The Office: Employee Transfer
(S05E05) [Jay couldn't be here tonight, as he's off being Jay Black somewhere.] Tonight's theme seemed to be about relationship crossroads. We had three storylines interweaving, and all of them centered on the three major hook-ups on the show. Dwight decided that the only way to come to terms with how he felt about Andy and Angela's impending nuptials was to goad Andy into a pointless feud. Michael and Holly had to deal with the fallout of David Wallace discovering that they'd become romantically involved (the hint is in the episode title), and Pam had to have quite possibly the most awkward lunch in history with Jim's brothers.As always, The Office manages to weave slapstick humor brilliantly with moments of raw emotion and pathos. Particularly, again, with a wonderful performance by Steve Carell. With most of the action centering on the major storylines, we didn't get much work out of the supporting cast, so it was at least good to see them having some costume fun in the cold open. Don't forget the rest of the cast, writers, we love them all!
So they're getting rid of Amy Ryan by shipping her character to the New Hampshire branch. Which means she's still a part of Dunder-Mifflin ... and could still come back! You know, lots of Oscar nominated stars slum it on television these days, Amy. Look at Glenn Close. She's doing great!
Considering all the crap Darryl puts up with from Michael, he still cheered him up on the truck ride home by trying to help him sing the blues. And it was so appropriate that Michael absolutely didn't get how to do it but made it work anyway. Dammit, Holly was such a perfect match for Michael. It was genuinely heartbreaking when she essentially broke up with him on the ride.
I've missed the pranks that Pam and Jim used to play around the office on Dwight, so it was great to see Pam wanting to pull one on Jim. It's a side to their personalities, and a huge part of the show, that I almost hadn't realized was wanting. Too bad it wound up being horribly butchered by his brothers.
What it proved, though, was that Jim and Pam's relationship is absolutely for real. Even in the face of downright stupidity, they always come out of it stronger than ever. As much as I know that conflict makes great storytelling, I really really really don't want the writers messing up this couple. They're the heart and soul of the show and they deserve each other.
The rest of the episode was following through on the engagement announcement of Andy and Angela. In classic Dwight fashion, he decided to "handle" the situation by driving Andy crazy. Lest we forget, Andy has anger issues, so Dwight was easily able to bait him by pretending to be a new application to Cornell, where Andy went to college.
The dynamic that's developed between Dwight and Andy is great. I love that Andy started off as a slight variation on Dwight's personality and has evolved into a wholly unique and equally bizarre character on the show. And he's proving to be an even better foil for Dwight than Jim because he buys into it and plays along to the point of insanity. It really makes you wonder about the kinds of guys Angela is drawn to, though.
Office Memos
- Great costume cold open. Poor Pam, stuck in a Charlie Chaplin costume in the void of "no costumes or fun" at corporate. "And I can't even take off my hat," she laments. "Because then I'm Hitler."
- Damn, Creed looks great as the Joker. He even had a great Joker voice. Who knew Heath Ledger was channeling a 65-year old former Grass Roots guitarist for the role.
- "I'll walk you out." Classic Jim moment, right after being put in charge of the office, he instead leaves for the day right next to Michael, carrying his bag and heads straight for his car. "You can let people go a couple minutes early if you want." "We'll see."
- Aw yeah, Darryl! Sing it! "Life is a highway, and you're on it with Michael Scott! For seven long hours!" ... it works better when you sing out loud to the tune.
- Wow, Jim's brothers are horrible at pranks. And he's such a natural , I guess he didn't learn it from them.
- "Did Darryl touch you?" Are you kidding me? Hilarious!

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