I thought this was a stronger episode over all than last week’s. The only thing I thought was a little much was the pizza boy kidnapping but other than that it had a lot of good moments. The bouncing screensaver thing (totally been there, done that), Dwight vs. the computer, Ryan being a douche (he’s got to be headed for a fall), Michael and Dwight imitating Ryan and the best scene of all, Andy’s conference call a cappella serenade. I think that’s the first time I ever actually like Andy.
Yeah, this one was much better than the last couple but still had a lot of fat to trim. They could have made a fantastic 30 minute episode out of it. I loved all the stuff listed above, especially Ryan’s speech of nothing but business cliches! Hilarious.
Sorry, I have to say it: LOL! 
Fun episode. Oh man. Ryan with his feet up on the boss’ desk spouting cliches was awesome. “I told you to do these in your office.” At first, I thought the kidnapping scene was sort of silly. But, when they made Michael Scott realize what he had done, his reaction made up for the rest of it. “Am I going to get reimbursed?” Andy’s song was fun. And, I thought it was sweet when Pam decided to use the computer to pump up Dwight’s spirits.
I don’t mind the hour long format. Although, I wish they took more advantage of the time to draw out the uncomfortable scenes to torture us, like the BBC version was able to.
pat
Easily the strongest episode of the season, and I’m liking the romantic reshufflings – Kelly and Daryl? Andy and Angela?
The Dwight/computer thing was amusing in part because I knew even if he won, how’s he going to compete in the long run? You can’t pull out all the stops every day. And I’m sure Dwight sleeps as little as possible, but the website never does. Plus it’s got the cute shopping cart.
Glad to see confirmation that Jim withdrew from consideration, rather than being passed over for Ryan – which means he beat Karen, so far as we know.
I’m so happy - they seem to be getting back on track. When they opened with the screen saver, I was delighted. It was such a fun bit. And then the rest of the episode had lots of employee coverage, seasoned with the right amount of Michael dumbness.
During the commercial break after he puts the kid in the conference room, I said to my husband that it was good they weren’t focusing on Michael - especially since his behavior was actually pushing the borders of kidnapping. What are the first words uttered as the show comes back from break? “It looks like a straight-up kidnapping,” by Oscar. That scene, Jim’s responses, and Michael finally realizing, made it work for me.
Darryl: You still missing Ryan?
Kelly: Not so much now.
Darryl: Hm.
:eek:
Everything Rainn Wilson did tonight was art. Starting with his scrubby “I got dumped” beard, through the John Henry contest, to his reactions to Andy. I’m going to rewatch the episode just to watch him. Well, and Angela. Her ability to dodge Phyllis’s every active listening technique was lovely, as well as her reactions to Andy.
And of course:
Dwight (as Ryan): “I set fire to the office with my cheese pita!”
Michael (as Ryan): “I’m so hot, I’m so hot,”
Dwight: Wait, I don’t get that one.
I’m also pathetically proud of myself that I figured out what Andy was up to when he started the second phone call.
Don’t like the hour episodes. I’m ready for them to end after 30 minutes.
I’m really pleased with how they are handling Jim & Pam. I was worried we’d be inundated with romantic scenes but we just get something short and sweet every week.
The rest of the episode was good as well. In the context of the show, I also found the kidnapping believable and somewhat amusing as well.
Good stuff really
I am annoyed with the 1 hr shows though. All that means is there will be bigger gaps between new episodes. I hate the 6 weeks of reruns that seem to be in vogue in recent years. I’d almost prefer scrubs treatment and get 25 consecutive weeks with new episodes and a slightly longer summer…
“I kidnapped a kid?”
“What choice did you have?”
I loved the scene where Angela explains the different pieces of cutlery. It had such a lovely undercurrent of “passive-agressive this, you retard!”.
I liked how everyone except Michael was on the same page about the difference between Alfredo’s Pizza Café and Pizza by Alfredo.
I continue to see a large series of clashes between characters looming on the horizon.
The episode could have used some Creed moments. On a side note, I just found out that I share a birthday (8th of February) with Creed Bratton. Neat!
The hour dragged. The opening sequence with the screen saver was by far the best part.
This episode was much better than the others so far this season, though I, too, am becoming annoyed with the one-hour format every week.
Andy was my favorite part of this episode. From asking if Jim was mocking him to the ice sculpture (“I stole it”) to serenading Angela, he was just perfect. The speaker phone serenade was really kind of sweet.
I also loved the scene with Kelly and Darryl. It made me shout out, “No, Darryl, don’t do it!”
That makes two of us.
I liked the episode, but it felt like there’s too much relationship stuff happening all at once. Michael and Jan just moved in together; Jim and Pam just got together; Kelly just broke up with Ryan and looks to be getting together with Daryl; Angela and Dwight and Andy… “Please bear with us as we set up the new relationsip dynamics for season 4”. Shoulda staggered it all a bit.
There’s something about the phone call serenade that lost me…who were the backup singers? Michael and Dwight? Why would Dwight be in on that?
I thought the Phyllis/Angela showdowns were fun. Good show!
Andy had previously said that he was a part of a a capella group so that had to be the rest of the group.
I loved the episode. Easily the best of the season.
Andy said on a previous show that he had been in an a cappella group at Cornell called “Here Comes Treble.” I assumed that was them.
Jim signing the pelvis cast had me cringing in a fetal position on my couch.
Yeah, I forgot about Andy’s singing group. That makes a lot more sense, thanks. Closed Captions read [Dwight] then [Michael], and the second guy did sound like Michael to me. That’s what had me turned around.
I hope they bring up at some point during the season that Dwight kind of blew his load all in one day. He called in at least one client’s order for the year and blew all of his Staples contacts. So I wonder if Dwight has trouble making sales for the rest of the year because of it. Meanwhile, of course, the website will only get more and more popular.
I liked this episode a lot, although I tend to agree that the one-hour episodes feel off. Is it going to be one-hour blocks all season? I thought that was just a premire thing.
Phyllis trying to deal with Angela’s bitchiness was great, as was her getting fed up with the whole thing and tossing the ball of post-its at her face (“Ow!”).
From the commercials I already knew I was gonna hate the “Jim signing Meredith’s cast” bit, so I was relieved to get that over with immediately.
According to AICN, the first 4 episdodes of the season are an hour, then it goes back to the normal 1/2 hour episodes.