Watching The Office

Last night’s episode had some scenes I could not quite get into. Michael seems to have become more and more absurd as the show progresses. Sometimes the meltdowns are not as amusing to watch anymore. I feel so awful for Michael for his strings of miscalculated behaviors. Whether that shows how much of a vulnerable man he is; someone who isn’t capable of handling changes and stress, there are times when where his character is going feels almost unrealistic. It’s like watching a cartoon.

Anyway, episode two of The Office opens with a kiss from PB to J…

And the look on Toby’s face, upon seeing the two as a couple, just spelled b-i-t-t-e-r-n-e-s-s. If you recall, Toby has a big crush on Pam and even intended to ask her out.

The kiss prompted Toby to issue a memo reminding them of office policy or the fact that the office frowns upon public displays of affection, which Michael thought was a memo meant for him and Jan (with Michael revealing more than what was needed). This incident officially outs PB & J as a couple to their officemates, which Michael received with genuine happiness…

Meanwhile, Ryan is arriving at Scranton today and the office prepares a good welcome for their former temp. When he finally gets there, the mood in the office changes. For one thing, Ryan emerges into this classic hotshot douchebag most low-level employees tend to hate (but secretly wish they had his job and lifestyle). He tells everyone, Michael especially, that he is now the boss and will not be treated otherwise. For another thing, he’s introducing some changes in the office; changes that may put the jobs of those 40 years old and above in jeopardy. Ryan is talking about streamlining, emails, IM and the Dunder Mifflin Infinity website. He is giving everyone a Blackberry they can use to become more efficient. The older staffers don’t seem to grasp the idea of new technology and may be having a hard time coping.

Michael obviously isn’t also open to all of Ryan’s plans.  He tries to prove Ryan wrong by rounding up the gang in the conference room, to do a presentation on “Ageism”, with the founder of the company as special resource speaker. Eighty seven years old Mr. Dunder was in the process of giving a boring history of how the company came to be, when Michael immediately gets bored with him and subtely sends his guest out of the conference room. And as usual, the presentation ended with no one really taking or learning anything from it. 

Michael also thought of claiming back lost clients and accounts the old fashion way — by giving giftbags and letters and not through technology. He and Dwight set off to visit seven clients, in a GPS monitored car. All visits turned out to be unsuccessful. All these clients actually preferred a different working relationship, one that fits into what Ryan wants to introduce to the company.  Michael was still feeling optimistic intially, but the final breaking point came when, in the midst of deciding their next gameplan, their GPS tracker sents Michael driving down the lake. He realizes he has generally failed at his objective today, but he still refuses to accept it and blames someone else, like always.

“I drove my fucking car into a lake. Why, you may ask did I do this?  Well, because of a machine (looks at Ryan). A machine told me to drive into a lake. And I did it. I did it because I trusted Ryan’s precious technology. And look where it got me?….I tell you one thing, those gift baskets never endangered anybody else’s life.”

Back in the office, Kelly tells Ryan she is pregnant with his child. Ryan did not take the news well but agrees to have dinner with Kelly, who was only actually fibbing so she could be out on a date with him. Ha-ha!

Dwight tries to appease Angela’s loss by giving her a cat he named Garbage (now, that’s really, really funny!). But Angela remains unmoved and breaks her 2 year relationship with Dwight over dinner.  We have yet to see Dwight actually break down and I wonder how he is going to cope with this loss in the next episodes (that would be something to watch for!).

Phyllis kind of bitched at Pam last night, when she told her, upon learning of her relationship to Jim, “You can’t give new clients to whoever you’re sleeping with this week.” Raawrr, Phyllis. I didn’t know you had that in you.

Kevin and Andy both think Ryan is such an awesome guy. Jim remains unimpressed. When Ryan attempted to ask Pam on a date and she turns him down saying she and Jim are together now, Jim only had one thing to say:

“I guess he can’t get any girl he wants.”

Right on, Halpert!

But the best scene of the night for me was Creed’s make-over…

Alarmed at the changes Ryan is taking the company into, Creed attempts to look like a 30-year old by dyeing his hair completely black. I’m not even sure if he used hair dye. Seeing this image of Creed instantly lets me forget the rest of the misses I think that went on in this episode. This one really takes the cake and had me laughing my heart out.

Over-all, I still enjoyed the hour-long episode but I’m looking forward to when it goes back to their regular 30-minute offerings.

What about you, did you enjoy last night’s show?

Missed last week’s episode? Read my recaps.

The Office, The Office Episode 2 Recap, The Office Dunder Mifflin Infinity Recap