles in the phone.
I think that the Pam/Jim tension came on too fast – it could have been set up better in previous episodes, but I do like that they seem to be bringing this story to a head; much as I’ve enjoyed their dynamic so far, at some point you gotta shit or get off the pot.
It looks like they’re borrowing from the British version again, where
Jim’s character gets fed up and quits to go back to school and follow his dreams. But in the end, the boss convinces him to come back by giving him a promotion, which is an odd kind of downer twist, but obviously good for the show. It’s that sort of ambivalent feeling that was so common in the original.
We’ll have to see what happens in this version.
Obviously.
That was a completely worthless sentence, come to think of it.
There were a lot of great lines in this episode. . .lots of the throway stuff, like, “people talk too loud in the morning and the lights are too bright.”
During Jim’s talking head segment when he was listing all the things he’s done to Dwight, I was laughing even harder at each one, particularly how he moved Dwight’s desk an inch every time he went to the bathroom. Then Jim said “they really don’t sound very funny when you’re just listing them like this”, or something. But I found that the funniest part of the whole show.
Jim’s realization about his tormenting of Dwight was both funny and poignant, and just shows that deep down, he’s basically a stand-up guy. Also, the way he finally confessed to Pam that he had made the complaint about her wedding planning, in front of the whole office.
Michael’s solution to Angela’s complaint about Kevin’s sexual remarks was perfect.
I loved Michael’s photoshopped version of the group photo. Especially when you know that it ended up costing him $160.
“It’s offensive! It’s child abuse! It reminds me of those stage mothers who parade their kids around!”
I think Oscar maybe has some issues .
I liked last night’s episode - pretty tight. And it was written by Greg Daniels.
I’ll admit, the Pam/Jim stuff made me a little sad. And Pam’s “I try not to bother him with this stuff.”, then Jim’s “You mean your thoughts and feelings?”.
Ugh. They break my heart.
Jim torturing Dwight was hysterical, though. And Dwight’s meltdown was a riot.
No kidding! I mean sure, Angela’s idea of “art” is extremely distasteful, but offensive? I don’t think I’d go quite that far or make that big of a deal out of it. Though it was hilarious that Oscar did.
I also loved that Dwight thought Toby sent all his complaints about Jim to a “permanent file” in New York (under his desk) and how he spilled the beans to Dwight.
Phyllis’s “I don’t like you” to Angela was priceless.
Damn, that was a good ep.
My fave was probably the nickels in the phone!
But so many brilliant little bits. Michael getting a haircut for his ID, and Dwight (my middle name is not Fart!) asking Phyllis what is on her face.
My son was quite taken with the “they smell of death” line as well.
And the open hostility that came out. Stanley, “We’re not close.”
I was disappointed that Pam gave Angela a “Save the date” after saying she chooses not to invite anyone who calls her a hussy.
I thought it was Phyllis: “Stanley and I are close.” Stanley: (pause) “We sit close.”
But what cracked me up so hard I had to pause my TiVo:
“Kevin, Angla says you have been making sexually inappropriate comments that make her uncomfortable. So the solution is that Angela is going to make sexually inappropriate comments to make you uncomfortable.”
Kevin: “I accept that decision.”
It cracks me up that Toby doesn’t have a locked cabinet to keep the complaint files. And Michael airing the grievances to the entire office would get his ass handed to him as he was being shown the door, in any corporate environment.
Have any of you seen any of the actors, aside from Jenna Fischer and Steve Carrell in other things or on talk shows? They all seem so perfect for their parts, as if they were real office drones plucked out of their environments. I’d be curious to see them speak as themselves. Especially Angela. That actress really nails it with her contemptuously raised eyebrow and pursed lips. I want to slap the snot out of her! And didn’t Dwight look deranged!? Great stuff.
Was I reading too much into it, or did the end, when the camera showed the stacks and stacks of boxes of Toby’s HR reports, feel much like the end of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”?
Yeah, I think it was a deliberate reference. Those weren’t all his reports, he was hiding the complaints among all the paper in the warehouse so Michael wouldn’t be able to do that again.
I’ve seen John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson on Ellen DeGeneres. They were both pretty easy-going - and they can dance . And while it wasn’t exactly HER, we were watching GSN one night, and this infomercial for Walgreens’ digital photo center came on - it was Angela! And she was SMILING! Gotta admit to a bit of shock at that.
