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May 18, 2013

The Office: The Client

by Michael Sciannamea, posted Nov 9th 2005 8:05AM

mikejanMichael gets sexy! He goes to a very important client meeting with his boss, Jan Levinson-Gould, in order to secure a huge account from the county. They meet at Chili's, which Michael describes as "the new golf course." We find out that Jan is now divorced, and Michael tries to find out what happened. At the same time, Pam, in Michael's office searching for a joke for him to tell at the meeting, discovers his screenplay, "Threat Level Midnight" featuring FBI Agent Michael Scarne. Here's where the fun begins.

As Michael schmoozes the client to Jan's utter embarrassment, Jim decides to have a table reading of the script with the staff playing the various roles. It ends awkwardly when Dwight discovers that he was the model for the hero's bumbling assistant. At Chili's, Michael, Jan, and the client (Tim Meadows) begin to bond, and out of nowhere, Michael makes a cogent case for Dunder Mifflin to get the county contract, and the client agrees. This is really the first time that we have seen Michael Scott apply his business acumen to any success.

At the same time, Jim and Pam's flirtation is taken to another level (literally) as they share a meal on the office rooftop. Simultaneously, Michael and Jan are overjoyed over their business win, and then hook up. The next morning, Dwight awakes on the office couch and observes Jan getting out of her cab into her car. Michael arrives at the office and can't hide his enthusiasm about his evening with Jan. Dwight demands to know what happened, and Michael, to our surprise, defends Jan's honor. Later, Jan calls Michael and tells him that it all was a big mistake. Jim and Pam look like they're bonding, but Jim says something that turns Pam off. We end with Michael and Jim silently dealing with rejection.

We again see the human side of Michael Scott. Yes, he's totally taken with himself, but he has shown us his vulnerabilities, and that's what makes this sitcom so compelling. However, the Jim-Pam flirtation may become too much of a push-pull relationship. This is the second week in a row that Pam is offended by something Jim has said or done, and it will get tiresome quickly if it continues. Obviously the flirtation will always be there, but if we're going to get a scene every week where Pam gets mad at Jim over an innocuous comment or action, the series will suffer.

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Mutehead

Forget the Michael-Jan thing. The real story was the table read of Michael's screenplay. Absolutely brilliant. Especially the dig at "Dwigt".

November 10 2005 at 11:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brykmantra

I agree with you that it gets real old real fast on shows when couples are on the verge of splitting up because one of them extrapolates the slightest little thing to the nth degree, and says "We'll never work out becaue of that!" I'm thinking of Everwood, of course, where the writers seem to lean on that crutch at least twice a week.

November 09 2005 at 11:46 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gordy

Awkward at every turn in last night's episode. I haven't cringed so much since watching The Comeback. At least The Office is funny, so I can enjoy it. When Jan ordered the vodka, I knew she would be had.

November 09 2005 at 9:17 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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