Like I said last week, any time The Office gets outside the world of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton pretty much makes for a good episode.
Last night's outing -- with Michael, Andy, Oscar and Dwight traveling to New York for the company shareholders' meeting -- was no exception.
Michael is there to be honored as one of the struggling paper company's few bright spots.
(The other bright spot, hilariously, is a new "waste pulp repurposing plant.")
My only really complaint was that I didn't buy the way Michael won over a hostile, serious minded audience using a few vague and clearly unrealistic promises (a 45-day, 45-point plan, and going carbon neutral).
It's funny, but it would have been funnier had the crowd not gone so nuts for Michael. They'd already seen -- as the DM brass was seeing -- an overgrown child defending his surrogate parents. (An example of how small and insular Michael's world is: as proof of his intelligence, he lists his 17 Dundee Awards.)
Back in the hospitality suite, everyone got a cold spalsh of reality. The executives saw Michael for what he is, and Michael -- who had earlier seen the arrival of the limo as a sign of good fortune, and not corporate ineptitude -- realized how bad things really are. And now that he's -- accidentally -- said the word "bankruptcy" in a public setting, I imagine quite a few more people do too.
Other thoughts:
- While I enjoyed the episode, the only part that made me laugh out loud was the opening, as Jim recounts the tale of "Recyclops," Dwight's superhero-turned-villain alter ego. Technically, this was part of NBC's "Green Week," but I'm not sure what message it really conveyed, which actually made the whole scene a lot better.
- Erin on the limo: "This is like what high school kids take to prom...on TV shows!"
- Did you notice the protesters in the hotel lobby, waving signs with things like "Blunder Mifflin"?
- So, so glad to see Jim shut down Ryan.
Tom Coombe
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