I found myself really enjoying last night’s episode of The Office, even though I don’t particularly care about any of the continuing story lines it crammed into a short thirty minutes. That’s got to be a good sign, right?
The cold open was decent, though nothing holds a candle to Jim and Dwight battling wits. Different parts of Oscar, Pam, and Angela’s conversation about their babies and Oscar’s dog Gerald found different partners uniting against a common enemy.
The most obvious were Pam and Angela arguing that raising a dog is nothing like raising a baby. Pam and Oscar growing incredulous at the idea of Angela’s baby crawling at three months was funny, as were Oscar and Angela getting annoyed at Pam bringing in the two kids argument. Loved Oscar saying the world was not interested in more Pam and Jim DNA. But the best was the threesome getting upset over Andy’s warning for his brother that nothing is harder than taking care of a boat. Nice.
The best stuff this week was going on down in Tallahassee, and the ultimate in craziness happened when Jim was feeding Dwight some ideas as Dwight spoke to Nellie (Catherine Tate). See below for their full exchange. But how about Stanley turning into a loose cannon down in Florida? I saw that he picked up a woman … isn’t he still married and seeing a mistress? The man’s indefatigable.
Dwight’s battle with Packer isn’t for me, but there were quite a few hilarious moments during their time in the bar. How about Dwight’s idea for a (drinking?) game … the player with the most seeds is the king, and the one with the least buttons is the hunchback. I understand carrying around a bag of forty buttons to avoid being kicked, but why doesn’t Dwight also have a bag full of seeds? And the buttons still didn’t keep him from getting kicked hard by Jim.
Dwight and Packer creating a beach vibe for Nellie complete with wind, seagulls, and waves crashing was nutty, while Dwight popping the cherry stem that Packer had just tied with his tongue into his own mouth to untie it was riotously disgusting. He doesn’t even pause to think, does he?
I did not enjoy Cathy (Lindsey Broad) showing up at Jim’s door, although the March Madness line was funny. Yeah, that’s in March. What saved the day (for Jim and for us) was the bedbug thing. Jim describing the bug he “saw” as brown, shiny, and having a painful bite was hilarious, as was Jim’s description of its mood as stressed, and his imitation of the “so smug like he thought it was funny” bedbug’s strut. I didn’t expect Dwight to strip down and hop into the bed in an attempt to turn himself into a human trap, but what did he mean by saying that they would have embedded themselves in him? Really? That’s what he was going for?
I’m not at all invested in Val and Darryl, so their confrontation with Val’s boyfriend Brandon was kind of an unwelcome distraction. It seems like the writers felt the need to give Darryl something to do after going in a different direction with the manager’s job; this is not the right fit for him. Just a thought.
And I loved the end of the episode. Well, not Jim and Dwight bunking together as much as Dwight turning the light off in his room after Nellie said she could see it on. Her observation that the light had turned off right after she’d said that it was on was a perfect close to that crazy night.
“Can we at least eliminate those that are not in the running? Free them up, to focus more completely on the menial. Like stacking, and sorting, or–” – Dwight to Nellie
“Catching butterflies.” – Jim
“That’s a hobby. Unless it’s for food.” – Dwight
“Theater.” – Jim
“A waste of time.” – Dwight
“Dragging.” – Jim
“That’s just a verb.” – Dwight
“Dragging sticks.” – Jim
“Yes, nice, perfect. Dragging sticks….” – Dwight
“Ball droppings can be beautiful. For example when it turns an awkward soprano into a rich, full tenor.” – Andy, on dropping the ball
“Pathetic, huh? A real man swallows his vomit when a lady is present.” – Dwight to Nellie, after Packer threw up on Gabe
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 24, 2012 @ 14:37 EST5EDT
I surprisingly enjoyed this episode. I loved seeing Dwight as Jim’s go-to person. The final scene especially exhibited that despite their adversary status, they still rely on each other … (at least to avoid women).
The Cathy plot creeps me out. A crush is one thing. But, deliberately going after a newly married man with two young children whose WIFE also works at the same job as you both? Either way the end scenario isn’t good. I hope they aren’t pulling a play from Parenthood’s book.
I like Val, but I’d rather see she and Darryl turn into the non-sexual Jim and Pam as opposed to ‘…..’ sext friends.
Really great episode. I’m enjoying this season as a whole, and I loved Jim all the more for recognizing and fending off Cathy’s advances (and using Dwight hilariously in the process, giving the two of them a bonding experience).
Ditto