The Office – Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager

In a stunning turnaround following a disappointing guest star arc, last night The Office put on one of its best episodes. Ever. Finally achieving a goal he’s been circling for seven seasons, Dwight K. Schrute can finally say that he’s been to the top of the mountain … too bad for him his stay was so brief.

Jim made a big mistake when he decided to turn down the acting manager job in an effort not to rock the boat. I loved the observation he made in his first talking head: “So as it turns out, unless you’re a young child — or a prison inmate — you don’t need anyone supervising you,” but what did he think Jo would do after he turned her down? If she wanted a manager in place she was obviously going to move on to her second choice.

And Dwight was awesome. First were his innovations: the old time clock that was capable of eating a finger, giant business cards that didn’t fit into average-sized wallets and identified everyone as a “junior employee,” staggered lunch breaks to prevent wasting time, starting the day off with the Pledge of Allegiance and morning announcements, unique twenty-one digit copier codes, and an awesome oil painting of Dwight on the wall. I can see that joining “The Kramer” in the NBC store.

And I liked how Dwight’s decorating style has evolved since Michael went to New York to interview for Jan’s job and Dwight painted Michael’s office black. This time Dwight went with Bond villain over intimidation: a gun in a display case, a circling piranha, and a replica of Uday Hussein’s desk … okay, so maybe he still went with intimidation, just more subtly than an all black room.

Everything Dwight did screamed that this would be a one episode experiment — longevity would have made his behavior too intolerable for us — but what he made of the one episode he got is all that matters. There was the look on Dwight’s face when he continued to point to Kelly’s vagina as the “diseased area” that she saw her doctor about; the “Honor System $0.50″ sign by the coffee … which was being watched by a surveillance camera; the computer firewall; vending machines empty save for advertisements for Dwight’s coffee shop; and Dwight shutting the voice mail system off because he doesn’t trust robots to deliver messages. Every little thing he introduced to the office in his short week in charge was picture perfect.

And it also provided Jim with an opportunity to get back to his early relationship with Dwight. I loved the “Join the Fist” social club discussion, and Jim hanging up two posters after Dwight threw out the one was a perfect multiplier effect. Dwight asking Jim to be on his best behavior for Jo’s visit was funny, as was Jim’s response: “I promised other people that I’d be on my worst behavior.” No wonder he got pre-fired!

Once Dwight got the holster in the mail things skewed a little kooky, but it was still fun. I particularly enjoyed the conversation about what else Dwight could put in the holster; Kevin’s rationalization for putting in a banana was awesome. Andy getting his eardrum burst was questionable, but I was okay with it once it led to Toby getting excited about getting the gun violence form from the accident report binder. And when he discovered that he could also fill out a terrorist incident report? Nice!

It was amusing that Dwight so instinctively went with Michael’s preferred method of problem solving: Gun Safety Dwight was a very raw imitation of a Michael Scott character. Still, I’m glad that Dwight was so quick to give up on that and go his own route.

I never like when Jo shows up, but it was the right way to close this little story. Kevin running out of the bathroom after Dwight attempted to flush his piranha down the toilet was hilarious, and I liked Dwight’s jazz hands whenever Jim coughed. But once Dwight came clean with Jo it was over, and he no longer ranked high enough to even be asked to join the search committee for a new boss. I take their assignment to mean that Jim, Toby, and Gabe are not to be considered, but then should it be telling that Darryl wasn’t asked to be a part of the committee? My guess is the season will end with a new boss chosen, but we won’t find out who — Darryl — until the next season premieres.

In the meantime seniority has it, and Creed’s in the big chair … yes, the same man who called a freezer ice pack a “blueberry slurpee pouch,” I imagine after eating it, is the new interim boss. Is it too much to hope that next week, while candidates are being interviewed, we’ll get to watch Creed manage the office? Please?

Oh, and I loved how mightily Kevin struggled with his copier code. Great close having Angela and Darryl try and help him plug it in!

“… I expect you to be on your best behavior, which means none of you will be insubordinate, nor will you foment insurrection.” – Dwight
“Question: If we’ve already fomented insurrection, may we be grandfathered in?” – Jim
“Define foment.” – Dwight
“You define foment.” – Jim

“… You guys are my best friends. And I mean that. Managing you for this last week has been the greatest honor of my life … and if you ruin this I will burn this office to the ground.” – Dwight

“I don’t feel good about it, but he just kept calling himself a gunshot victim and it got to me.” – Darryl, on making Andy think he had gone deaf

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 13, 2011 @ 12:14 EST5EDT