I think this is the first episode where I really didn’t like Stanley. It’s not even that he’s wrong about Michael, but he was needlessly cruel, and his public dissing really was inappropriate. At the end of it all, Michael finally did act like a boss and Stanley did accept it, but for a while I thought Stanley was really being an asshole.
Ryan: what a little prick he is.
Toby: Wasn’t he going to Costa Rica? Is he just back at work like nothing happened now?
The Pam glasses thing was kind of flat, mainly because they didn’t make her look any less attractive. I did like Creed’s line, though.
I must have missed something. Michael says that Stanley should make a “rap” (because he’s black), Stanley refuses in a way that was appropriate for being pigeonholed, yet Toby goes to Michael, saying that Stanley needed to be reprimanded for being out of line?
I disagree. Or maybe I don’t disagree. Another way to look at what Stanley did at the meeting was that he treated Michael like a man. Everyone else ignored Michael, or toadied (Andy), or made a joke at his expense (Jim).
He was disrespectful, but he was up front with it. That’s better than being dismissed, ignored, or made fun of.
What Stanley did forced Michael to actually act like a boss for once.
All Michael wanted was for Stanley to put away his crossword puzzle and at least pretend to pay attention. Stanley snapped at him in a way that was totally inappropriate. No matter how much he disrespects Michael, Mochael is right, he can’t talk to him that way. If Stanley doesn’t like his boss, he can find another job. What he can’t do is continually insult him and expect to get away with it. It’s unprofessional. Even Stanley understood that at the end of the day.
I think Stanley is tired of all the racial crap that Michael directs at him. He cannot even talk about Stanley without mentioning his blackness. I can see why, after what did Stanley say, a decade of this? He might be at the point where he puts up that crossword to block out what he knows is coming, both the racist stuff and the general idiocy. We watch the show for comedic purposes, but if that were your job and your boss, eventually you might just stop pretending to be OK with it. After all, Stanley is a beautiful, sassy, powerful black man. He’s sticking up for himself.
I was surprised that Toby tried to tell Michael he needed to discipline Stanley instead of telling Michael that the race related comments were making Stanley uncomfortable in the workplace and he should knock it off.
As for the public haranguing that Stanley gave Michael, including the lawsuit threat, well… a fake firing? In public, in front of everyone? Humiliating and not funny (except for us). Stanley losing his shit was a realistic and appropriate reaction IMO. Michael did deal with it pretty well, though, for him. I thought for sure he was going to try to tickle Stanley.
This was hands-down the most uncomfortable episode I’ve seen in a looooong time. I LOVED it! My wife spent most of the episode hiding under a blanket cuz she couldn’t stand to watch.
Shall we elect officers? What’s with the beard and the unbuttoned shirt?
Jim was gobsmacked. How will that play out? Will Michael come to his defense? Will Jim get fired? Will he quit? Will he trip and fall in Michael’s face-hole and sue the company?
And what was up with Phyllis talking back at the end? Does she want to be fake-fired too?
I am now convinced that Michael MAY be a normal person when he doesn’t have an audience. He didn’t think that the cameras were there when he finally decided to act like a boss and be a reasonable person. We’ve seen him napping or goofing around when he doesn’t think that the camera is on him, but we’ve never seen him interact with another human being.
This is my theory.
Also, I predict that the season finale will involve Ryan firing Jim or David Wallace firing Ryan and offering Jim the corporate job as Ryan’s replacement.
No, he acted like a passive agressive child. He sat in a meeting doing a crossword puzzle and then snapped at Michael in a totally inappropriate manner. You may not have to respect the man, but you have to respect the title.
All this hate on Ryan but none for Toby? Unfortunately for Jim, Ryan is partially correct. Jim is a malcontent. He does spend a lot of time goofing off and playing practical jokes. Now it does seem that Ryan is acting like a prick. What isn’t 100% clear is whether he is doing it on his own accord or partially because of something Toby said.
Anyhow, it’s pretty clear between his drug problem, the lackluster web site and his management style, they are setting Ryan up for a fall. A demotion back to Scranton would be the most comically satisfying.
The Warriors (come out and plaaay) and the Newsies.
But Michael is continually childish and offensive. Michael was making an inappropriate race-related comment when Stanley snapped at him. I guess I really couldn’t blame Stanley for finally losing his shit. I’m glad Michael handled it right in the end, because up to that point, he didn’t deserve better than he got. Who here hasn’t wanted to pull out a crossword in some pointless, idiotic meeting? Stanley was openly doing what they all wished they could (except Dwight and Andy). He was obviously feeling resentment and bitterness at how Michael runs the office, which he got to vent, and Michael actually listened and got to assert his authority in a meaningful way. That confrontation was cathartic, I thought.
I agree with you about Toby being a dick too, and that maybe he and Ryan are collaborating on screwing over Jim. I think Ryan initiated the warning but found a receptive accomplice in Toby. If Jim’s sales numbers are good and no one in the office has a problem with him, then the warning was totally retaliatory on Ryan’s part. It’s going to be fun seeing that little shit get his comeuppance, if he actually does.