The Office 6x25 - "The Whistleblower"

The IT guy (what was his name? Champ? Nick? Sport?) going off on the Dunder Mifflin crew was awesome. "You're not a photographer, you can't fit into a size 2, and he's the snitch!" Never piss off the IT guy. The IT guy knows everything in your work computer. He's the most dangerous person in the office.

Toby's mystery novel and his reaction to Jo's plot suggestion. "Write your own damn novel."

Kevin: "I'm a runner."

WOOF! From the mind of Ryan Howard, the guy who once wished his iPod could make phone calls but didn't want an iPhone.

I liked Michael signing for Pam to meet him in Meredith's van. "I weirdly know exactly what you mean."

Dwight buying Scranton Business Park (and threatening Hank with the loss of his chair and forcing him to stand guard like Buckingham Palace) has a world of hilarious possibilities.
But I think what I liked the most was the tease for Holly's return, and the tacit acknowledgment that Michael - and in effect the entire show - has been in a bit of a funk for a while. Michael - and I guess I also mean Steve Carell - just seems tired and largely going through the motions.

Whether or not next year is Steve Carell's final season as rumored, I hope this break finds The Office creative and cast refreshed and galvanized when they come back in September.

WOOF!

The Office 6x24 - "The Chump"

Who knew Gabe had an office? I've been wondering for weeks where he actually sits and works at Dunder Mifflin. Kathy Bates doesn't think much of him for giving Jim's office to Darryl and making him work in a corner near Toby, Kelly, and Ryan.

Ryan gave me the biggest laugh when he saw Michael take what he wants, bolted out of his chair, told Erin to sleep with him, got shot down, and came back defeated.

Creed's one line was also great. "He don't give an F about nothin'!"  We haven't heard much from Creed all season but the last two episodes, his token lines have been showstoppers.

The season's over next week, I believe. I don't side at all with the people who think this was a horrible season overall, but I do believe that the second half of the season after the Christmas episode was not nearly as good as the first half, which had the wedding, the aforementioned Christmas episode, Scott's Tots, the end of Dunder Mifflin Corporate, Michael dating Pam's mom, etc. I thought that stuff was great.

When Sabre took over, The Office suddenly, confusingly felt like season 19 of The Simpsons. Almist overnight, the show felt exhausted and redundant. That's just what I think. Not that there wasn't good stuff in the second half, like when the sales staff were acting like assholes, but something felt off the last several episodes since the return after the Winter Olympics. Personally, I never recovered from resetting the paradigm and having Jim go back to being a salesman. The forward progression of events in the office halted.

At the end of the day, though, chin stroking analysis of a sitcom is pointless since the goal is to make people laugh. I still laugh a lot at The Office, I still like the characters a lot. Community and Parks and Recreation's freshness and creativity hit The Office hard and 30 Rock harder. But then, I have friends who only watch The Office on Thursday nights who tell me it's as funny as ever. Maybe it is, but I'm just looking elsewhere for new laughs.

The Office 6x19 - "New Leads"

"The way this place used to work was make friends first, make sales second, make love third. In no particular order."

It's been pretty obvious for quite a while but The Office really has changed a lot, and they dealt with it head on. In the weirdest way they could, with a lot of key action happening in the city dump.

Michael and Dwight finally had it out, in the sequel to their season two karate fight. Dwight has changed substantially, but whenever I watch Office repeats, I do miss the weird supplicant role he played to Michael in the first three seasons. Michael even pointed out how much Dwight has changed before their fight in the dump. Without Dwight enforcing Michael's power as Regional Manager, he's been more or less impotent. I'm glad they're back on the same page.

I do feel like The Office has peaked in its original form and the show is struggling to reinvent itself. The Sabre storyline hasn't really translated to big laughs or been as interesting as the Michael Scott Paper Company while Charles Miner ran Dunder Mifflin.

Dunder Mifflin Divided was pretty great though, and I found myself siding with the non-salesmen. The sales staff were being real assholes, capped off with them getting away with not sacrificing a percentage of their commissions.

I liked Michael's clues and scavenger hunt. "The first President. Lincoln!"

The biggest laugh for me was Darryl's bizarre reaction to Michael inviting him to the dump: "I can't! You know that!"

Second biggest laugh for me was the weird tussle between Andy and Darryl in Darryl's office. The Hangover vs. Hot Tub Time Machine mano e mano.

The peripheral stuff continues to seem much more interesting than the main storylines to me: Andy and Erin, Ryan and Kelly's constant fights, Creed's glasses. Especially Creed's glasses.

People love shells from faraway beaches.

The Office 6x18 - "St. Patrick's Day"

"St. Patrick's Day is the closest the Irish will ever get to Christmas."

Michael's behavior towards Jo was uncomfortable without being particularly funny. He was definitely behaving like himself, but booking himself for a trip to Tallahassee and sucking up to Jo at every opportunity - I don't know. It's weird seeing Michael in such a blatant supplicant mode. Or maybe we've just seen it too often before.

Also weird how everyone is terrified of Jo, who's camped out in the conference room with the door open, but Jim and Dwight still have their war over Megadesk and Quaddesk, with Dwight playing loud music and creating singalongs with Andy. Plus all the usual shenanigans. Even the presence of the Sabre CEO doesn't stop Dunder Mifflin Scranton from behaving in their normal insane fashion.

Darryl gets promoted! "Soulful, smart for the warehouse." The producers were months behind Ed Helms' superstardom from The Hangover, but maybe they're anticipating Hot Tub Time Machine will be a monster hit.

Andy and Erin are sort of too cute for words.

"MEGADEEEEEESSSSSSKKKK!!"

The Office 6x16, 6x17 - "The Delivery, Parts 1 and 2"

Wow. The birth of Jim and Pam's baby and aftermath went beyond "comedy of errors". It was kind of like a disaster movie. Jim and Pam completely fell apart, took turns acting insane, and concurrently acted insane.

Pam's refusal to go to the hospital until midnight was genuinely frightening. Obviously, they're not going to kill Pam but it was uncomfortable to watch her be so obstinate about her and her baby's health, even if their HMO is terrible. (Is this the same health plan Michael set up in season one? Sabre doesn't have a better one?)

There were moments when it seemed like their daughter might not live though the night from their combined incompetence - luckily, she was sleeping soundly and it was the roommate's baby Pam was nursing. (Salma Hayek might not see what was so alarming about it.)

I thought the nurse's reactions to Jim and Pam were some of the funniest moments in the episode. "Oh good. You know everything."

Nice guest spots from Pam's mom and Isabelle. Wouldn't mind seeing more of Isabelle. I'm Dwight and Angela-ed out, and I think Dwight also feels the same.

I liked Michael playing matchmaker. "I am going to fill the empty voids in your life with love. I am going to fill that empty hole in your body with another person!"

Poor Kevin. He couldn't get Holly, he couldn't get Erin. What happened to the woman he met last year that he was making out with in "Cafe Disco"?

The throwaway sound gags of the cop pulling Dwight over for impersonating a police officer and addressing him by name over the bullhorn was great.

Dwight finding mold in the Halpert's kitchen: "So I did what anyone would do: I read a book, had a bath, had a good night's sleep, and made plans to eradicate it. I also made plans to ask Jim where he bought his marvelous sheets."

Meredith might have had the line of the episode about never getting married: "Like Clooney!"

Erin and Andy is on! Only good things will happen.

The Office 6x15 - "Manager and Salesman"

The repeated shots of Jo Bennett's two Maraduke dogs licking Andy's crotch was LOL enough for me, but this was a terrific episode of The Office.

With Kathy Bates as the new owner came a surprising return to the status quo: Jim back as salesman with Michael as sole manager. 

As soon as Pam pointed out to Jim that the Sabre manual said salesmen make more money than managers, the swerve where Michael would become a salesman and Jim would become sole manager was obvious, but then they pulled a double swerve and reset the paradigm back to the way it originally was.

Of course, Michael on the sales floor couldn't have lasted longer than it did. I liked the return of Disruptive Michael not letting anyone get any work done. (Also Dwight's Glengary Glen Ross reference about it no longer being 1992.)

Dwight and Ryan's moving forward on the Diabolical Plot after Jim's promotion and then taking credit for Jim's demotion was great, as was Ryan's failed attempt to crush the soda can to intimidate the new IT guy.

I love that after Erin and Michael reached an understanding at the end of "Scott's Tots", he's so happy with her being so happy being his secretary. It's great how she's the polar opposite of Pam in every way.

Erin: "A dog and a bird!"
Andy: "Snoopy and Woodstock."
Erin: "You named them!"
Andy: "Charles Schulz did."
Erin: "Oh! And they love each other!"

Oh, and Kathy Bates was great. Not sure I'd want to work for her with all her Victorian sweatshop rules about blocking Internet sites, but I'd read Jo Bennett's autobiography. She's a very interesting lady.

Don't cut Meredith's throat!

The Office 6x14 - "Sabre"

Congratulations to Ed Helms for being promoted to the opening credits! The Office producers did the right thing since their star only happens to also star in the biggest comedy of 2009. (Or is it officially the biggest comedy of all time at this point?)

So much good stuff in this comeback episode (clip shows don't count, even with 30% new footage) directed by John Krasinski.

"Scissors me!" and Pam's horrified reaction.

Dwight with the tray of hot dogs, not having anywhere to put them, and finally setting them on the floor.

No one knowing how to pronounce "Sabre", leading into Andy and Erin's parody of "Party in the USA". "Dunder Mifflin is a part of Sabray!" Amazing. And they keep finding all-new ways to keep Andy and Erin apart that still seem completely plausible considering their characters.

The awkward humor of Jim and Pam at the day care center and their meeting not going well. "Did you ever consider the meeting's not going well because you two aren't as charming as you think you are?"

The bathrobe house-haunting sad sack David Wallace turned into.

Michael couldn't quit this time, even though he again felt disrespected. He can't form another Michael Scott Paper Company. I liked how his visit with Wallace made him realize it's better to have a job that isn't fun than to have no job at all.

Lastly, the episode touched on the very real disappointment of your workplace blocking access to time-wasting Internet sites. I've been through that. It's horrible.

The Office 6x13 - "The Banker"

I can't believe coming off a six week absence, the first new Office of 2010 is a clip show.

Although it was cool to see the clips, it highlighted how glamorous everyone looks now compared to when the series started. Some of that has to do with the HD video used today and how the sets are lit now, but yeah, everyone looks like the best version of themselves as opposed to looking downtrodden and sullen like in the first two seasons.

Best line was Toby's "I don't want to lie but I don't want to tell the truth."

If anything, I wish Computron becomes a cast regular. I loved Michael arguing with Computron.

The Employee of the Month sign in the parking lot... was that always there or did Michael make himself the Employee of the Month for January, 2010 without David Wallace's corporate oversight to keep the EOTM program on the up and up?

The Office 6x12 - "Secret Santa"

The best Christmas episode The Office has ever done.

Michael as hurt, petulant Jesus > Michael as Santa.

Jim to Michael: "You can't yell "I need this! I need this!" while trying to pin a coworker down on your lap.

The Office crammed so many amazing jokes in 22 minutes, I don't even know where to start. Mindy Kaling wrote it and kept Kelly quiet the whole episode, except for her reaction to Jim buying her the Twilight poster.

Finding new ways to keep Erin and Andy apart and slow burning their Office romance must be a challenge, but it also must help that their characters are so well defined (at least Andy's is, Erin is still evolving before our eyes) and different from Jim and Pam.

I could have died laughing at the whole bit of Kevin sitting on Michael's lap.

Will the company still be Dunder Mifflin when the sale goes through?

"I can't envision a world where David Wallace is fired but Meredith Palmer keeps her job. No offense, Meredith."

I want Dwight's nutcracker.

The Office 6x11 - "Scott's Tots"

Hey, Mr. Scott!
Whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do?
Make our dreams come true!

What a great episode. I welcome any new scenario where Michael does something completely irresponsible but has to face up to it. The Scott's Tots kids and their teachers doing the testimonials and presentations while Michael sat there knowing he had to tell the truth and not pay for their tuition was some of the best uncomfortable humor The Office has done in years.

The highlight though was Dwight's impressions of Stanley, Kevin, and Toby on the phone. Just for that, his diabolical plan to destroy Jim deserved to succeed.

Also glad Erin got a large role this week and some quality time with the boss. Erin's been around long enough now that we need to know more about her. I did like Michael negatively comparing her to Pam and her earning his esteem in the end.

Kevin was applying for a job in the warehouse when Michael made him an accountant. Explains everything perfectly!

The Office 6x10 - "Shareholder's Meeting"

Re-Cyclops! I liked the parade of receptionists over the past five years. (Who can forget Ronni? Okay, I had to look her up.)

Loved Jim putting Ryan in his place, literally. Jim vs. Ryan has been brewing since Jim got back from Stamford and Ryan was sitting at his old desk. And Ryan was an absolute dick to him when he had Jan's old job. Jim finally succeeded in doing something as a manager that Michael would never have done.

I noticed the hotel they used for the shareholder's meeting was the same one they used last season on the "Business Trip" to Winnepeg. That one also involved Michael, Oscar, and Andy on a field trip from Scranton.

Too bad those stuck up corporate assholes who run Dunder Mifflin didn't get that all Michael Scott wanted to do was get a pop from the crowd.

They're really setting the stage for Dunder Mifflin to go under. I'm very curious where this major storyline is going.

The Office 6x9 - "Murder"

I do declare! Perhaps it's business-practices like buying out the Michael Scott Paper Company that's driving Dunder Mifflin into insolvency. The collapse of Dunder Mifflin has really been building since the first episode.

The Island of Misfit Toys Scranton branch handled it about as well as you'd expect. It was interesting to see Jim try to take command responsibly where Michael wanted to lead the office into a game of denial. The metaphor at the end for two parents on a boat with one trying to keep the kids from panicking was pretty good.

Overall, the murder mystery game was a little over the top for me but there was good stuff underneath, like Ryan's glasses and outfit of the week, and the confusion resulting from Andy asking Erin out. Can't help but root for the Nard Dog to get his girl.

Creed's reaction to being a "murder suspect" was the best thing on the episode.

The Office 6x8 - "Double Date"

Not nearly enough of Ryan being an asshole and trying to get Erin to pose for his photography. In fact, I feel like there's a whole separate, possibly even better show, the documentary cameras aren't recording about Ryan, his fedora, and his newfound shutterbuggery.

The Dwight and Andy duel of politeness ruled.

Even with Toby's coaching, Pam still punches like a girl.

The raw chicken on Michael's face almost made me vomit. Disgusting.

The Office 6x7 - "Koi Pond"

Raise your hand if you didn't automatically know what a koi pond was when the episode started. My hand's up.

Is this the first episode since the beginning of season three where Jim and Pam were both in the episode but had no scenes together? That was rather refreshing.

Andy kissing Pam's belly was wonderfully uncomfortable and disturbing. The woman they were trying to sell to didn't catch that Pam had a wedding ring and Andy didn't. Or maybe she did and that's why they didn't get the sale. Plus more references to Andy's regular crying.

Jim was kind of a dick for purposely not grabbing Michael so he could fall in the koi pond.

The tag at the end of Pam's reaction to Erin thinking Andy is like Marlon Wayans and the coolest guy ever bodes well for the Nard Dog.

The Office 6x6 - "The Lover"

First off, Ryan's fedora was fucking awesome. It practically stole the thunder from the A story of Pam finding out Michael's sleeping with her mom and the B story of Dwight, Jim and the wooden mallard. I loved how he was just wearing it in the meeting with no explanation and with all the stuff going on in the conference room, there was Ryan wearing a hat with a smug look on his face.

I watch repeats of The Office on TBS and in syndication now and Pam is light years beyond the mousey secretary she was when the series started. That Pam would never have lost it in front of Michael over and over. 

Jenna Fischer went from acting really cute when they were giving Michael the rum ("I feel like a Puerto Rican.") to screaming in the parking lot, which I thought was great. Never seen Pam lose it like that before. 

I liked that Pam and Jim at the end did acknowledge that Pam went too far in screaming at Michael, who is still her boss. I also liked Oscar and the others kind of taking Michael's side that Pam was overreacting. And Jim was a prince in trying to straddle the middle.

All the Toby interaction was great too, from Jim screaming at him to Michael pretending to befriend him so he'd talk to Pam.

Really good episode this week.

The Office 6x5 - "Mafia"

Honestly, I wasn't too into the A plot of Michael being afraid of the Italian insurance salesmen possibly being in the Mafia. I thought Andy had some great lines and moments and Dwight was his usual funny self, but it didn't click for me. It all felt like overly familiar ground.

The B story, however, of Kevin in Jim's office accidentally getting his credit card canceled absolutely killed me. As did Oscar's being the sole voice of sanity and wanting Kevin to spell out why he thinks Oscar would enjoy prison. [Kevin looks knowingly into the camera.] Jim and Pam's irritated phone voices was good too.

I had a few conversations with friends about last week's weddings and Kevin has really grown to be a breakout popular character now. He's really awesome.

Also loved Toby's reaction about his mentally "checking out."

The Office 6x4 - "Niagra"

Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly from Scranton, Pennsylvania, both employed at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, finally tied the knot. The long awaited Jim and Pam nuptials on The Office last night were worth waiting six seasons for.  It was probably the best TV wedding I've ever seen. "Niagra" had a little bit of everything. 

The Office's writers (episode credited to Greg Daniels and Mindy "Kelly Kapour" Kaling) were wise to not repeat the antics of Phyllis' wedding in season 3 and make it all about Michael Scott. In fact, Michael was generally subdued and often lamenting how he was denied the place of honor he felt he richly deserved as Pam and Jim's boss.

The writers spread the comedy to the entire cast, plus the guest stars of Jim and Pam's family and friends (including Pam's surprisingly hot sister and bridesmaids). Man, do I hate Jim's brothers. Except when they needed a whoopie cushion and Michael had one on him as advertised.

They even found new levels of uncomfortable wedding humor in how, after a rather moving speech about "waiting for my wife" (met with a truly great reaction shot by Jenna Fischer, and that's saying something), Jim bungled the reveal that Pam was pregnant ("Pam's an alcoholic.").  This was immediately followed by Michael's attempt to save them by justifying Jim and Pam living together and having unprotected sex. "Frankly, it's a different sensation... It's not necessarily different for the woman..." To waiting! 

I think my favorite exchange was:

Jim: "I can't believe it was me."

Michael: "I know, I can't believe it was you either. I actually think it takes a lot of pressure off of me."

Jim: "Is there something about being a manager that makes you say stupid things?"

Michael: "I have not found that to be the case."

Bits I really liked:

• Oscar becoming so incensed that Kevin could be confused as his boyfriend.
• Kevin's hairpiece and Kleenex shoes, then resting his feet in the ice machine after the wedding.
• MeMa complaining about Bruno on her television. Later, Michael promising they'd name the baby after her.
• Dwight's Three Wolves Howling at the Moon shirt and his being a stud with the ladies. (Callback to the night out with Ryan and the Hobbit in New York during season four.)
• Andy injuring his scrotum while dancing (callback to "Cafe Disco" last season) and all related humor in the aftermath
• The actual wedding, the real one that took place on the ship, and the one in the church with all the dancing. I'm unfamiliar with the YouTube video they referenced* but Jim and Pam's reaction shots to the idiots they work with and are related to making asses of themselves were great.  (Who didn't burst out laughing when Kevin knocked over the flower display and Dwight kicked the girl in the face?)  Both John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer did some of their very best-ever non-verbal work in that entire sequence. 

It was a fitting wedding for the First Couple of The Office.  Just a terrific hour of comedy and sweetness. The entire cast and production team of The Office should be proud of themselves for living up to and triumphantly exceeding expectations for the Halperts' wedding.  I do hope we get no Jim and Pam next week. I think everyone deserves that honeymoon break from them (and especially vice versa).

My only quibbles: Not enough Ryan (a complaint for the episode and the season thus far) and Michael and Pam's mom = gross.

* I've heard all about it by now and no, I don't want/need to see it.

The Office 6x3 - "The Promotion"

Three best lines, I think:

Kevin: "In the memo line, I'm gonna write, "To love's eternal glory."

Creed: "Why haven't we ever--?" Meredith: "We have."

Oscar: "Where could Catholicism be without the Popes?"

Two heads aren't better than Michael's one head, especially when one of those two heads is still Michael's.

The problem with Jim's promotion, which the writers hit on right away, is that his coworkers don't respect him as an authority figure. They don't respect Michael either, but they're used to him. 

Jim's idea to only give the sales staff raises would obviously be seen as a maneuver to benefit Pam and him, but Jim couldn't even see that, blinded as he often is by his own good ideas. (Like when he wanted to combine people's birthday parties.)

It's a weird dichotomy to the Jim character that he's so against Michael wasting everyone's time but he loves wasting his own time to mess with Dwight.

Episode was okay.

The Office 6x2 - "The Meeting"

I must cry foul on The Office this week. They can't just introduce a plot point ripe with potential hilarity as Andy having a "flirty" email relationship with his cousin and just drop it cold like they did! I need more on that! The more we learn about Andy's bizarre secrets and confusions, the better.

David Wallace is always welcome. It's great to introduce a straight man who's from "the real world" and have him react to the insanity in Scranton. His facial reaction to Andy's cheese plate presentation was golden. (So was Jim's mental calculations of why Andy brought a cheese tray into the conference room.)

It didn't really occur to me until this episode that Jim really has toned down his slacking off and become responsible, what with an impending marriage and baby. He's becoming a responsible man. His reactions to Michael sabotaging and betraying him were some deft acting from John Krasinski. He didn't overplay anything because Jim never gets overly emotional unless Pam's involved, but his fuming anger was very effective.

The big winner of the episode was the Marvel Team Up of Dwight and Toby. Who knew those two would be comedy gold together? My favorite moment was Dwight talking to the camera about how Darryl and his sister look alike.

Poor Pam trying to get RSVP confirmations. Pam and Jim's wedding has been a great vehicle to remind us that everyone at Dunder Mifflin Scranton is a huge asshole.
 

I wanted to cheer when Jim was promoted to co-manager. That's a big and welcome change in the structure of the show.

Dwight's reaction was perfect.

The Office 6x1 - "Gossip"

By now, Michael, Jim and Pam are Ol' Faithful. So reliable. This episode was owned by the supporting cast, who got all the best lines.

Kevin: "I might have extra. It depends on how many I eat."

Creed's entire aside about scuba. "If I can't scuba, what has any of this been for?"

Stanley's shocking revelation of an affair.

My favorite: Andy's utter confusion about whether the rumors are true that he's gay. "Michael, am I gay?!" That was the biggest LOL moment for me, along with the line about "the coincidences." Oh, and Jim telling him to sleep with a woman and then a man to compare and the sound Ed Helms made. Honestly, who was in a bigger, more popular and profitable movie this past summer than Ed Helms (and I don't mean The Goods).
 

Dwight to the summer interns: "One of you will be wildly successful in business, one of you will do all right, one of you will be a great mother."

"Michael, you told people I use store bought compost, even though I showed you where my compost comes from."

Six years in, the supporting cast of The Office are worth a zillion Dundees.