Powered by i.TV
February 11, 2012
 
CONNECT    

The Office: Customer Survey

by Jay Black, posted Nov 6th 2008 11:27PM
The Office: Customer Survey(S05E06) [Note: I started writing this post at 9:34 PM, which was just enough time to hear Liz Lemon on 30 Rock mention that she always attends jury duty wearing a Princess Leia costume. It may be possible that the thought of this actually exploded the rational part of my brain, so please take this review with a grain of salt.]

Well, we knew it was coming, right? Like the current financial crisis, there was only so much juggling that was possible before the inevitable happened: tonight marked the beginning of the "Will Pam stay in New York" subplot. Regular readers know my feelings on this, so I won't dwell too much on it. Let's just hope that the writers find a way to make it more interesting than I'm expecting it to be.

The sad part about choosing now to sound the creaky machinations of the Jim/Pam plot was that it came at the end of a very decent stand-alone office-themed episode...

Tonight's A-story was the Zoolander-like teaming of Jim and Dwight to deal with their sub-par customer reviews. The reviews are tied to their bonuses and Jim needs the money so he can buy his parents' house (a surprise for Pam, because what girl doesn't want to live in her husband's parents' former house in Scranton?) Dwight suspects conspiracy -- because he always suspects conspiracy -- and, shock of shocks, it turns out that he's right.

Kelly, upset that neither Dwight nor Jim attended her America's Got Talent finale party over the summer, decided to tank their survey scores, presumably to send a message about how she feels about them (Dwight, hostile and aggressive; Jim, arrogant and "smudge").

I thoroughly enjoyed this story for a number of reasons:

1. Kelly is precisely the type of person who would have an America's Got Talent party and be upset that someone decided not to come to it.

2. The mugs were phenomenal. I need that Andy mug. No, really, NBC needs to sell these.

3. I had a palpable stomach-drop when Jim realized that Michael wasn't joking about his bad reviews. I love it when The Office relies on the kinds of things real people go through as the basis for its stories. There is absolutely nothing worse than sitting across from your supervisor while he looks through a manila folder and puts on a serious corporate face. I'm convinced that Hell is one long yearly performance review.

4. The phone call between Dwight and Jim (during Michael's training session) was absolutely hilarious. I'm sure some of you thought it went on too long, but I couldn't get enough of Mr. Wiliam Buttlicker and his million dollar paper account.

5. Jim unraveling the conspiracy had a really cool Usual Suspects vibe to it (probably because it involved mugs).

You had all the elements of what makes The Office a great workplace satire. It's a damn shame, then, that we got not just one but two creaky and far-too-soap opera-y storylines wedged in there.

I already mentioned Pam and Jim; the other one was Angela and Andy deciding to have the wedding on Shrute Farms. I'm sorry, but I don't buy that. It's forced and phony. I thought Angela was over Dwight, and now she wants to have her wedding on his farm? Why? It doesn't make sense except to keep the plot going, which is never good. I'm hoping that the writers have something up their sleeves here, but tonight's episode didn't fill me with a lot of hope.

Other stuff:

-- Was Pam's "That's what she said" the cutest thing in the history of the world? Why am I even asking the question? Of course it was.

-- So, let me just explain this to the women: no guy makes a prepared speech about your "art" because he cares about your "art". If one of your guy friends ever -- ever -- makes a prepared speech to you about anything (even, say, cleaning supplies or kitty litter), he's doing it because he wants to sleep with you. Trust me on this.

-- In keeping with last week's Batman theme, if last week's cold open was Dark Knight, this week's was Batman and Robin.

-- Is everyone else loving pseudo-reformed Ryan as much as I am?

Your opinion is important to us here at TV Squad. Please make use of our comments section to file your comments, complaints, and compliments!



The Office' Photos

    THE OFFICE Steve Carell as Michael Scott and Amy Ryan as Holly star in the episode "Weight Loss." Airs Thursday, September 25, 2008.

    NBC

    THE OFFICE Steve Carell as Michael Scott and Amy Ryan as Holly star in the episode "Weight Loss." Airs Thursday, September 25, 2008.

    NBC

    THE OFFICE Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor and Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin star in the episode "Weight Loss." Airs Thursday, September 25, 2008.

    NBC

    THE OFFICE Amy Ryan as Holly and Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone star in the episode "Weight Loss." Airs Thursday, September 25, 2008.

    NBC

    THE OFFICE, Steve Carell, ''Did I Stutter'', (Season 4, airing May 1, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Chris Haston / NBC

    THE OFFICE, Rainn Wilson, ''Did I Stutter'', (Season 4, airing May 1, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Chris Haston / NBC

    THE OFFICE, Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, ''Did I Stutter'', (Season 4, airing May 1, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Chris Haston / NBC

    THE OFFICE, Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, ''Night Out'', (Season 4, airing April 24, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Mitch Haddad / NBC

    THE OFFICE, Rainn Wilson, Cassie Fliegel, ''Night Out'', (Season 4, airing April 24, 2008), 2005-. Photo: Mitch Haddad / NBC

    THE OFFICE, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, ''The Dinner Party'', (Season 4, episode 4013, aired April 10, 2008), 2005-,. Photo: Chris Haston / NBC / courtesy everett collection

Add a Comment

*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

30 Comments

Filter by:
RACT

Maybe this is what we are all thinking but just not saying... i think that Dwight and Angela will end up getting married there... that is what Angela really wants anyway. I might be wrong but I think that this is where we are going.

I loved the bluetooth. I don't know if it will work in the future but it is a nice way to bring Pam back to the office.

November 10 2008 at 2:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
RG

There are mugs for Stanley and Ryan. I don't buy that Stanley went to Kelly's party, and I certainly don't think Ryan would have scored an invite over the summer.

November 10 2008 at 2:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
BDM

For me, I think the way they've done Pam's storyline is getting a little ridiculous. Pam desire to be "an artist" first starts off when she says she likes to draw (the Women's Appreciation episode). Fast-forward a couple seasons, and now she's in NYC discussing Avant-Garde vs. impressionist paintings with her buddy, who coincidentally invited her to a wine and cheese art show? Isn't this a bit of a stretch?

How did she go from drawing the Dunder Mifflin building and designing the logo for their ad to this (apparently) tortured artist, struggling to decide to pursue this career in NYC?

November 10 2008 at 1:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jim

I caught this week's episode late on DVR. Best one of the season so far -- definitely firing on all cylinders!

November 08 2008 at 10:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MERVE-THE-PERVE

Andy looked an awful lot like a younger Jerry Lewis in this episode.

November 08 2008 at 12:27 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bgirl

a surprise for Pam, because what girl doesn't want to live in her husband's parents' former house in Scranton?

I grew up in Wilkes-Barre (next town over from Scranton) and lots of people live in their parents' former houses. I grew up in the house that used to be my grandmothers, the woman next door to my parents is living in her parents' old house, the two houses directly across the street from us are also occupied by the children of the original owners. And there are only thirteen houses on the street. So having grown up in Scranton, Pam would probably be pretty excited. It's a happening place, Northeast PA is. ;)

November 07 2008 at 8:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
izikavazo

That was such a good episode, one the best this year. The staged phone call was ridiculously awesome. It reminded me of the Arrested Development characters with their nearly mentally damaged behavior.
I have no problem with the roadblocks in PB & Js relationship. And although the Andy/Angela/Dwight stuff is awkward, I think it will be good in the end.
As for Kelly, she's always good. I am never disappointed with her storylines.
- izi

November 07 2008 at 2:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Boomstick

It's true ladies. If you ever think that a man "cares about your art" he just wants in your pants. :P

November 07 2008 at 11:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Boomstick's comment
Dan

He actually means to say "I care about your parts"...

November 07 2008 at 1:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Allison

I really enjoyed this episode. The phone call with Jim and Dwight was the highlight for me. Does anyone else think that this was a big "Jim" episode? I've heard people criticize that he has no personality or character. It seemed he stepped up tonight.

I also loved having Pam back (at least via audio). I miss their interaction. Without Jim having someone normal to bounce reactions off of, sometimes the gags the zany characters seem to do fall flat.

I don't have a clue as where they are taking the Angela and Dwight story. It really could go anywhere and be funny.

I also agree with the blogger in that Pam's art school "friend" wants her bad. Jim called it too. But maybe he did realize that he might be holding her back by staying in Scranton. Who says that Jim can't move to NY?

November 07 2008 at 9:46 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kat

OMG...I LOVED the William Buttlicker scene! I nearly fell off my chair!

November 07 2008 at 9:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

Follow Us

From Our Partners