# The Office: "Heavy Competition" (Open Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384 "2009-04-17T04:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/61 "2009-04-18T21:01:27Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Was there a meta joke in there? Jim or Pam was talking about how Andy was going to marry Angela, but he found out she’d been “sleeping with Dwight for years… years? How could that be? Yeah, that timeline doesn’t quite add up”. I just thought it was a comment about how Angela had been sleeping with Dwight before Andy even entered the picture, making Andy look even more pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/62 "2009-04-18T22:04:17Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I just thought it was a comment about how Angela had been sleeping with Dwight before Andy even entered the picture, making Andy look even more pathetic. Or Angela. **SenorBeef** , I really didn’t get that part either. Pam said the timeline is sketchy… I guess that could mean that it’s been on-again, off-again? I think I have a good handle on it though. Perhaps it’s just that the characters don’t know as much as the viewers. Pam’s known about it the longest. Poor Andy. Even though I wasn’t very fond of the b-story, I can relate to Andy when he said: “I know a few things about love – Horrible, terrible, awful, awful things.” The b-story seemed tailor-made for me at the time. I could use a ‘Jim’ tell me that he promises that I will find someone one day. I just can’t ignore the fact that the whole thing seemed a little weird, and maybe a little random, (not all having to do with relationship issues, however I do realize that Jim was probably acting that way since Andy said he would be there for his emotional needs in replace of Pam. I can’t put my finger on it why I didn’t like it. Everyone, including me, used to hate Andy, now that his character’s evolved he seems like kind of like a pretty good-natured dork. And I can relate to that. I hope they have Charles evolve a little, or flesh his character out a little more. I sort of hope he doesn’t just get ditched and leave the show. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/63 "2009-04-18T22:20:25Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think the MSPC arc has rejuvenated this series. > > I always like to see Michael do well, and this episode did a good job of showing him at his most competent (when he’s trying to make a sale), while still managing to use his dorkiness and eccentricities in a way that works. Michael “color coding” everything he wants to remind himself not say worked great. My biggest problem with this show is when it requires a suspension of disbelief that undermines the whole premise…in other words, we have to see Micheal functioning like something other than a horrible cartoon _sometimes_, or the idea of him holding that job in the first place completely falls apart. This is not absurdist humor, the reason it’s so funny is because it walks the reality line, and if Micheal is 100% buffoon 100% of the time, it stops being funny. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/64 "2009-04-18T22:30:33Z")
All I know is that I need more Creed. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/65 "2009-04-18T22:33:27Z")
“I was there first so I have Dibbs. You respect Dibbs don’t you?” “I’m not a barbarian.” > [@dropzone](#): > > _The Peter Principle_ may have been treated as satire, but it is also one of the most important business books ever published. It lures you in by being funny, but it keeps you by being true. You’ll never see your co-workers or bosses in the same way. > > _The Dilbert Principle_ expands on it, and its final chapter is better and more insightful than any business book I ever read. But, because both revile the incompetence of those who outrank you, which is patently obvious to you and your lunch crowd, your boss will never require you to read them. Instead, you can, on your own, read and use them; you are then at an advantage over your cow-orkers. [Rather than hijack this thread, I thought I’d start a new one on the Peter Principle.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11052164#post11052164) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/66 "2009-04-18T23:41:18Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > The b-story seemed tailor-made for me at the time. I could use a ‘Jim’ tell me that he promises that I will find someone one day. I just can’t ignore the fact that the whole thing seemed a little weird, and maybe a little random, (not all having to do with relationship issues, however I do realize that Jim was probably acting that way since Andy said he would be there for his emotional needs in replace of Pam. I can’t put my finger on it why I didn’t like it. > > Everyone, including me, used to hate Andy, now that his character’s evolved he seems like kind of like a pretty good-natured dork. And I can relate to that. What I thought was interesting about the b-plot was that Andy _didn’t_ get angry at Jim’s apparent emotional neediness. That’s the way I expected it to work out and how I think most shows would have handled it – Jim becomes more and more demanding, and eventually Andy either gets fed up and tells Jim to act like an adult or else totally loses his temper and winds up back in anger management therapy. Instead Andy remained committed to providing Jim with support even as Jim’s behavior became increasingly extreme. Andy was even willing to confront the whole office because he thought they must be giving Jim a hard time. I felt kind of bad for Andy at the end when Jim didn’t acknowledge this. Andy did need to hear that he shouldn’t project his problems onto Jim and that there were other fish in the sea besides Angela, but I thought his efforts to be a good friend should have been recognized too. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/67 "2009-04-19T00:28:07Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > What I thought was interesting about the b-plot was that Andy _didn’t_ get angry at Jim’s apparent emotional neediness. That’s the way I expected it to work out and how I think most shows would have handled it – Jim becomes more and more demanding, and eventually Andy either gets fed up and tells Jim to act like an adult or else totally loses his temper and winds up back in anger management therapy. > > Instead Andy remained committed to providing Jim with support even as Jim’s behavior became increasingly extreme. Andy was even willing to confront the whole office because he thought they must be giving Jim a hard time. > > I felt kind of bad for Andy at the end when Jim didn’t acknowledge this. Andy did need to hear that he shouldn’t project his problems onto Jim and that there were other fish in the sea besides Angela, but I thought his efforts to be a good friend should have been recognized too. I agree, aside from just mentioning Pam really didn’t deserve what Andy was saying behind her back, (which is the result of his projecting as you mentioned). Plus, Andy DID put up with Angela. I’m not sure Jim’s neediness outranks hers. 🙂 Yes, the Nard-Dog does seem to like to help out his fellow co-worker, whether they want it or not. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/68 "2009-04-19T15:12:56Z")
I didn’t expect The Office to suddenly become hilarious again. This ep and the two last have been great, and I’m glad that you people can see that too, so the writer’s are not just working in vain. (Which is a feeling I get with some tv shows.) ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/69 "2009-04-19T15:13:33Z")
Tall. Beets. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384/70 "2009-04-19T15:18:09Z")
Deleted scene: RYAN: When you mess with my family, I can’t be responsible for my actions. PAM: When are you ever responsible for your actions? RYAN: Get off my ass, you hag. MICHAEL: Hey, hey, hey. Something about that seems inappropriate. … Betrayal ain’t just a river in Egypt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-heavy-competition-open-spoilers/493384.md?page=3)